The core theme is about the importance of pursuing your creative ideas with conviction, even in the face of initial doubt or criticism, as exemplified by the creation of Spider-Man.
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please join me in giving a big UCLA
extension Welcome to our inaugural icons
you first of all I hate Dean spots he
said he said my whole speech all the
things he said I was going to say so I
sit here before you
hopeless worried what can I possibly do
to make I didn't really mean that
Dean um I spent quite a lot of time
writing a 25 page speech that I could give
give
you and as I looked at I said would I
want to hear the
speech so I tore it up so I stand here now
now
defenseless with nothing except to tell
you I think you're all great the fact
that you're taking the courses you're
taking you're trying to help to to add
to what you already know to make
yourselves better workers better
contributors and I think that's great I
think also that I'm not going to make a
long speech but I'm going to tell you I
was told to say an an OTE anecdotes are
easy so I thought to myself what kind of
anecdote can I tell these people who
really have more important things to do
and I figured I'm going to tell you how
being it's it's a true story although
sometimes it's hard even for me to
believe it but um we had already done
the Fantastic for and I think maybe the
X-Men I can't remember the order but my
publisher came to me and he said Stan I
want you to come up with another
superhero so I said okay and I went home
and when my publisher said do something
I'd better do it because I wanted to
keep my job I thought what can I come up
with now and the most important thing in
a superhero at first is the superpower
once you get that everything else comes
along so I thought what power will I
give a new guy and I saw a fly crawling
on the wall and I said hey if I could
get a superhero that could stick to
walls and crawl on them man that would
be cool and that no I'm lying to
you I don't think the word cool was in
use then I probably I probably said
it'll be
groovy I'll never lie to
you so I thought that was good now I
need a name so I said well let's see fly
man mosquito man I got down to Spiderman
Spiderman it just sounded dramatic so
okay I had my hero I had his power his
name and then I figured just for fun I'm
going to give him personal problems cuz
except for you people who are per that
your lives are perfect but most other
people have personal
problems and I then I thought I'd make
him a
teenager cuz there were no teenage
superheroes that I knew of at the time
so armed with all that wonderful
material those great ideas I ran into my
Publisher's office and I told him this
was my reaction the reaction he gave
me Stan that is the worst idea I have ever
ever
heard first of all and he started to
give me his because he a very logical
old man very
intellectual first of all people hate
spiders so you can't call a hero
Spiderman you want him to be a teenager
teenagers can only be
Sidekicks and you want him to have
personal problems stay and don't you
know what a superhero is they don't have personal
personal
problems well I left the office
disappointed but obviously a much wiser
man and I couldn't get Spider-Man out of
my system so we were about to kill a
magazine I think it was called Amazing
Fantasy it wasn't selling well and we
were sending the last issue to press
when you do the last issue of a magazine
nobody cares what you put in it because
the book is dying just to get it out of
my system I put Spider-Man in Amazing
Fantasy feature him on the cover forgot
about it a month later all the sales
figures came in my publisher came racing
into my office Stan Stan you remember
that character we both loved so much
Spiderman he said let's do them as a
series now why am I telling you this
besides the fact that I have to kill a little
time
if you have an idea that you genuinely
think is good don't let some idiot talk
it now that doesn't mean that every wild
notion you come up with is going to be
genius but if there is something that
you feel is good something you want to
do something that means something to you
try to do it because I think you can
only do your best work if you're doing
what you want to do and if you're doing
it the way you think it should be done
and if you can take pride in it after
you've done it no matter what it is you
can look at it and say I did that and I
think it's pretty damn good that's a
great feeling so don't let idiots talk
you out of something that you think is
good by the same token that does mean
every single thing you think is going to
is good is going to be win a prize got
to have a little judgment there I've had
other things that I thought were good
that didn't work but I'll save that for
the next award you give me I'll need
something to tell you about and I I want
to say I cannot tell you how much I
appreciate this award and this college
has has meant a lot to me I have spoken
here many times over the years it's one
of the great Institutes of learning and
to get this award the icon award I am
truly touched so I want to thank the
step and whoever it is that gave it to
me and I want to wish all of you the
best luck in the world just do your
thing do it as well as you that's the
important thing don't Sherk whatever you
do give it your Best Shot you'll be glad
you did
EXA thank you thank
you Youk
you we're going to present this right
now do you want to face the audience
sure May me put your hand on this yeah
Stan Stan those were inspiring words
awards for our graduates that was great
I am honored to present you with UCLA
extension's very first icons of La award
tell I can't tell you how honored I am
to receive it I'm glad my wife isn't
here right now she'd be poking me and
saying put it down you know how clumsy
you are you're going to drop it I
haven't dropped it yet and I promise I
won't drop it thank you so much I'll
take it back don't
more more
written thank
you so uh last evening we had a little
pre- celebration for Stan a small get
together and uh I had a few words to say
about education and entertainment and
how they relate like Stan referred to a
little earlier and then Stan talked he
had uh good stories as he did to today
to share and one of them was was the
fact that he shared that he wasn't a college
college
graduate he said I didn't go to college
and then he said wait I did start one
course at a City College in New York and
he said the reason I started that was
because I was really interested in this young
young
lady and she was taking that course and
she worked during the day that's the
only time I could see her he said so I
took the signed up for the course my
very first college course said then I
dropped out after three or four weeks he
said it turned out that she really
wasn't interested in me so that's how
his college career ended so Stan while
you may not have gone to college we at
UCLA extension want you to know that
your life's work is worthy of University
recognition let me do that now by
presenting you with his honorary UCLA
ahead the statement inside reads as
follows presented to Stan Lee in recogn
recognition of his inspiring Legacy a
life's work that illuminates the
transformative power of Storytelling for
Los Angeles and the world thank you Stan
thank you so I have a college
degree oh look at that well thank you we
colleg men we know about these things
let me just also I'll show you the if we
Fold It Out whoops don't lose that right
there it is a University of California
Los Angeles there you go this goes in
the most prominent place in my office
great thank you thank you so
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