Pride! Intelligence! Guts!

One thing a hospital porter has to learn very quickly is how to resist humiliation. This is where my dignity statement method comes from, for examples see the background links below. The essence of the dignity statement is to force your antagonist to destroy themselves by reflecting their attack back at them without initiating one of your own. In the course of perfecting this tactic, there are several intriguing and inspiring resources in cinema. Matilda is a 1996 fantasy drama directed by Danny DeVito which is based on a children's novel by Roald Dahl. It is about a young girl called Matilda who discovers that she has magical powers, however her greatest magic is not of the supernatural kind. Her teacher at school is an abusive authoritarian bully called Miss Trunchbull who is brought horribly to life with an ingenious performance by Pam Ferris. One of Matilda's classmates is an obese boy called Bruce who loves chocolate cake. One day he steals a slice from the school kitchen and Miss Trunchbull catches him. As punishment, and as a warning to the other pupils, she forces Bruce to consume the entire cake on stage in the school hall in front of the entire school. The intention is that he will stuff himself to the point of sickness in public view, degrading him. However, during this ordeal Matilda begins cheering him on. The other children follow her lead and soon all of them are encouraging Bruce in his endurance of gluttony. Bruce finishes the cake and holds the empty plate above his head in triumph. Trunchbull realizes that her plan to embarrass Bruce has totally backfired. She shouts at the children to stop, but they refuse. Bruce is their hero. It's one of the most moving film scenes I've ever watched. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOQeU_6vbeg.

Another example is a 1993 film called Bopha! and is a rare directional curiosity by Morgan Freeman. It stars Danny Glover as a South African policeman during the final years of the Apartheid era. His force is constantly under attack by rioters who assault and kill his men at every opportunity. They hurl the insult: "Pig!" at them; it is a derogatory slur for a police officer in my country, Britain, as well. Unfortunately the clip is not available but I remember the scene well and will try to paraphrase it correctly. Glover's character is training new police recruits in a classroom. He says: "Everywhere you go, the people will shout at you: 'pig!... pig!... pig!', but there is something they don't know..." He begins writing on the blackboard. "The word 'pig!' is an acronym: 'P.I.G.' You know what that stands for?: 'Pride... Intelligence... Guts'!" Once again we have a way in which attempts at humiliation fail because the people being attacked know how to defend themselves effectively. During the course of your service you, as a hospital porter, can develop your own versions of these tactics. The two examples from Hollywood I've shown you are just there to give you ideas, as can my own dignity statement experiences. Or even if you're not a hospital porter, you might find this information useful with social and professional interactions in your civilian life. Or perhaps the positive message just makes you feel happy. Good luck!

See here for background: https://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.com/2017/11/fantastic-dignity-statement.html.

And: http://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2010/11/making-dignity-statements.html.

And: https://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.com/2019/05/more-blocks-and-digs.html.

And: https://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-real-eleanor-roosevelt.html.