Leave it to me
We’ve been discussing our favorite movie lines in class lately. For some reason, I’ve been drawing a complete blank. This has been strange because I love movies. As I began to really think about my favorite movies, I did recall some lines and realized how these brief statements that someone wrote in a script one day really relate to our own lives.
One of my favorites is in “Steele Magnolias” when Shelby says “I would rather have 30 minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special.” This is a very powerful statement. I think so many people go through their daily routines without really experiencing life. And others live every moment to the fullest, every day as if it was their last. They take chances on wishes that may never come true, but in the end they’ve had their “30 minutes of wonderful.”
Another of my favorites is in yet another Julia Roberts classic, “Pretty Woman,” when she says, “I want the fairy tale.” Don’t we all? But I think what she’s really saying is that we shouldn’t settle for less, not just in love, but in life itself. So many times we go through life just settling. Why not expect everything instead? I do realize that there must be some reality in life, but why not shoot for the fairytales?
There are others that are relatively pointless, but memorable and relatable none the less. Like when Baby in “Dirty Dancing” says “I carried a watermelon.” I think we’ve all said things that have made us look a little less than cool.
In “The Wizard of Oz” Dorothy says, “There’s no place like home.” The
older I get, the more I believe this. Even though the wicked witch and the flying monkeys are still a little scary, Dorothy’s little piece of wisdom is something we could all stand to remember from time to time.
Some lines really make an impact. I have always been a huge “Rocky” fan. At the end of “Rocky IV,” Sylvester Stalone says, “If I can change, and you can change – then everybody can change.” I think sometimes we are afraid to step out of our box and actually try to see someone else’s point of view. Sometimes we have to agree to disagree, but other times by simply listening we can inspire others to change. We can all learn something from each other and in the end we become better people because of it.
In “Hope Floats” Sandra Bullock says, “Beginnings are scary, endings are usually sad – it’s what’s in the middle that counts.” I can definitely relate to this, even in my time at college. Everything was so new when I first came here. It was all a little scary. And as the end approaches in a little less than a year, I’m excited, but I am also sad to leave some things and friends behind. But in between the beginning and the end, I’ve learned so much and made so many memories.
And then there’s the modern classic “Forrest Gump” with “Life is like a box of chocolates — you never know what you’re gonna get.” That couldn’t be any more true. We all go through life never knowing what to expect. In the end, it’s that mixture and element of surprise that makes life exciting.
The lines we hear in movies can often be reflections of our own life experiences. They remind us that we’re a little goofy, sometimes they call us to remember our triumphs. And then again, sometimes they remind us of the obstacles we face in life. But I think Wooderson said it best in “Dazed and Confused.”
“You just gotta keep on livin’ man! L-I-V-I-N!”
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Jan 31 2003. Filed under Opinion.
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