What Does Your Wes Anderson Movie Say About You?
I never hear anyone arguing over whether The Darjeeling Limited or The Life Aquatic is their favorite Wes Anderson movie. Oh, I’ve heard arguments about them- I’ve had arguments about them… but never about which one is most-beloved. Quite the opposite. Likewise, I never hear anyone debating about whether Dignan or Mr. Fox is the best character sprung from Mr. Anderson’s imagination. Nope. There are two types of people in this world- or at least in my generation: those whose favorite Wes Anderson movie is Rushmore and those who favor The Royal Tenenbaums.
It’s not like choosing your favorite Beatle. It’s not like saying you prefer Tender Is the Night to The Great Gatsby. Those sorts of debates tell me more about your pretension levels, or the way you view yourself than anything else. The Wes Anderson debate… it tells me who you are.
So who are you? Are you a Max Fischer or a Tenenbaum?
You love Rushmore, Max Fischer and the many adventures of an ambitious if clueless young boy. A boy misunderstood by the world, and even himself. A boy with dreams. With loves. A boy.
You love The Royal Tenenbaums, that great big house in New York City, the perfect tedium of an enlightened, talented family gone to seed. A family who doesn’t speak anymore. A family who love each other greatly, though they don’t know how. A family.
This debate has everything to do with whether we view ourselves as Proud Individualists or Individual People Who Want to Belong.
Being “A Max Fischer,” you are fiercely proud of yourself, desperately protective of who you are, almost to the point of alienating everyone around you; you believe in yourself, perhaps because you’re afraid that no one else will. As “A Tenenbaum,” you believe in your group- your family- even when you don’t believe in yourself. When you fall away from that family, you fall apart- and coming back to it, you’re reminded of all your talents, accomplishments, passions. You may not be happy, but you’re happy together. We’re all either a Max Fischer or a Tenenbaum. An individualist or a belonger.
I’m a Tennebaum, but if you’re Max Fischer I won’t hold it against you: you’re welcome to join my family of oddballs. The more, the merrier.
Join us.
(Source: movies.about.com)
