NaNoWriNO Day 9
Topic: Actor/Actress who makes me smile, and how I would behave if I met him/her
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“All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players, They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts”
I’ve always loved this snippet from William Shakespeare’s As You Like It (Act II, Scene VII) because I find it to be such a succinct way of describing life. I love seeing myself, or a particular period of my life, in books or plays or movies or songs. It’s like making a human connection with someone even though there is nobody there to have that connection with.
Truth be told, I’ve never really been impacted emotionally by an actor or actress. They make a living off of convincing audiences they are anyone but who they really are. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure some of them are very nice people, but I’ve never had the desire to thank them for playing make believe.
I may not get something from the person behind the character, but I have definitely taken something away from the character itself. I’m not sure why the following quotes are among my favorites of all time. Perhaps they are so powerful that they touched everyone who watched the movie, or it could be that they were exactly what I needed to hear at the time. I just know that these moments, with these characters, left an imprint in my mind.
“I have to believe in a world outside my own mind. I have to believe that my actions still have meaning, even if I can’t remember them. I have to believe that when my eyes are closed, the world’s still there. Do I believe the world’s still there? Is it still out there?… Yeah. We all need mirrors to remind ourselves who we are. I’m no different.” – Leonard Shelby in Memento
“Some people feel like they don’t deserve love. They walk away quietly into empty spaces, trying to close the gaps of the past.” – Christopher McCandless in Into the Wild
“I never realize how much I like being home unless I’ve been somewhere really different for a while.” Juno MacGuff in Juno
“I’ll tell you everything, and you tell me everything, and maybe we can get through all the piss and shit and lies that kill other people.” – Claudia Wilson Gator in Magnolia
“Don’t ever let anyone ever say to you, ‘You shouldn’t regret anything.’ Don’t do that, don’t! You regret what you fucking want! And use that, use that, use that regret for anything, any way you want.” – Earl Patridge in Magnolia
“Instead of telling our young people to plan ahead, we should tell them to plan to be surprised.” – Dan Burns in Dan in Real Life
“I have to remind myself that some birds aren’t meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright. And when they fly away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up DOES rejoice. But still, the place you live in is that much more drab and empty that they’re gone.” Red in The Shawshank Redemption
“…we live or die by the clock. We never turn our back on it. And we never, ever allow ourselves the sin of losing track of time. – Chuck Noland in Cast Away
“…there’s a conflict in every human heart, between the rational and irrational, between good and evil. And good does not always triumph. Sometimes, the dark side overcomes what Lincoln called the better angels of our nature.” – General Corman in Apocalypse Now
If I could thank these characters, I certainly would. My reaction to meeting them would probably be something like, “Um…this is kind of weird. How are you real?” I’ll guess I’ll have to settle for seeing them while I sit on my couch in my sweats.
Now that I’ve showed you mine, you need to show me yours. Which movie characters (or movie itself) stand out in your minds?
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Thank you to Katy from Tired of Previews for suggesting this topic. She’s a movie reviewer, and just got a snazzy new site. Please check it out!
Sips of Jen and Tonic 
