Starfish

You know how we sometimes quote movies, "you looking' at me" or "I'll be back" or "It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark... and we're wearing sunglasses. - Hit it!", y'know, that kind of thing. Its sort of funny, can be brilliantly ironic and always must be knowing, it has to be, there's no point in saying something like "We come from lquitos, one thousand two hundred miles down the Amazon. I had to row because our motor broke down." unless you know the person you are speaking to is familiar with the comedic stylings of Klaus Kinski in the laff-a-minute action of Fitzcaralldo it would be pointless, you'd sound a bit mental - or pompous.

Unless.

Unless of course you are attempting to appear more knowledgable and sage-like than the person/people you are speaking to, y'know, patronising (that means talking down to people if you didn't know) If you lack the verbal dexterity and cognitive athleticism needed to impart your own words of 'wisdom' you could always pretend to have depth of character, untapped knowledge and divine insight by stealing quotes or speeches from films and claiming them as your own. Stealing from films is better than using actual speeches 'cos actual speeches are more famous and have actual gravitas that resonates in us, we instinctively know this because the person delivering that speech MEANS what they are saying, it matters to them and they want it to matter to us, Take Martin Luther 'the' King's "I have a Dream" speech. So powerful, so necessary for its time yet still as poignant and relevant today as it was 50-odd years ago. You wouldn't use that, would you? its too famous, too specific, you couldn't even paraphrase it or make comparisons to it, it would be in poor taste and crass. 

You have to be careful stealing from films though, they're popular and people know the words well so choose wisely or you'll be caught out, I'd steer clear of really popular movies like any Harry Potter flick, Star Wars, Condor Man and those kind of things, in fact anything from most of the major studios from the last 20 years or so. Failing that you could choose fading actors or actresses, ones people seem to have forgotten about or even some of their shittier films. For instance Eddie Murphy films, OK he can be a bit sweary and Beverly Hills Cop is a very well known, and oft quoted film, but 'Norbit' isn't (theres not much good dialogue though) 'Boomerang' is utterly, utterly awful and devoid of content or humour so don't use that but 'Holy Man' could be useful, theres lots of good speeches in there despite it being a terrible movie. Don't try and use any of them in a business or marketing context though, the film is a satire on Marketing and advertising, pointing a finger at the gullibility of the general populous and mocking how easily won we often are with flowery literal ambiguity which seems to say a lot but means nothing. For instance, heres a good one from that exact movie…

"When I was a boy there was a great storm, and thousands of starfish were washed up on the beach. I saw a beautiful little girl running up and down the beach, frantically throwing the starfish back into the water. I said to her: "What's the use? You'll never be able to save them all. It won't make any difference." She held up a starfish and said: "it makes a difference to this one." And she was right. It did make a difference to that one, and all the others she managed to save. And it made a difference to her too. Because she was making a connection with another living thing. She was connected to all those starfish she saved. She connected with me. And making connections is really the only time you're truly alive. Isn't it?"

What an inspiring tale, you have the beautiful little girl, (innocent, caring, aw bless), who's logic is impeccable to the doubting onlooker who once faced with said logic is rendered speechless. She connects, she saves, she makes a difference to every one she touches 'every little helps' and we are happy that she is a hero and ignore the thousands of torturous deaths the remaining starfish endured from dry drowning while the heartless, apathetic, naysayer of an onlooker did nothing to help. (Left a tear in my eye)

But.

But now you know that quote is from 'Holy Man' if you hear someone use it with all the sincerity they can muster speaking the words as if they were their own, using it a their signature speech and inspiring others to paraphrase it, it will seem ridiculous, laughable, even a little tragic, particularly if that person is supposed to be someone of esteem, someone intelligent, capable and otherwise erudite, it may even make you question everything they say, you may even think they are using that speech knowingly, as some sort of 'in-joke' used in the same way with the same meaning as the film, and then you might feel as if you are being patronised and no-one likes to feel patronised. do they, you don't like to feel patronised, do you my silly little lovelies? aw bless.

Maybe the whole thing is a minefield. I mean use one liners and jokes from movies, TV or radio, thats fine, its funny, its popular culture and it connects people through a shared experience, we all relate and we laugh and laughing is the best way to make new connections. Maybe Its not a good idea at all to try and be clever (Irony doesn't count) or deceitful with your quotes and 'speeches', your audience will resent you once they realise they have been tricked. I mean if you have been put in a position of power or responsibility I'd assume you'd have the smarts to write your own motivational speech anyway?  It's like a plumber: do your job right and nobody should notice. But when you fuck it up, everything gets full of shit.

(That Plumber line is from 'Wag the Dog', some of you will fully appreciate the layers that 'joke' adds to this piece in particular, some of you won't, send me an email and I'll explain it to you - not that I'm trying to be patronising)