Sheeshhh

the gaze of adonis (harry hall)

You’re the one who sets the bar

The hairdo king, the fashion czar

I think the biggest and most obvious example is the ending of the Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy bids farewell to all the friends she’s made before she returns to Kansas. Each goodbye is a thoughtful callback to all we’ve learned and gone through– starting with begging the Tin Man not to cry because he’ll rust, to which he says “Now I know I’ve got a heart, because it’s breaking,” to the Lion telling Dorothy he’d never have found his courage without her, to that absolute knock-out punch: I think I’ll miss you most of all, to Scarecrow.

I can think of at least two other examples off the top of my head. The Last Supper scene in Godspell is the same way; as they pass around the cup of wine, every apostle has a little moment, a reference to their song or a gag they did. Or at the end of E.T. the Extraterrestrial, when E.T. tells  Gert and Elliott (not quite so much Michael, sry Michael) things they taught him: “be good” and BOTH “ouch” and “I’ll be right here.”

I think it slays me so much for two reasons. The first is that it rewards the audience for paying attention; any time a script turns self-referential is like a quiet little ‘thank you’ for going on the journey. But I think the other, bigger reason is that, like– that’s what friendship IS. Developing your own inside jokes and then driving them into the ground; bringing up things that has made your buddy laugh before when they’re at their saddest, in an attempt to bring a smile.