Theres a great scene at the end of Charlie Kaufmans ADAPTATION which, for some reason, Im thinking about a lot today. Charlie Kaufman and his twin brother Donald are hiding out in the Florida Everglades because Susan Orlean and John LaRoche are trying to kill them [if you havent seen this movie, you gotta: its an adaptation of Susan Orleanss The Orchid Thief turned into phantom-auto-biography], and theyre worn out with fear, worry, and exhaustion, and Charlie, who has spent his entire life being afraid of everything and everyone, turns to his brother Donald, whose personality is exuberance and enthusiasm for life and people personified, and Charlie says to Donald, because he figures they are going to die in this swamp together, I admire you, Donald, yknow? Ive spent my whole life paralyzed, worrying what people think of me, and you -- youre just oblivious. And then Charlie recounts a story about when they were in high school together and he watched Donald through a window flirting with a girl, which girl was very nice to Donald until he walked away, at which point she started making fun of Donald with her friends, and Charlie was just devastated because he felt as if they were making fun of HIM. And he says to Donald, You didnt know at all. You seemed so happy. And then Donald corrects Charlie to say that he DID know they were making fun of him, that in fact he is NOT oblivious, and that it didnt matter to him at all the way it mattered to Charlie. And Charlie almost cant believe this, so Donald says to him, in my favorite lines of the movie, I loved Sarah, Charles. It was mine, that love. I owned it. Even Sarah didnt have the right to take it away. I can love whoever I want. And Charlie still protests, saying, She thought you were pathetic. And Donald says, That was her business, not mine. You are what you love, not what loves you. I decided that a long time ago. And that is how *I* want to live my life, and it isnt always easy, but we should try to live, and love, this way, I really believe. Well, those are my thoughts this morning on a brilliantly beautiful day somewhere in a loft apartment in an old sewing factory in downtown Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love.
Posted on: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 15:46:37 +0000
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