There are three ways by which we all learn, they are by seeing, reading and hearing.

Watching TV, movies, YouTube etc is a combination of seeing, reading and hearing, listening to radio only requires listening. By this 3 mediums our minds are being filled with streams of consciousness.

We learn subconsciously from everything we see, be it on the screen or from what other people are doing, we also learn subconsciously from what we listen to; be it music, podcast or other people's discussion (for example when two people are having an open discussion in a bus).

I love watching movies and apart from movies being a way to relax the mind and take you out of the present reality, it also a source of learning. I'm often interested in knowing the exact words being said in movies, that's why I often watch movies with subtitle.

From watching movies I have got to know some fantastic songs I have in my playlist today. Also I love to capture important words being said in movies. I do often screenshot words of importance as I am watching a movie.

While scrolling through my phone this evening I came across some screenshots I took on the 15th of February this year from the movie: “The King’s Man”. The movie was released in 2021 and it is the third instalment of the "Kingsman film series".

In the screenshot I took, one of the main character was giving his son, some words of advice. He said,

“Reputation is what people think of you. Character is what you are.”

What a statement! I believe the statement is quite self-explanatory. But I would love to discuss little about those two nouns.

What determines a person reputation?

Someone’s reputation is determined mostly by belief held by the majority of people who knows him or her.

For instance, there is a teacher who doesn’t tolerate the slightest indiscipline and he his quick to dash out punishment to offenders, but the same teacher is also a good teacher who explains proficiently.

If you ask the school bullies or the lazy students who that teacher is, you might be told that he is a wicked or a strict teacher. But ask the class toppers "who the teacher is". You might be told that the teacher is a very good teacher and they really like him.

Imagine if in the school or class there are more lazy student or offenders than the serious and meek students. It means majority of the pupils might view the teacher as an "antagonist". That's the likely reputation that might spread of such a teacher.

The world out there focuses mainly on people’s mistake and not on the good things one has accomplished.

Most politicians are always remembered for the wrong decisions they took during their tenure, example is the embattled Prime Minister of UK; "Boris Johnson". Who is now seeing his last days in government.

Reputation can be manipulative

Nobody is perfect and nobody is guilty free. Sometimes what the majority of people think of an individual is not always correct, because most times we judge a person on limited views.

Character is who the person is truly is. And before you can truly discern someone’s character you must be very close to that person.

Some people might have good reputation, because they do a lot of good things publicly, and they meticulously stage their public appearances and speech. You might think of them as angels. But away in private, away from the eyes of the public is where lies their true character. Are they as polite as they are on camera?

"Character is what you are truly are in the dark"

Haters can give one a bad reputation

People who don’t like you can tarnish your reputation, they can find the slightest mistake you made and broadcast it out. They can make you look like the villain, whereas they might be.

In life, a single mistake could tarnish one’s reputation forever. But your character is who you are and that rarely changes. People can't change that.

A good man in the midst of bad people can't be given a good reputation. So before you join the public in demeaning someone think twice. Some remarks about someone could be lies, all for the sake of staining such a person's reputation.

Having a good reputation is important, but having a good character is more important. A person who has a good reputation among bad people can’t be a good person!

Thanks for reading.