Friday, March 18, 2011

The things Allen left behind

I just watched "Splash" (1984) with the kids today. I haven't seen it in years. I always enjoyed the rather unconventional (particularly for its time), un-Little-Mermaid plot resolution, in which the man abandons his world to be with the woman. But until I watched it today, I hadn't appreciated just how much Allen Bauer (Tom Hanks) left behind in order to be with Madison (Daryl Hannah).

Allen had it pretty good! He and his brother Freddie (an awesome John Candy) owned and ran a fruit company that seemed to have between 50 and 100 employees. (It was a union shop -- Freddie mentions Teamsters at one point.) He drove a BMW. He paid for a cab ride from Manhattan to Cape Cod in cash. He had a nice (upper East Side?) apartment with a doorman. He ate at expensive restaurants and wore decent suits. He attended a political fundraiser at which the President was the keynote speaker -- I'm guessing this event cost a minimum of $1,000 a plate. With the exception of his relationship woes, he had a rather nice life. All this is to say that he gave up quite a bit with his rather impulsive move to be with a woman he'd been dating for less than a week, which is pretty romantic.

I'm wondering whether Allen was a Democrat or a Republican. He ran a modest-sized business, and he reacted rather viscerally when he learned that Madison wasn't human, both of which suggest conservative tendencies. He also had a soft spot for underperforming employees, and he did ultimately decide to enter into a non-traditional marriage of sorts, which suggest liberalism. On the whole, he doesn't seem to be a particularly political guy, so it's not surprising his ideological predispositions would be a bit of a mish-mash.

1 comment:

cc said...

amazing analysis. the wsj should pick this up. :)