2002-10-18 13:38:38Louis
One Night Stand
There is nothing sexual here, if that is what you looking for…
But the theme of “looking for something” is highly relevant here.
There is a scene in “Mad about You” (Helen Hunt is in it) when Paulie and Jamie haven’t yet known each other. While they are not familiar with each other, the audience sure are. They anxiously keep their eyes on these two “star-crossed” lovers; and the more Paulie and Jamie miss each other, the more the audience gets involved. Finally, both Paulie and Jamie decide to do something late that evening, still in the dark about the director’s evil scheme, casually blurt out: “I need to go out and get a paper or someone!”
With this uncanny expectation in mind, they set out, still not knowing each other’s existence, to buy a newspaper late at night. So they go out to buy the newspaper, only to find that each newspaper stand does not feel right. One after one, they fail to buy the paper that they like. Finally, Jamie sees the rose on the ground, picks it up; Paulie sees Jamie pick up the rose, and kisses her.
But you wanna know why. Why? Why do we, as the audience, who knows everything in the beginning, end up knowing nothing, not knowing how to make sense of the final scene where they kiss each other?
What is the director trying to present? What are Paulie and Jamie looking for?
Well, because they are looking for the “one night stand” (the news stand at night)!
PS. “Mad about You” is a famous TV series in the US around mid 90’s. Helen Hunt is just excellent for Jamie!
But the theme of “looking for something” is highly relevant here.
There is a scene in “Mad about You” (Helen Hunt is in it) when Paulie and Jamie haven’t yet known each other. While they are not familiar with each other, the audience sure are. They anxiously keep their eyes on these two “star-crossed” lovers; and the more Paulie and Jamie miss each other, the more the audience gets involved. Finally, both Paulie and Jamie decide to do something late that evening, still in the dark about the director’s evil scheme, casually blurt out: “I need to go out and get a paper or someone!”
With this uncanny expectation in mind, they set out, still not knowing each other’s existence, to buy a newspaper late at night. So they go out to buy the newspaper, only to find that each newspaper stand does not feel right. One after one, they fail to buy the paper that they like. Finally, Jamie sees the rose on the ground, picks it up; Paulie sees Jamie pick up the rose, and kisses her.
But you wanna know why. Why? Why do we, as the audience, who knows everything in the beginning, end up knowing nothing, not knowing how to make sense of the final scene where they kiss each other?
What is the director trying to present? What are Paulie and Jamie looking for?
Well, because they are looking for the “one night stand” (the news stand at night)!
PS. “Mad about You” is a famous TV series in the US around mid 90’s. Helen Hunt is just excellent for Jamie!