Inspirational film quotes to live by…
...or else!
I’m a huge re-watcher. It’s sort of the point of this newsletter really, the fact that I will return to bits of things over and over and over ad infinitum without getting sick of them. I’m a little bit in awe of anyone who can see a film, love it, call it their favourite film and never watch it again. I think people like that get a lot more done. I latch onto stuff, which I have been told is an anxious person thing, but I prefer to see it as academic research.
My fixation on rewatching has led to a few quotes implanting themselves in my brain and never leaving. Some have been there longer than others, some are more inspiring than others, but all of them are inspiring in some way at least. You will come away from this reading experience having learnt something, even if that thing is that I need to be studied.
You’re forbidden from reading anything deep into what this list says about my taste in movies. I have excellent and varied taste but good advice often comes from the most unexpected source. Just live your life by these simple rules and everything will be ok!
“Pick up, put down, it’s not rocket science.” — Kate, Wild Child
I think this every single time I make my bed (which is every day because I have an app that makes me do it so I can start the day having achieved something… you guessed it, it’s an anxiety thing!). “Pick up, put down, it’s not rocket science,” is so insightful. It’s a turning point in this masterpiece of a movie. Kate teaches Moore Poppy Moore a simple life skill and in the process, they become friends. That’s so pure. It’s not how I make my bed though. I don’t pick up my duvet and flick it in the air and then drop it down again. It’s also not what Kate and MPM do when they make that bed…there’s a lot of fitted sheet labour going on. And what about all of my decorative throws? What about the fact that I have a double bed (brag) and a high tog duvet (double brag)? That’s a three person job. Anyway, it doesn’t stop me thinking about it every single day as I make my bed like a normal person.
“Change is nature, Dad.” — Remy the rat chef, Ratatouille
Ratatouille is a generation-defining work of art. Do you think this is hyperbole? Are you in the right headspace to receive information that could possibly hurt you? You are wrong. I am deadly serious. It is actually a movie about working in the arts. Remy is “nothing less than the finest chef in France”, but he’s unable to make anything of himself because the industry is so enclosed and unwilling to change. Alfredo Linguini is a nepo baby with no talent and he gains fame and respect he doesn’t deserve, by passing off the unpaid work of a working class artist as his own. Then there’s the critical side of things. I ran a workshop on arts criticism a few weeks ago and, without any hint of irony, I quoted Anton Ego’s monologue about how self-important critics are. If I were ever to undergo some kind of personality transplant that made me want to go to drama school, it would be my audition piece. None of this is relevant to the quote I’ve chosen, but I actually don’t think much needs to be said about that quote that isn’t already in it.
Sorry to be serious for one second, but remind yourself of this exchange between Remy and his Dad about only looking out for your own kind when things get hard and then tell me it doesn’t make you feel anything.
Remy: No. Dad, I don't believe it. You're telling me, that the future is — can *only* be — more of *this*?
Django: This is the way things are. You can't change nature.
Remy: Change *is* nature, Dad. The part that *we* can influence. And it starts when we decide.
Django: Where are you going?
Remy: With luck, forward.
Speaking of which…
“Please let me THROUGH” — Gaston, Beauty and the Beast
Heartbreaking: The Worst Person You Know Just Made A Great Point. Look, Gaston is a terror and a Bad Man, but you have to know that sometimes he’s on the money. Once, he said he uses antlers in all of his decorating — now, that’s a man who knows his personal style. He isn’t sleeping on grey sheets and treating his weights as living room decor. This quote gets to the crux of why it’s so difficult to get places. People just sometimes won’t let you get there! You might think this is a metaphor for success or gatekeeping but I mean literally, crowds are hard. It’s actually really stressful when you are in a crowd with your friends, a festival maybe or like a large wedding, and you lose track of those friends. You just want to get through the throng and find them but people are not letting you through. Gaston, I see you. It wasn’t even about Belle at that point, it was just that feeling of having to swim through an ocean of shoulders. A living nightmare. As a culture, we should be letting people through more. Again, not a metaphor.
“Okay, I may be ugly, but these aren't overalls!” — Josie, Bottoms
Please can everyone just, like, make absolutely sure you know what you’re talking about when you talk about overalls, jumpsuits, dungarees, etc? This is important. You can’t just go around saying something is something else and changing the meaning of everything! I get it, language evolves over time, but somehow we’ve got to a place in society where we’re calling jumpsuits dungarees and that is an appropriation of queer and/or farm culture I simply cannot stand for! Some things are overalls. Some things are not. Words have meaning. Be better.
“Come the fuck on, Bridget.” — Tom, Bridget Jones’s Diary
This is the most mainstream on the list. You can probably buy a print of this from notonthehightreet dot com. But honestly, have you ever heard such a universally applicable quote in your entire miserable life? There is only one situation in which the use of this quote is not appropriate and that is when your boss is called Bridget, which is what happened to me when I was first starting out in the professional world. I wasn’t as assertive as I am these days in the workplace, but even if I had been, I would never have thought to speak to my editor in this way! I do, however, speak to myself and everybody else this way every day, exclusively under my breath. Traffic? Come the fuck on, Bridget! Procrastinating, Come the fuck on, Bridget! Can’t get your frayed embroidery thread through the eye of the needle? Come the fuck on, Bridget!!
“Mild, or come not near me. Of good discourse, an excellent musician. And her hair shall be, of what colour it please god.” — Benedick, Much Ado About Nothing
I got this one in my brain during my GCSEs. Which means this quote has been rattling around in there for half of my life. It’s only this small part of the overall monologue that made the cut, I think because of Kenneth’s delivery. I had this adaptation on VHS and would watch it over and over and over under the guise of studying for my exams. Can you blame me? It’s an extremely hot movie. The bit where they ride over the hill in slow motion? Emma Thompson’s tan? Keanu Reeves plotting while getting a massage? If you haven’t seen it, please rectify asap. But seriously, you can do your hair however you like, but not feeling mild? Do not approach! I am fragile.
“How you likin’ tha rain, girl?” — Mike Newton, Twilight
This might be the most important one on here, because it does rain a lot. But how does that make you feel? How regularly are you checking in with yourself to see how you likin’ tha rain? Because tha rain isn’t a good or a bad thing. Sometimes tha rain comes after a really hot, muggy day when you’ve been sweating on the Victoria line. Sometimes tha rain comes on a day you weren’t planning on going out anyway and you can watch it outside your window. Why not take a leaf out of Sondheim’s book and relax and listen to tha rain on the roof go plunk-planka-plink plunk-planka-plink-planka? And while we’re at it, when was the last time you texted your friend just to ask how she’s liking tha rain, girl? I bet you can’t even remember. I ask it to my plants every time I water them, which at this time of year is much.
What are the movie quotes that define your life? PLEASE tell me how to live!
It's La *Push*, baby. It's *La* Push.
10/10 collection of movies. "Come the fuck on Bridget" is ALWAYS in my brain, it's nice to see it recognised here!! Loved this piece.