So two days ago I watched Midnight in Paris for the first time, and I couldn’t believe how much I fell in love with the plot. I’ve never been a huge fan of Owen Wilson, but this movie made me seriously re-think my distaste for him. He was just like me in many ways — lost in another time, another world. If you haven’t watched this movie, I won’t spoil the plot for you. But I do want to talk about one thing.
In this movie, he gets to meet all the great artists of the 20s — Ernest Hemingway, Cole Porter, Zelda Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein, to name only a few.
Once the credits had finished rolling, I was left with an unsettling — and quite honestly, depressing — thought: I will never be lucky enough (like Owen’s character) to meet my heroes from long ago. There are so many artists from the past who have had such an effect on me, and I only wish I could meet them and learn who they are. I actually thought a lot about those who I would have wanted to magically run into if I were strolling around at midnight in Paris, and here is my list of ten people I would have loved to know (I couldn’t pick from just one era, because although I’m in love with the Victorian era, that would limit my list immensely):
- Ernest Hemingway
- Jane Austen
- Louisa May Alcott
- Charles Dickens
- Charlotte Bronte
- Lewis Carroll
- Mark Twain
- L.M. Montgomery
- Louis Armstrong
- Billie Holiday
Who are your heroes from other eras? Who would you long to meet one night during a stroll in the dark?
I also loved the movie! I wouldn’t know who I’d want to meet in the past though… :)
Leonardo da Vinci. Ingenious guy and one heck of an artist. But I’d have to know Italian.
How could I forget him? Haha, I would love to meet him too!
I’d stroll with Cesar Vallejo, poet from Peru who lived in Paris. I <3 Pais. I think Owen Wilson is underrated, he needs more roles like in Midnight,
Agreed. I’m not a fan of many of his comedic roles, but he was stellar in this film. He’s good at being quirky and serious.
Wasn’t it a fantstic movie? I loved that it made you feel so smart just for recognizing all those people. Zelda Fitzgerald, all of the Bronte sisters, and Joan of Arc would all be high on my list of historical characters to meet. Unfortunately, they are all from different eras. It would be so hard to choose.
Yeah, I couldn’t choose one era either, which is why I’ve got a range of people. Joan of Arc would be pretty amazing though.
I LOVE Midnight in Paris. Seriously I watch it every time it’s on television. And like you, I was never much of an Owen Wilson fan either. But he is perfect in that role. It’s funny because I find myself listening to music from the 70s and wondering if I would have been better in that generation. But then I remember the movie and realize we all have fantasies like Gil and we have to live in the moment. But meeting Fitzgerald, Hemingway and Zelda would be really cool!
Yeah, I tend to live too much in the past as well — the Victorian/Edwardian era being my favourite. But I guess life back then isn’t all that we think it’s cracked up to be. It’s like what Gil said in the film, “Adriana, if you stay here though, and this becomes your present then pretty soon you’ll start imagining another time was really your… You know, was really the golden time. Yeah, that’s what the present is. It’s a little unsatisfying because life’s a little unsatisfying.”
I have never seen this movie, but from what you say it sounds like one worth checking out! I’ll have to track it down some way now…
Yes, you definitely need to! It’s a beautiful film for the artists in all of us =)
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