Ashton Kutcher's Surprise Speech

I was told to watch Ashton Kutcher's acceptance speech for the "Ultimate Choice Award" at the 2013 Teen Choice Awards, which aired on Fox this past Sunday night. Amid a bunch of borderline annoying and disruptive screams of adoration, and other award recipients whose current work is (my opinion, sorry to say) a bit kitschy and only appreciated by teens (this is why I said "I was told to watch" this earlier, as I wouldn't normally make time for this particularly award show), Ashton Kutcher accepted his award and made a speech that surprised many people, given what's known of modern pop culture (and the onscreen characters Kutcher portrays). Kutcher exhorted good work ethic, wholesome and generous character, and building lives that contribute to cultural flourishing.

Kutcher was born and raised in east central Iowa, where I graduated high school, so his name was celebrated there not too long after Kurt Warner (another name of eastern Iowa pride) led the St. Louis Rams to a Super Bowl trophy. Thus, I'm familiar with the two high schools he went to, and all eastern Iowans are familiar with the giant aromatic General Mills factory in downtown Cedar Rapids, where Kutcher worked to pay his tuition at the University of Iowa (go Hawks!). 

So, props to Kutcher for promoting such values that he learned in good ol' eastern Iowa. In what could be his breakthrough as a dramatic actor, Kutcher portrays the late Steve Jobs in his upcoming biopic.