Jim Belushi, sitcom star of the show “According to Jim” is out hawking a book titled Real Men Don’t Apologize. But the book and Belushi’s philosophy is largely based upon the views of a controversial weekend seminar guru with a “cult following” named Justin Sterling.
Sterling who now lives in California was born in Brooklyn. His given name was Arthur ”Artie” Kasarjian.
The philosophy “Artie” concocted and later taught his disciple Belushi is a facile, self-serving mix of Robert Bly (Iron John), with a dash of John Gray (Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus) presented through a mass marathon training weekend format much like EST, which Sterling himself was once involved in.
Apparently the former “Estie” realized the profitability of such seminars and essentially copied the format to create his own spin-off of another guru’s teachings named Werner Erhard, formerly known as Jack Rosenberg, who just like Sterling had changed his name too.
Much like his mentor Belushi’s book is largely derivative and it appears the sitcom star may have done the Sterling Weekend himself. He offers warmed over “Sterlingisms” such as “men don’t apologize for being who they are,” with such original thought as “Beer does not judge you” reports the Chicago Sun-Times.
Now on his third marriage the actor turned author has supposedly worked through his relationship foibles, with a little help from his guru, whom he gushed about and quoted last night on the CNBC Donny Deutsch talk show.
However, critics of Justin Sterling have told CultNews that this self-styled relationship guru has done more harm than good and is something of a woman-hating misogynist and his weekend has been likened to “brainwashing.”
Sterling preaches for a price that society is “screwed up because women have become masculine and competitive and men have become feminized” and that “we are going against thousands of years of genetic programming–men are the hunters, women are the gatherers.”
No doubt Belushi would grunt his approval of such “breakthrough” thinking.
Sterling teaches what are affectionately called his “$50.00 tips” such as the following:
Hey wait a minute, does this sound like the world “According to Jim”?
Could it be that much of the ABC sitcom is based upon such “Sterlingisms”?
One of the most bizarre features of the “Sterling Weekend” is its finale. At the conclusion of the seminar the participating men strip naked for a male bonding ritual that is routinely videotaped by Justin Sterling’s devoted “volunteers.”
Is there a video of Jim Belushi dancing naked sitting up on Justin Sterling’s shelf?
Whatever the case is it doesn’t appear that the actor’s philosophy garnered from his guru should be taken any more seriously than his sitcom character.
Perhaps the best advice Belushi offers within his book is this, “Don’t be a know-it-all. There’s no reason to be an expert on everything.”
Now if Jim Belushi will only take his own advice.
