Academy Award-winning Russell Crowe revealed a lot about his own values, giving a thoughtful answer when he was asked about which movies should be required viewing for young men, specifically Gen Z. Crowe, who won the coveted Best Actor award for his role in “Gladiator,” was asked to look back at his filmography and explain which movies he thought every young man should watch. He based his answer on what values and lessons the younger generation could take away from the movies he’d chosen to make.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by JustWatch (@justwatch) “That’s kind of a very serious question,” Crowe began with a smile, adding, “It would probably take me a month to write a dissertation.” Crowe then selected three of his movies — 2000’s “Gladiator,” 2003’s “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World,” and 2005’s “Cinderella Man” — and explained what he believed young men might learn from each of them. “Gladiator” “Gladiator” was first on his list because he said it would teach young men about “honor and the importance of la familia.” Crowe has often talked about the fact that family, and one man’s mission to avenge his loss, is the heart of that film. He felt so strongly about that particular point that he pushed back — hard — when producers and even director Ridley Scott wanted to add a sex scene into the movie. “When we were shooting that film, there was a lot of pressure. The studio, the producers [thought] there should be sex between Maximus and the female characters. I just kept pushing back,” he said in a previous interview. “This is the story of a man avenging the death of his wife and his child,” Crowe explained. “There cannot be a moment in that journey where he stops and has sex with somebody. It doesn’t make any sense because then that destroys the journey.” The end results spoke for themselves: Scott ultimately sided with Crowe, agreeing that a sex scene would take away from the film’s “moral core.” The finished product netted them not only Crowe’s Best Actor statue, but also the Best Picture Oscar. (Crowe has also said that the reason “Gladiator 2” failed to capture the audience in the same way was that it strayed from that “moral core.”) “Master and Commander” The second film Crowe listed was “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World,” a period piece set in 1805 and loosely based on the “real-life naval exploits of British Captain Lord Thomas Cochrane.” The actor said that film, which did not garner anywhere near the commercial or critical success he saw with “Gladiator,” would nonetheless teach young men “about loyalty and fealty.” “There are a few movies in the things that I’ve done which can have a profound connection to a young man,” Crowe continued before offering up his third and final selection. “Those two are very important, but there’s also a film called ‘Cinderella Man,’ which is about somebody who’s facing the worst kind of situation, but he still goes forward. And because they go forward, they end up achieving what they set out to achieve.” “Cinderella Man” “Cinderella Man,” as Crowe noted, follows the career of the boxing champion who almost wasn’t: Jim Braddock. After a hand injury and the onset of the Great Depression stalled what had looked to be a promising boxing career, Braddock was forced to work manual labor jobs on the New Jersey docks — and rely on government assistance at times — to support his family. In 1934, he got a chance to step back into the ring, but he wasn’t fighting for the title so much as for his own name. He won in a knockout — and kept winning. But as the prize money rolled in, Braddock didn’t spend it or even put it into savings. Instead, he tracked down every government agency through which his family had gotten aid, paying every cent back. Dubbed “the Cinderella Man” due to his rags-to-riches story, Braddock went into the 1935 championship match at Madison Square Garden against World Heavyweight Champion Max Baer with 10-1 odds that he would lose. But years of working on the docks had given him the stamina to wear Baer down, and after 12 rounds, Braddock was named the new world champion. With more than 80 acting credits to his name, Crowe could have answered that question dozens of different ways. The way he chose to answer, what he chose to pass on to the next generation, revealed that values he holds dear: family, loyalty, honor, and determination. And, as Crowe himself showed when the “moral core” was threatened during the filming of “Gladiator,” he is willing to fight for them when necessary. *** This article is part of Upstream, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.