Tuesday, March 01, 2005

“I’m not a criminal. I’m a con artist.”

The Movie: Matchstick Men, 2003 (Nicholas Griffin and Ted Griffin, screenwriters, from the book by Eric Garcia; Ridley Scott, dir.)
Who says it: Nicolas Cage as Roy Waller, a con man with obsessive-compulsive disorder
The context: Roy is defending himself to his therapist, Dr. Klein (Bruce Altman)
How to use it: To rationalize bad behavior.

Snow cancelled my flight from LaGuardia to Portland last night. Thank God for Maeve, who gave me shelter from the storm on the Upper East Side.

And thank God I don't have to fly again for another two months. On this trip, I've been selected for a complete search at every stage: in Portland, in Norfolk, and then again here in LaGuardia this morning. My natural reaction to this -- years of Catholic programming -- is to examine my conscience and wonder whether I really am a terrorist, and just don't know it.

4 comments:

Tom Ehrenfeld said...

Nice comment...but geez, isn't there a line from that scene in Spinal Tap where the bass player gets stopped and searched?

Ellen Clair Lamb said...

If you're referring to the line about "We've got armadillos in our trousers," I just don't think I'll ever have occasion to use that one. Maybe you can find a use for it...

Tom Ehrenfeld said...

hmmm. I think you just took a left turn at the "world of don't even go there" offramp.

Ellen Clair Lamb said...

Sorry... it's been an awfully long day...