Thursday, January 13, 2005
Is there such thing as a friend?
An Erdinger fueled debate with AM hit the When Harry Met Sally question - can heterosexual members of the opposite sex be friends?
His reckoning is straightforward, yet perhaps more conservative than contemporary thinking:
Only after a man and woman have been in a relationship together, can they ever go platonic.
A more progressive, yet cynical (surprise) approach could be:
There is no such thing as a friend. Desire is all that matters.
I once said that I would drink with anyone. If, say Mussolini turned up, I would just avoid discussing African foreign policy. I needed someone to prop up the bar, and he was around. Every person you interact with, you do so to serve your own ends. Some people inspire you, some people open your mind, and so on. And some people, you give to. They fool you into believing, for even a fleeting moment, that in some way, you have a contribution to make back into the world from which you have taken so very much - and make you feel valued. All these interactions develop our character, and translate to a feeling of progress.
This theory shines in the explanation of how people can drop in, and drop back out of your life, forever, depending on the phase that you were experiencing at the time. Losing a friend can be percieved as a good thing, a sign of progress.
The sex of the friend is pertinent to the nature of the relationship, sure, but in the same way that the haircut, music taste or simple 'right here, right now' matter.
Solititude is frightening, because we will cease to progress.
Which brings me to The Life Of Brian. A man so completely at one with himself, that he could abstain from human interaction for 18 years:
- FOLLOWERS:
- Master! Master!...
- BRIAN:
- Hey! Is there another way down?
-
- Is there another path down to the river?
- SIMON THE HOLY MAN:
- Mmmmmmm.
- BRIAN:
- Please! Please help me! I've got to get--
- SIMON:
- Mm.
- [whump]
- Oh, my foot! Oh!
- BRIAN:
- Shhhh.
- SIMON:
- Oh, damn, damn, damn!
- BRIAN:
- Well, I'm sorry. Shhh.
- SIMON:
- Oh, damn, damn, and blast it!
- BRIAN:
- I'm sorry. Shhhh!
- SIMON:
- Don't you 'shhhh' me. Eighteen years of total silence, and you 'shhhh' me!
- BRIAN:
- What?
- SIMON:
- I've kept my vow for eighteen years. Not a single, recognisable, articulate sound has passed my lips.
- BRIAN:
- Oh, please. Could you be quiet for another five minutes?
- SIMON:
- Oh, it doesn't matter now. I might as well enjoy myself. The times in the last eighteen years I've wanted to shout and sing and...
- BRIAN:
- Shhhh.
- SIMON:
- ...scream my name out! Oh, I'm alive!
-
- July 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- October 2009
- July 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- December 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- November 2005
- October 2005
- September 2005
- August 2005
- July 2005
- June 2005
- May 2005
- April 2005
- March 2005
- February 2005
- January 2005
- December 2004
- November 2004
- October 2004
- September 2004
- August 2004
- July 2004
- June 2004
- May 2004
- April 2004
- March 2004