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This dialogue is excerpted from Mirror Has To Faces. It is the scene of Rose Morgan (Barbra Sreissand) teaching her class.
Morgan:
This is the scene from my sister’s wedding. There she is getting drunk regretting she ever get 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 have three feminine archetypes here,
The Divine Whone —excuse me,
Medusa,
and Me.
Who am I, what archetype? Trevor?
Trevor:
A Virgin Mary?
(class laughs)
Morgan:
Thanks a lot, Trevor. Nooo, The Faithful Handmaiden. Always the bride’s maid, never the bride. It does proove, however, what Jung said all along that myths and archetypes are alive, and well, living in my apartement.
(class laughs)
(continued) ….As I stood at the altar beside my sister and her husband-to-be, it struck me that this ritual called a wedding ceremony is really just a final scene of a fairy tale. They never tell what happens after. They never tell you that Cinderella drove the Prince crazy with her obsessive need to clean the castle…. cause she missed her day job, right? No, they don’t tell us what happen after because there is no after. The be-all and the end-all of romantic love was…. Mike?
Mike:
Uhhh, sex?
(class laughs)
Morgan:
Mike, Mike, Sex…. On the brain, Mike…
(another student raised hand)
Morgan:
Yes?
Student:
Marriage…
Morgan:
That’s right. But it wasn’t always like that. Around the 12th century there was a notion known as courtly love —where a love has nothing to do with marriage and 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 consumate their love. In this way they would have to rise above your ordinary, you know, going-to-the-bathroom-in-front-of-each-other kind of love
Morgan:
This is the scene from my sister’s wedding. There she is getting drunk regretting she ever get 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 have three feminine archetypes here,
The Divine Whone —excuse me,
Medusa,
and Me.
Who am I, what archetype? Trevor?
Trevor:
A Virgin Mary?
(class laughs)
Morgan:
Thanks a lot, Trevor. Nooo, The Faithful Handmaiden. Always the bride’s maid, never the bride. It does proove, however, what Jung said all along that myths and archetypes are alive, and well, living in my apartement.
(class laughs)
(continued) ….As I stood at the altar beside my sister and her husband-to-be, it struck me that this ritual called a wedding ceremony is really just a final scene of a fairy tale. They never tell what happens after. They never tell you that Cinderella drove the Prince crazy with her obsessive need to clean the castle…. cause she missed her day job, right? No, they don’t tell us what happen after because there is no after. The be-all and the end-all of romantic love was…. Mike?
Mike:
Uhhh, sex?
(class laughs)
Morgan:
Mike, Mike, Sex…. On the brain, Mike…
(another student raised hand)
Morgan:
Yes?
Student:
Marriage…
Morgan:
That’s right. But it wasn’t always like that. Around the 12th century there was a notion known as courtly love —where a love has nothing to do with marriage and 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 consumate their love. In this way they would have to rise above your ordinary, you know, going-to-the-bathroom-in-front-of-each-other kind of love
(class laughs)
(continued) …and they would go after something more divine. They took sex out of the equation and what was left was the union of souls.
Now think of this. Sex was always the fatal love potion. Look at the literature of the time: Lancelot and Guinevere, Tristan and Isolde. All consumation could lead to was madness, despair, or death. Clinical experts, scholars, and my aunt Esther…
(class laughs)
(continued) …. are united to believe that true love has spiritual dimention while romantic love was nothing but a lie, an illusion, a modern myth —a soulless manipulation. And speaking of manipulation…. it’s like going to the movies and we see the lovers on the 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, I’d dump him.
(continued) …and they would go after something more divine. They took sex out of the equation and what was left was the union of souls.
Now think of this. Sex was always the fatal love potion. Look at the literature of the time: Lancelot and Guinevere, Tristan and Isolde. All consumation could lead to was madness, despair, or death. Clinical experts, scholars, and my aunt Esther…
(class laughs)
(continued) …. are united to believe that true love has spiritual dimention while romantic love was nothing but a lie, an illusion, a modern myth —a soulless manipulation. And speaking of manipulation…. it’s like going to the movies and we see the lovers on the 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, I’d dump him.
(class laughs)
(continued) Now, the question is: why do we buy it? We buy it because whether it’s myth or a 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 every day reality is shattered, and we are flung into the heavens. It may only last a moment, an hour, an afternoon, but that doesn’t dimish its value because we’re left with memories that we treasure for the rest of our lives.
I read an article a while ago that said when we fall in love we hear Puccini in our heads. I love that. I think it’s because this music fully expresses our longing for passion in our lives, and romantic love. So while we’re listening to La Boheme 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 they can have such a short-shelves life and be devastatingly painful. What do you think? Stacy?
Stacy:
It leads to propagation of the species?
Morgan:
Uh huh.
Ray?
Ray:
Because psychologically we need to connect with somebody.
Morgan:
Could be.
Jill?
Jill:
Because we are culturally preconditioned?
Morgan:
Good answers, but much too intellectual for me
(continued) Now, the question is: why do we buy it? We buy it because whether it’s myth or a 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 every day reality is shattered, and we are flung into the heavens. It may only last a moment, an hour, an afternoon, but that doesn’t dimish its value because we’re left with memories that we treasure for the rest of our lives.
I read an article a while ago that said when we fall in love we hear Puccini in our heads. I love that. I think it’s because this music fully expresses our longing for passion in our lives, and romantic love. So while we’re listening to La Boheme 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 they can have such a short-shelves life and be devastatingly painful. What do you think? Stacy?
Stacy:
It leads to propagation of the species?
Morgan:
Uh huh.
Ray?
Ray:
Because psychologically we need to connect with somebody.
Morgan:
Could be.
Jill?
Jill:
Because we are culturally preconditioned?
Morgan:
Good answers, but much too intellectual for me
(class laughs).
(continued) I think it’s because, as some of you already may know,
while it does last, it feels fucking great!
----
PS:
If you celebrate the day, may you have it great!
(continued) I think it’s because, as some of you already may know,
while it does last, it feels fucking great!
----
PS:
If you celebrate the day, may you have it great!
4 comments:
cuplikan-film yang sering banget dijadiin bahan pembicaraan sampe bahan kuliah...=P
ternyata, lucu juga buat valentine...hehehe...
Mas Adih, katanya maw quit ngajar dan ngelanjutin studi ya? *hasil observasi di plasa senayan XP XP* apa rumor itu benar adanya??
I think it’s because, as some of you already may know,
while it does last, it feels fucking great!-> gue suka banget line ini.
And that Gregory left the class before Rose finished her lecture. Big mistake....
You know what? This is still my favorite movie scene. The movie itself is not that great. Yet I still watch this lecture scene over and over and over again.
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