Last week, my friend and I were coming back from West Lebanon after getting Dunkin' Donuts. We were chatting about how excited we were to eat our bagels, when suddenly, a deer popped out of the woods and ran in front of the car. KA-BAM.
You know when you are cruising along and you hit an unexpected speed bump? It comes as a pretty big shock and can be a quite a painful experience, especially for males. Well, that's exactly what hitting the deer felt like.
I was pretty surprised at how I reacted to this, though. I wasn't driving, so I didn't feel guilty at all. Instead, the first thing I thought of was the "Roadkill Caught on Tape" scene from "Baseketball" (1998). Because, to be honest, that scene surprisingly nails what it's like to hit an animal with a car.
The next thing I thought was, should we go back and check on it? But then the deer scene in "Tommy Boy" (2005) popped into my head. You know, the one where they hit the deer and decide they can't just leave it there, so they put it in the back of their car, only to have it wake up 20 minutes later and completely destroy the sedan with its antlers? So, with that in mind, my friend and I decided there was nothing we could do, really. Plus, even if it were still alive, but severely wounded, neither of us would have had the stomach to put it out of its misery. So, we decided to keep driving.
If this is illegal, I made this story up.
I realized that this is the second time I've had a somewhat surreal incident, and the first thing I've thought of was a movie where something similar happened. The other time, I was in a convenience store in the Bronx and three guys with ski masks and guns came in and held up the store. All that kept popping into my head throughout the robbery was the beginning scene in "Four Brothers" (2005), where the guys rob the store and shoot the grandmother. Luckily for those of us in the store, the robbery I witnessed didn't involve any fired shots.
But this got me thinking: There are so many movies out there now that pretty much any once-in-a-lifetime or surreal situation can be compared to a film. Most of us have never experienced those types of situations, except through movies, so my immediate reaction to compare hitting the deer and the robbery to movies is probably somewhat common.
A look at a couple of things that happened in last weekend's football game might help better explain what I mean. Down 100 in the fourth quarter, Dartmouth botched a punt return that gave Cornell the ball back in great field position. Watching it, you got that, "Oh great, here we go again" feeling. Remember the movie "Hoosiers" (1986), when the alcoholic dad appears to have finally made progress, but then disappoints everyone when he shows up to a game hammered? Similar feeling there.
But then, something unexpected happened. Cornell appeared poised to lock up the win, but instead, the team's quarterback threw a terrible pass that Dartmouth intercepted. It was kind of like in "Happy Gilmore" (1996) when Happy misses a putt at one point and the commentator goes, "Uh-oh, here comes the putter throw." But then Happy unexpectedly restrains himself, to the shock of everyone watching. Watching the football game, you similarly got that sense of unexpected hope.
Or, fast forward to when the game was tied at 10-10 with two seconds to go. Cornell had a shot at a game-winning field goal and all Dartmouth could hope for was a miss or a block. This one's a little bit of a stretch, but perhaps the most famous botched field goal in film is from "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" (1994). Remember the whole "Laces out, DAN!" scene? Well, during all of the timeouts that preceded that kick, I found myself hoping Cornell's holder hadn't seen Ace Ventura and he might hold the laces in. Luckily, Dartmouth blocked the kick anyway.
Finally, in the first overtime, Dartmouth found itself down a touchdown, desperately needing to score to keep its chances alive. Throughout the day, Dartmouth had been rotating between quarterbacks. Both of those quarterbacks started the season off as backups but found themselves needing to lead a comeback. Sound familiar?
In the movie "The Replacements" (2000), Shane Falco also doesn't begin the season as the starting quarterback. Yet, by the end of the season, late in a game, Falco finds himself needing to quarterback a come-from-behind victory.
When the Big Green quarterbacks addressed their team in the huddle, we have to imagine the speeches went something like this.
"Pain heals, chicks dig scars. Glory lasts forever."
