Dangerous Liaisons

In this CBS video, the Oscar winner says his bland, neutral looks is what won him his award: http://www.cbs.com/primetime/60_minutes/video/?pid=VbqMFbMZdx_k5FyHvwNccmFpRkElZt6Q&play=true&vs=Clips Interestingly, a common motif here is how Ns/Ps have bland, neutral looks. The ex-Psych prof was described that way. During the final D&D, he was expressionless (he even got compared to Firth's nasty character in "Shakespeare in Love" my junior year). What's funny is that during the final D&D, when I mentioned how the ex-P had tried to triangulate me with his girlfriend... one of my friends spoke of "women working themselves into a lather over bland boring guys", she spoke of Firth's recent success in BBC's "Pride and Prejudice", not so much the ex-P(!!!)

Colin Firth has starred as the heroic Mr. Darcy (who saves Elizabeth Bennett's sister from a Narc), Bridget Jones' sensible boyfriend Mark Darcy, and now George VI. But he's also played Narcs. In "Another Country", Firth stars as the self-absorbed Marxist Tom Judd, whose nose is ALWAYS in "Das Kapital" as he goes around campus with a bust of Lenin. Judd says he prefers masturbation, seems attracted to Rupert Everett's character, doesn't believe in love, and says he uses his girlfriend as a sexual outlet. Rupert Everett's character, Guy, calls out Tom on his dishonesty. It's a very powerful scene. Guy says he will be true to himself, he will not live a lie, and calls upon Tom to do the same. Of course, Tom would rather have his face in a book. Tom has an air of superiority, a total cerebral Narc. Even Guy calls him out as a poser... and it's hinted that Tom was behind Guy's final betrayal&public humiliation. In "Apartment Zero", he stars as a cerebral Narc, Adrian LeDuc, who pretends to NOT know Spanish though he's lived in Argentina all his life. He spends his days being absorbed in movies--he runs a movie theater in Buenos Aires. Adrian lacks such a sense of self that even his demented mother cries out "Who are you???" His roommate, Jack Carney, is a somatic Narc who sleeps around. Adrian is a landlord, but he throws a jealous fit when Jack hangs out with his fellow tenants. Adrian is a man without qualities. His character in "Shakespeare in Love" is a self-absorbed Narc who's more than ready to force Gwyneth Paltrow into a loveless marriage, who cares NOTHING about her feelings. He was also Kristin Scott Thomas' chunky boring husband in "The English Patient",and she finds some passion with the Hungarian Count Almasy. He's masterful at playing Narcs (and in the case of "Apartment Zero",a Psychopath)... and many here speak of their Ns/Ps having blank faces... well, not too long ago Colin Firth said his "bland, vague, neutral look" is what got him an Oscar(!!!)

I had had crushes in high school... while they didn't end up wonderfully, there was CLOSURE. I remember telling the prof after the final D&D that I knew romantic rejection... it was called high school... and that hormonal teenaged boys showed MORE respect&maturity than he did. (Did I shove it in his face? You bet I did. In the maturity contest, the 36 yr old lost to the 16 yr old, go figure) I do consider him my first "love"... and it wasn't the rejection that hurt so much as the process of rejection itself. Romantic rejection hurts bad enough. But the smear campaign, the sheer cruelty&callousness... THAT'S what hurt. I'm just glad I didn't get romantically/sexually involved with him. If he had been my "first time" sexually, THAT would've been a disaster.