I apologize if this comes off as egotistical or braggadocious- that is not my intent.
But I was watching one of the VERY RARE Batman movies that I haven’t seen...... to clarify.... the movie itself isn’t rare. What is rare is for there to be a Batman movie I haven’t seen. While I openly embrace “I am obsessed with Time Travel and will watch anything time travel because of that”.... I’m.... well.... I’m not secretive about my Batman love. THIS VERY JOURNAL IDENTITY is based on Batman, for crying out loud! So.... I know, I get, I understand, I appreciate Batman..... and it is rare for there to be a Batman movie that I haven’t seen. This.... having followed the character for 30 plus years… makes me feel like I really understand the character. NOT like the late great Kevin Conroy… fuck I love that man and his passing is one of those “The world is lesser for having lost him but greater for having known him”....... but I know this character. (remember that, the rest of this might seem meandering but I’m connecting it to this paragraph.)
When I was a kid, I was always trying to get my Dad’s approval… a kind word, an encouragement, recognition. I adore my mother but it is very much one of those cases where… Mom was always supportive… but I knew it was important if it got Dad’s attention. And one of the things that consistently got Dad’s respect and admiration? Was predicting movie lines. I know, it’s weird. But… we’d be watching a movie… I’d say the next line before it was said.... the movie would do the next line, proving me correct… and my Dad would spin on a dime, look at me quizzically, and say, “Have you seen this before?!” The answer was almost always: “No. Never seen this. Just… that was the obvious response.”
Back then and for many years, I assumed that my ability to predict lines was because “Hollywood has gotten stale, predictable, recycled- I can predict lines because the writers aren’t even trying anymore!” I felt that.... pretty hard, to be honest!
But as I was quoting a Batman movie that I’d never seen before with an accuracy of about… around 89%… it dawned on me that… maybe it isn’t because Script Writers suck and have no original ideas and recycle the same hacky bullshit. Maybe this is one of those weird talents I built studying acting and forgot about since it has been 37 years since I started molding this persona. I realized.... it is… at least possible… that it isn’t “hacky writing” on their part.... maybe it is “understanding character” on my part! What if I could accurately predict what the actors were saying because I understood the characters.... their motivations… I understood what I was watching on an acting level! That may be… utter bullshit…it is certainly possible… but it is an answer that makes sense! I mean… (hypo) when the Riddler is laughing and saying, “Oh, you can arrest me, Batman, but you’ll never stop what I’ve set in motion… it’s like fish in a barrel!” and I can accurately predict that Batman says, “I don’t need to stop your riddle. You tipped your hand that it was a red herring. You’re going back to Arkham, Nygma!”Maybe that’s just because… I’ve been working my Actor brain muscles so much that that is how I am able to know what the character would say?
It doesn’t matter in any way no matter what. Either possibility makes me proud. If I was able to predict scripts because script writers have gotten stale and hacky? Good for me! If I was able to predict scripts because I’ve dedicated myself to character work for literally half of my life Good for me! And maybe either reason is bullshit and I’m just lucky. BUT… I thought it was interesting enough to preserve for posterity.
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