Reader,
I have a challenge for you: Think back to any type of t.v. show or movie flick and determine which character it is who makes you say: " WHOEVER WROTE THIS SCRIPT WAS OBSERVING MY LIFE WITHOUT ME EVER KNOWING!"
Like so many others, due to the pandemic I have binged on t.v. reruns and movies on dvd. With regular programming having gone kaput, as has my old dvd player, I met a problem of my own. I had to watch WHAT I WANTED TO WHEN I WANTED TO without advertisement tagging words such as: curbside or phrases such as: "we will get through this together" BLAH!!!!!!!!! I was fried and I needed change. So, I did the sensible thing and hijacked my parent's player. I retreated into the comfy world of old "How I Met Your Mother" reruns and 'Zoolander' (which I still believe with all of my heart could cure some health problems and bring world peace) Yes, it manipulates body chemistry THAT MUCH. I did finally view 'Joker' with Joaquin Phoenix. Of all the people in the world he is the one person I'd sit down to a drink with and have conversation. I don't get star struck easy. I'm not an 'airport' autograph seeker at all, yet that guy really intrigues me. He's an absurdly, amazing talent!
In forming a character; script writers, show runners and television writers commonly draw from someone in real life. It can be a single person or it can be an amalgamation of people morphed into one composite. As I viewed all of these shows and movies I began to see STRIKING similarities concerning my personality and life perspective from two in particular:
Hansel McDonald (played by Owen Wilson) 'ZOOLANDER'
Male modeling aside, this character is so much like me in how I love to experiment. Some people are foodies, I love new, challenging and visceral experiences. Since I have been partially laid off until mid summer, I've picked the most physically undesirable activities in which to participate; around my North Alabama home. I believe I invented extreme jogging (jog up 30 - 40 % gradient, tailored slopes on streets and trails) in the Appalachian foothills for a mile. Done multiple mile SUP and open water swim sessions together with and against currents in a local river basin. Body surfed in 5 foot Gulf chop on a red flag designated FL. beach for a one day turn around during a 600 mile round trip. I did all of it BECAUSE I WAS BORED AND I WANTED TO EXPERIENCE THE HIGH THAT COMES FROM THAT TYPE OF EXERTION. This a trait, or character flaw to most anxious wives, mothers and girlfriends; which I received from my dad. I ALSO DID IT BECAUSE I COULD MAKE UP MY OWN RULES. I COULD MAKE UP AN EVENT CREATED BY MY OWN REALITY. It's safe to say Hansel would be proud to know that one of my favorite new weekly activities is bathing with organic soap in a 55 degree spring fed creek while ingesting CBD oil. It is always about the experience with me. It always will be.
Ted Mosby (played by Josh Radnor) 'HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER'
The modern dating world is extremely superficial, crass and self-serving. I've been dinged up a lot over the past half decade. Yet, like Ted I'm always the hopeful optimist and I LOVE romance and doing things like John Cusack did in 'Say Anything.' For the right gal, I'd steal a blue French horn from an establishment and risk getting arrested. I've attempted to learn Portuguese before to communicate with an amazing Brazilian women I met on Facebook by simply saying hello a few years back ( I gotta say it is a mildly difficult language to learn and it is harder than Spanish). In spite of all of these similarities I stand out from Ted in that I set better boundaries in the types of women or people in general I let into my life. If I feel someone carries a superficial or self-serving personality I become assertive and guard myself against such a person. I've also become proficient at rejecting situations that could harm me emotionally or are not productive in romantically. It comes from dating during my twenties and not having any boundaries or self control and facing loads of pain and emasculation. I guess that's just part of aging. You become more wise to the world around you. Anyway, Ted would be proud to know I've returned to dinner parties before to look for the same women I chatted with for a New York minute months before at the same meetup group. Just as he did during the "Slutty Pumpkin" episode in Season # 1. I could absolutely relate to that episode, even as elements of it were not realistic. I'd never carry it that far myself, personally.
So reader, as we get out more into society again, but still hunker down at times.....................next time you seek entertainment - ask yourself the fun question: WHICH T.V. OR SILVER SCREEN CHARACTER MOST PORTRAYS ME IN REAL LIFE?
J.C.B.
5/20/2020
