I was 17 when I first
watched the film The Mirror Has Two Faces. Fifteen years later and it still has
the same prepossessing effect on me. The
beautifully written script hasn’t wavered in its ability to strike a chord somewhere
in the beginning, in the middle and to the very end. The musical score was
equally genius, interweaving both classical music and mainstream ballads. I
loved the team up of Barbara Streisand and Jeff Bridges and their enamoring
chemistry on screen. It would be wrong not to share my favorite quotes from
this movie so here are the lines that briefly suspended me from reality.
For those
of you who missed out on this great movie, here is the trailer from IMDb, http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi4176871705/
.
My favorite part would have
to be when Rose (Barbara Streisand) was discussing their lesson in class as
transcribed below. I’ve
highlighted the best bits in my humble opinion. Enjoy!
“Rose: So this is the scene at my sister’s wedding, right.
There she is getting drunk regretting she ever got married for the third time,
mind you. My mother is so jealous she’s sprouting snakes from her hair and I’m
thinking this is perfect. We've got three feminine archetypes: The divine
whore, Medusa - and me. Who am I? What archetype?
Trevor: The Virgin Mary?
Rose: Thanks a lot, Trevor.
Rose: No, the faithful handmaiden. Always the bridesmaid,
never the bride. It does prove however what Jung said all along. Myths and
archetypes are alive and well and living in my apartment. As l stood beside the
altar beside my sister and her husband to be, it struck me that this ritual, a
wedding ceremony, is really just the final scene of a fairy tale. They never tell
you what happens after. They never tell you that Cinderella drove the prince crazy
with her obsessive need to clean the castle. But she missed her day job. No, they
don't tell us what happens after because there is no after. The be-all and
end-all of romantic love was ... Mike?
Mike: Sex?
Rose: Mike, Mike, Mike sex on the brain, Mike.
Student: Marriage.
Rose: Marriage, that’s right but it wasn't always like that.
In the twelfth century there was a notion known as ''courtly love'',
which had nothing to do with sex. In most cases, it was defined as a passionate
relationship between a knight and a lady of the court who was already married...And
so they could never consummate their love. In this way they would have to rise
above your ordinary ''going to the bathroom in front of each other'' kinda love,
and they would go after something more divine. They took sex out of the
equation, and what was left was a union of souls. Think of this. Sex was always
the fatal love potion. Look at the literature of the time, Lancelot and
Guinevere, Tristan and Isolde. All consummation could lead to was madness,
despair or death. Clinical experts, scholars and my Aunt Esther are united in the
belief that True love has spiritual dimensions, while romantic love is nothing
but a lie, an illusion, a modern myth, a soulless manipulation. Speaking of
manipulation, it’s like going to the movies and we see the lovers on screen
kiss and the music swells, and we buy it, right? So when my date takes me home
and kisses me good night, and if I don’t hear the Philharmonic in my head, l
dump him. Now the question is why do we
buy it? We buy it because whether it’s a myth or manipulation, let’s face it, we
all want to fall in love, right? Why? Because that experience makes us feel
completely alive where every sense is heightened, every emotion is magnified
and our everyday reality is shattered, and we are flung into the heavens. lt
may only last a moment, an hour, an afternoon but that doesn't diminish its
value because we're left with memories that we treasure for the rest of our
lives. l read an article a while ago that said that when we fall in love, we
hear Puccini in our heads. l love that. I think it’s because his music fully expresses
our longing for passion in our lives and romantic love and while we’re listening
to La Bóheme or Turandot, or reading Wuthering Heights, or watching Casablanca a
little bit of that love lives in us, too. So the final question is: Why do
people want to fall in love when it can have such a short shelf life and be devastatingly
painful?
Student 1: Propagation of the species?
Student 2: Psychologically, we need to connect with
somebody.
Student 3: Because we are culturally preconditioned?
Rose: Good, but too intellectual for me. l think it's
because, as some of you may already know…while it does last, it feels fucking
great.”
