Nicolas Cage is probably a normal guy in real life

Nicolas Cage is a normal guy in real life. It is true he is wealthy, but wealth is a factor external to who Nicolas Cage is as a person. If we said that Person X, who has $100,000, is a normal person, he will still be a normal person even if his wealth suddenly goes up or down. The wealth is external to the person. Therefore, to look at whether Nicolas is a normal person, we must look to the nature of his actions and his purposes for doing those actions. Let us again analyze my opponent’s contentions. 1. It would be normal to buy an island if you have money, but the problem is that Nicolas Cage filed for bankruptcy in 2009 My opponent agrees that buying an island would be normal if Nicolas had money. Nicolas did have money when he bought the island, because the island was purchased in 2006.[1] It wasn’t until 2009 that Nicolas filed bankruptcy.[2] 2. It is not normal to name your child “Kal-El” when other alternatives like “Clark” or “Kent” are available Superman clearly had an important and inspirational influence in Nicolas’ life. He wanted to share that part of his life with his child. The purpose in choosing this name is clearly normal. Many normal people are inspired by many different things. We may not all be inspired by the same things, but it is certainly normal for people to inspired and want to share that inspiration. Nicolas was inspired by the Superman character, and so he named his child after that character. Just as a writer might be inspired by Maya Angelou, and named their child the uncommon name of Maya. Perhaps Nicolas did not feel a name like Clark or Kent would adequately show that Superman was the inspiration, and perhaps he thought naming his child “superman” would be a poor choice for a name. So, he chose “Kal-El.” People choose unique names for their children all the time, it does not mean they are not normal people. 3. Most people don’t collect stuffed animals People collect all varieties of different things and they spend considerable money doing so. Some people collect coins, or memorabilia, or knives, or guns, or arrowheads, or stamps, or paintings, or sports cards, or comics, or cars, or music records, or toys, or photos. Many normal people collect many things. Many normal people do not collect the same things. For example, some people might collect rare World War 1 photos. Clearly, they are still normal people even though their collection choice is uncommon. Nicolas is one of these normal people. 4. Being rich isn’t an excuse for doing crazy sh*t – regarding yachts and a tomb Agreed. What I am saying is that buying two yachts is normal given that Nicolas Cage has the wealth to buy two yachts (or at least he did at the time, even if he is now in financial straits). Having wealth does not change who the person is, rather it gives the person the power to do things they could not have done otherwise. If you take a “normal person” off the street and give them $100 million, they would likely buy yachts, homes, etc. at some point. This is not because they are no longer “normal.” It’s because they now have the financial power to do things that they couldn’t do before. This same logic applies to Nicolas’ tomb. Poor people are commonly cremated or buried in modest graves. Middle class people might be buried in graves with classier headstones, and maybe a statue. Rich people are frequently buried in larger tombs and mausoleums. The reason these different groups of people are buried in different types of graves is not because they are normal or abnormal. It’s because their level of wealth. Why would you bury yourself in small grave with only a modest headstone when you could afford a larger accommodation? The difference in choices is a result of having wealth, and not whether a person is “normal” or not. 5. Having a tattoo of a monitor lizard is abnormal and thus Nicolas Cage is not normal I said Nicolas’ tattoo is unique, but that does not mean Nicolas Cage is no longer normal. Many painters will paint different subjects or topics that are completely unique, yet they are still normal people. And, many normal people may get tattoos on their bodies that are unique, but they are still normal people. The point is not that the actual subject of the tattoo is unique; the point is that many normal people get tattoos of unique subjects. Nicolas Cage did this, as many people do. 6. He allegedly hired a witch doctor to uncurse the set of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice I reiterate that my opponent has provided no source that can establish that this actually happened. Thus, we should not assume it happened because there is no factual basis to believe it. Random, untrue stories about celebrities are constantly fabricated by pseudo-news organizations in order to attract readers, and there is no reason to think this is any different. 7. Being rich doesn’t mean it’s normal to want to piss off Leonardo DiCaprio I contend that the desire to piss off Leonardo DiCaprio transcends wealth. There are many poor and rich people that would be amused by pissing him off, or generally pissing off people they don’t like. It’s true that Nicolas paid a hefty sum in order to piss off Leonardo DiCaprio and prevent him from acquiring the dinosaur bone; but, I point to the fact that many normal people might choose to outbid someone they don’t like, simply to annoy them. The fact the bone was expensive must be interpreted in light of the fact that Nicolas Cage was very wealthy at that time and incurred minimal financial expense relative to his total wealth. 8. As a child, Nicolas Cage would sometimes sneak around and pretend he was a superhero at night Many children enjoy pretending they are superheros, and many children get excited by their fantasies and cannot sleep. Nicolas likely was an imaginative young boy who would get excited and couldn’t sleep. Presumably, he went outside because he wanted to play “superhero” but did not want to disturb his parents. Nicolas lived in an upper-class, safe neighborhood where a child would not be afraid to go out at night. This is normal behavior. 9. Nicolas Cage proposed the first day he met Patricia Arquette True, and this is normal behavior. I have witnessed many young men propose to beautiful young women the first time they see them. They are often not serious, and both the young man and the young woman know this, but the young woman views it as a compliment anyway. 10. Nicolas Cage didn’t divorce Lisa-Marie Presley because she married Michael Jackson I agree. We don’t know why they divorced, as they cited “irreconcilable differences.” The fact she subsequently married Michael Jackson is evidence of her weirdness, and the fact he later married a down-to-earth waitress is evidence of his normalcy. 11. You can’t argue that someone doing something stupid is normal just because they are drunk Sure I can. It’s completely normal for people to do stupid things while they are drunk. When people are drunk, they get in fights, steal things, say things they supposedly don’t mean, and engage in activities that might be viewed as abnormal if they were sober. Intoxication lowers a person’s inhibition and leads them to doing stupid things. Nicolas Cage was drunk and tried to steal something. Normal people get drunk and do this type of thing all the time. Conclusion I am not arguing that Nicolas Cage can do all kinds of “weird sh*t” simply because he is rich. I am saying that activities like buying boats or cars or expensive graves are not abnormal activities, and that many normal people would engage in such activities if they had the financial power to do so. It’s true that Nicolas Cage filed for bankruptcy in 2009, but all of these activities came before Nicolas filed for bankruptcy. Further, bankruptcy is a tool to alleviate your debts, and says nothing about whether a person still has financial wealth available to him. I contend that all of Nicolas Cage’s activities would be within the range of activities that a normal person would engage in.