And, Scene: Crimes and Misdemeanors
"In reality, we rationalize, we deny, or we couldn't go on living." ~ Crimes and Misdemeanors
The first time I saw Crimes and Misdemeanors twenty-five years ago, I was in many ways still a kid. Barely 21, thinking I had all of life's answers, I was working full-time as a nude stripper in Waikiki. My proudest accomplishments involved hoards of cash accumulated on my garter and snorting mountains of cocaine behind the plush velvet ropes in various VIP rooms throughout the city.This is your typical Woody Allen film, full of dry humor wrapped in cynicism, dipped in self-deprecation. A fan since Annie Hall, I knew sinking my teeth into this existential drama would not disappoint. It doesn't hurt that the cast is a list of my faves, ranging from Martin Landau and Angelica Huston to Jerry Orbach and Alan Alda. This is a movie that lifts the veil of ethics and morality. We examine the lives of two very different men, Judah Rosenthal and Cliff Stern - which can easily resemble the devil and angel on our shoulder. Their lives intersect one another as they take different approaches to solve serious problems that they initially brought on themselves. Their choices are based on what's right and wrong, good and bad, and how each of them has rationale behind their decision.As someone who has always danced on the razor-thin line of both morality and ethics - I could more than relate. I asked myself the obvious question when lost in the language of Allen's script.
What would I have done?
Even now all these years later, I find myself referencing this movie when attempting to pick up the pieces of collateral damage from yet another one of my brilliant fuck-ups.My brain is a trip. I can't remember what clothes I wore yesterday, but sitting in regret and reflection during my sunset drive home on the Pacific Coast Highway, I remembered every word - and recited out loud - the final monologue of this movie:
"We are all faced throughout our lives with agonizing decisions. Moral choices. Some are on a grand scale. Most of these choices are on lesser points. But! We define ourselves by the choices we have made.We are in fact the sum total of our choices. Events unfold so unpredictably, so unfairly, human happiness does not seem to have been included, in the design of creation.It is only we, with our capacity to love, that give meaning to the indifferent universe.And yet, most human beings seem to have the ability to keep trying, and even to find joy from simple things like their family, their work, and from the hope that future generations might understand more." ~ Crimes and Misdemeanors
The final scene:[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ7VJ7pMJGQ&w=420&h=315] "We define ourselves by the choices we have made." So true, it hurts.Whether or not I finally get my shit together remains to be seen. But at least I've got old movies to keep me company as I continue to try.