I was changing channels while folding laundry and happened upon Bill Murray's motivational speech in Stripes (well-timed, given the recent posts of 1984 as THE year in film). It reminds of a fine time long ago, when the trash movies of the day usually had the underdogs up against the elites, and hope would be nearly lost. The lead would then make a speech, rallying the troops.
Three of these stand out:
- The aforementioned Stripes monologue: "We are the wretched refuse," "Our forefathers were kicked out of every country ....," and the US is "10 and 1," referring to Vietnam. The story then moves onto a nice cold war confrontation.
- Bill Murray's address in Meatballs: "It just doesn't matter. Even if we win, the good-looking girls will still go out with the guys from Camp Mohawk..... IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER."
- Finally, the first and perhaps still the best (although the Meatball's speech is hard to top) is John Belushi's rant in Animal House: "Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?" This, of course, is his call for a Toga party.
Hey, did you know that Heather Munroe-Blum's husband Len wrote those first two films?
ReplyDelete