SELF: Define Your Character

Movie quote from: The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) - Tom Ripley (Matt Damon)

When a person is faced with a sense of their own insignificance, as everyone is now and again, they have a choice.  They can become more involved with life, bouncing themselves off a variety of human experiences until they discover a meaningful identity for themselves or they can pretend to be someone else.  In the 1999 film, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Matt Damon's title character chooses the latter, assuming a variety of people-pleasing impersonations along the way.  As always, the consequences of the false path don't reveal themselves in the short term.  But they do come. 

Movie quote from: Serendipity (2001) - Dean Kansky (Jeremy Piven)

Jonathan’s (John Cusack) life changed the day he met Sara (Kate Beckinsale). After an enjoyable walk about town, they agreed to leave their future to ‘serendipity’. Rather than trading names and phone numbers, she put her name in a book and he put it on a five-dollar bill. They agreed that if either person stumbled across the book or bill, they were meant to be together. And so began Jonathan’s passionate quest to reconnect with the woman who touched his soul.

Movie quote from: Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) – Louise ‘Babe’ Bennett (Jean Arthur)

Our culture is stuck. In 1936, the film Mr. Deeds Goes to Town featured the pop media and cultural elite's preference for making fun of basic goodness and optimism. Seventy years later, we show no progress. We continue to prefer critical perspectives over thoughts that are more constructive and substantial. How can cynicism and civic disinterest continue to be so cool?

Movie quote from: A Cinderella Story (2004) - Sam's Dad (Whip Hubley)

When faced with an uncomfortable challenge, most of us turn away.  We choose 'not embarrassing ourself' over 'pursuing opportunity'.  This is certainly the case for Sam (Hilary Duff), a young woman whose father's death leaves her living with a stepmother who does not care about her. (does this story sound familiar?)  As we learn in the surprising film, A Cinderella Story, rewards often come to those confident enough to step up to the plate and swing.

Movie quote from: Notes on a Scandal (2006) - Sheba Hart (Cate Blanchett)

We all need a purpose to our lives. We must pursue things unaccomplished to bring new meaning to our day. However, obsessive needs can be mistaken for meaningful purpose. When this happens, damaging long-term pain is often the result. By narrow-mindedly pursuing short-term emotional needs, we place at risk values that are more long-lasting. No film better portrays the importance of 'minding the right gaps' than the powerful movie, Notes on a Scandal.

Movie quote from: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) - HAL (Douglas Rain)

In Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, the artificially interactive computer HAL is asked by a BBC interviewer if it was frustrated by its dependence on humans to get things done. HAL's confident response (cited above) demonstrates its sense that it was working at maximum potential. I don't know a single human being who could say that.  The great majority of us have never encountered our "fullest possible use" because we aren't focused enough to explore those possibilities.

Movie quote from: Almost Famous (2000) - Dennis Hope (Jimmy Fallon)

Fifteen year old William Miller (Patrick Fugit) loves rock music.  The difference between him and other teens is that he writes for Creem and Rolling Stone magazines.  He earned this role by fearlessly launching himself into the world of rock musicians.  Rather than watching life, William gets involved in the things he loves.  Although a rock manager named Dennis Hope (Jimmy Fallon's first movie role) says the Almost Famous quote above, it represents the spirit of the film's lead character.  No matter what obstacles he faces, William always finds a way to make his dreams come true.

Movie quote from: The Shawshank Redemption (1994) - Andy Defresne (Tim Robbins)

In The Shawshank Redemption, prison has sucked the life out of Red (Morgan Freeman).  He has lost all hope, accepting that he will never see freedom again.  Into that life comes Andy Defresne (Tim Robbins), a prisoner who knows the importance of keeping hope alive.  Andy's arrival sparks a renewed sense of possibility for Red.  His life would never be the same.