After last weekend's glut of movies, Seattle Maggie is running a little low on inspiration today. Between the ridiculous heat wave and The Man Getting Us Down at our crappy office job, we find solace losing ourselves in the oblivion of so-so movies that one can always find playing somewhere on cable any time of day or night - Kindergarten Cop, for instance, or Mystic Pizza. We paraphrase Cameron Crowe when we say that being with these movies is like being alone - comfortable, undemanding, and reliable to a fault. Background noise, if you please. However, these trifles are less than exciting to anyone not suffering from a summer slump such as we languish under.
Therefore, we turn to Boyfriend Todd, who is enjoying a much needed break from adult life by recently becoming a full time student. As such, he is able to take in an afternoon movie much more easily than us poor working slobs. His latest foray into the theater was to catch Napoleon Dynamite, a quirky indie flick that somehow held little interest for us personally. It seemed to be another one of those pictures that was filled with crazy characters whose main purpose was to be crazy and little else, something which can be interesting, but usually turns into a mess. As luck would have it, BT found that it tickled his funnybone with all the right moves. The following is a transcript of our conversation after the movie:
Seattle Maggie: So, how did you like the movie?
Boyfriend Todd: It was weird, but good. And funny.
SM: How do you mean?
BT: Well, for example, there is this...heh heh...
SM: What?
BT: This llama...heh...and it was...(snort) HA ha...!!
SM: A llama?
BT: It was named TINA....WAH HA HAH HA!!!
Transcript ends in a barrage of hilarity.
Hm. Whether it is the inherent nature of llamas to be humorous or something more, we are not sure (although just writing the word "llama" over and over again does make us crack a tiny grin). It is mystery that will be investigated further, perhaps when this movie makes it to DVD. However, we must say that when a movie causes such an impressive eruption of laughter, there can only be something good going on. Everyone could use a belly laugh like that every now and then. See if Napoleon Dynamite does it for you at theater in your neighborhood.
On A Personal Note: We speculate that another reason that BT found this movie so enjoyable was the opportunity to identify with another film redhead. Apparently, the stigma of the red hair (especially among boys) is something that haunts a person for life. According to BT, who sports some fine bronze curls himself, redheaded men/boys are always portrayed on screen as "nerds, bullies or weirdos like that kid in Children of the Corn". Seattle Maggie challenges you to present us with any examples of Titan-haired leading men of some sexiness, so we can continue in our quest to trump BT's pessimistic views with a hearty "A-HA!"
Posted by seattle maggie at August 9, 2004 10:01 PMI can't provide any response to your challenge of finding a sexy redheaded male movie role, but I just wanted to comment that redheaded women have a similar fate as cinematic outcasts. There are a few redheaded actresses who are cast in sexy leading roles (Julianne Moore and sometimes-redhead Julia Roberts), but usually actresses with bright red, curly locks are cast in movies and on TV shows as the friend, the quirky sidekick, or the socially awkward, bumbling nerdy girl. Also, I've noted that Julianne Moore always has perfectly straightened hair, which I assume isn't naturally that way, as that is a bit rare among redheads. So I guess if you straighten out those curly red locks, then you get the sexy lead roles.
Posted by: raging red at August 10, 2004 1:00 PMSissy Spacek.
Posted by: Wiley Wiggins at August 11, 2004 5:39 PMIt is certainly easier to think of the redheaded women, I came up with Cate Blanchette, Lauren Ambrose and of course, Molly Ringwald, who wasn't actually a natural redhead but was most famous that way. However, after much, much thinking for poor Todd to have a follicle role model, I came up with Ron Howard. Sure it's Opie, but Opie's made Oscar-winning films. He's ginger, and he's proud!
Posted by: karen at August 11, 2004 11:31 PMThough not exactly a tour-de-force, I'd like to throw David Caruso's hat, or hair, into the mix. True, the tough-guy routine never seemed less convincing, but the guy does continue to make a career out of it.
Posted by: Ninja, please at August 13, 2004 12:52 PMGood Job, Ninja! You hit on one of two mainstream redhead males in the acting business that I know of - I wish I could give you a prize, but alas, I am poor. However, since the first word most people associate with Mr. Caruso is "creepy" (it's true! Try it at your next social gathering) I am reserving judgement on him as a sex-symbol. Unless you like that sort of thing, of course.
The other one is...well, anyone care to guess? As Raging Red points out, his hair is also very straight...
Hmm...I thought of Eric Stoltz after I first commented. But that can't be who you are thinking of, SM, since his hair isn't straight. I personally wouldn't call him a sex symbol, but I did have a roommate in college who thought he was hot. Oh god, and I just remembered that Eric Stoltz played the lead in Mask - definitely NOT a sex symbol role.
Posted by: raging red at August 14, 2004 8:08 PMRedheads are also sometimes child molestors! See: The Butterfly Effect.
xox