Monday, March 31, 2008

Why i Love/Hate High Fidelity

12-05-2007


INT. CHARLIE'S LIVING ROOM - LATER

Rob is a little too settled into the couch, somewhat bleary.
Everyone gone but the two of them, Charlie plops down into a
chair across from Rob.

ROB
Hey Charlie.

CHARLIE
Hey Rob.

ROB
Why did you break up with me for
Marco?

CHARLIE
(on her feet)
Fuck! I knew it! You're going
through one of those what-does-it-
all-mean things.

ROB
Huh?

CHARLIE
There's been a rash of them,
recently. I find it a little
unnerving. In fact Marco called a
few months back, and he wanted to
see me, and rehash the past as they
say, and I wasn't really up for it.
Do all men go through this?

ROB(CONT'D)
C'mon, just answer the question.
You can say what you like. What
the hell?

Charlie looks off at a corner of the ceiling, musters a look
of "contemplation."

CHARLIE
It's all kind of lost in the... in
the dense mists of time now... It
wasn't that I really liked Marco
more. In fact I thought you were
more, shall we say, attractive than
him. It was just that he knew he
was good-looking and you didn't,
and that made a difference somehow.
You used to act as if I was weird
for wanting to spend time with you,
and that got kind of beat, if you
know what I mean. Your self-image
started to rub off on me and I
ended up thinking that I was
strange. And I knew that you were
kind and thoughtful... you made me
laugh, and I dug the way you got
consumed by things you loved... and
Marco seemed a bit more, I don't
know, glamorous? More sure of
himself?
(pause)
Less hard work, because I felt like
I was dragging you around, sort of.
(pause)
A little sunnier. Sparkier.
(pause)
I don't know. You know what people
are like at that age. They make
very superficial judgements. Do
you think that's superficial? He
was a clown, if it's any consolation.

ROB
Did you tell that to Marco when he
did his what-does-it-all-mean thing
with you?

CHARLIE
Oh God, no. I didn't want to hurt
his feelings.

i laugh a lot when i watch this. but it also exposes those corners. the ones that i discover while trying to solve a leak in my sink. at floor level, the world looks different. the ugly truth that i didn't clean here for awhile.

i haven't top 5'd in awhile soooo…

top 5 reasons this movie gets to me:
• [strike thru]the questioning.[/strike thru]
(yeah, i know it's not a real tag, but fuck
you, it's my blog.)
*ahem*
• that every fucking time i watch it
another part of me is unearthed,
dissected, desecrated and brings about
melancholy; it's like an effin' recovery
program.
• the slacker.
• the over analyzing.
• the romanticizing but knowing it's only
a veneer.
• the knowing that the above exchange
is true. but not at the time, and only
now, with reflection, can i appreciate it.

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