"Fred: You are far weirder than someone merely into S&M.
At least they have a tradition. We have some idea what S&M is about.
There are movies and books about it. But so far as I know, there is nothing to explain the way you are."
"Ted: Here in Barcelona, everything was swept aside. The world was turned upside down and stayed there.
Fred: Has it ever occurred to you that maybe the world was upside down before, and now it's right side up?"
Fred: Has it ever occurred to you that maybe the world was upside down before, and now it's right side up?"
"Marta: You seem very intelligent for an American.
Fred: Well, I'm not."
"Ted: Positive thinking is fine in theory.
But whenever I try it on a systematic basis... I end up really depressed."
"Fred: And one of the things that keeps popping up is this about "subtext." Plays, novels, songs - they all have a "subtext," which I take to mean a hidden message or import of some kind. So subtext we know.
But what do you call the message or meaning that's right there on the surface, completely open and obvious? They never talk about that.
What do you call what's above the subtext?
Ted: The text."
What do you call what's above the subtext?
Ted: The text."
"Ted: You see, that's one of the great things about getting involved with someone from another country. You can't take it personally.
What's really terrific is that when we act in ways which might objectively seem asshole-ish or, or, incredibly annoying, they don't get upset at all.
They don't take it personally. They just assume it's some national characteristic."
"Fred: They're calling us pigs. That's meant to hurt!
"You can't say Americans are not more violent than other people. All those people killed in shootings in America?
Fred: Oh, shootings, yes. But that doesn't mean Americans are more violent than other people. We're just better shots."
"Ted: Spanish girls tend to be really promiscuous.
Fred: You're such a prig.
Ted: No, I wasn't using 'promiscuous' pejoratively. It's just a fact. They have completely different attitudes toward sex.
Fred: Well, I wasn't using 'prig' pejoratively."
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| Whit Stillman, filmmaker extraordinaire |
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