My Sweetie and I were at the Publix deli counter ordering the components of our Topless Rueben sandwiches. The deli attendant asked how I wanted the corned beef sliced and I replied, “Thin.” I turned to my husband and murmured, “She likes it to float” sotto voce. My Sweetie grinned and I giggled. We were both thinking of the movie version of Brighton Beach Memoirs.
I then proceeded to recite an entire scene between Eugene and his mother, Kate, in which she asks him to run to Greenblatt’s store. It’s my favorite recurring theme in the story. I did my best to imitate Blythe Danner’s Jewish-mother-Brooklyn accent. I had to rely on my New Jersey roots very heavily. I managed to make “a quarter pound of butter” sound like “a qwarda pounda budda.”
My Sweetie continued to smile at me. I asked him if he minded that I could procure that kind of accent and he told me, “Not at all” and smiled some more.
Later that night I asked him...
"If I had a typical New Jersey accent when we met, would it have been a deal-breaker?"
He tapped danced a little bit but finally gave me somewhat of an answer. He’s very glad that I was raised by parents NOT from New Jersey and never allowed to adopt the accent.
I tried to find a YouTube clip of the scene I recited but could only find a stage version that really wasn’t all that funny. So here’s the text that the other Publix customers got to hear:
Kate: I need bread.
Eugene: What?
Kate: I don't have enough bread. Run over to Greenblatt's and get me a fresh rye bread.
Eugene: Again? I just came back from Greenblatt's.
Kate: So, you'll go again.
Eugene: I'm always going to the store. When I grow up, that's all I'll be trained to do, go to the store.
Kate: You don't want to go?... Never mind, I'll go.
Eugene: Don't do that! Don't make me feel guilty. I'll go.
Kate: And get a quarter of a pound of butter.
Eugene: I bought a quarter pound of butter this morning. Why don't you buy a half pound at a time?
Kate: And suppose the house burned down this afternoon? Why do I need an extra quarter pound of butter?
Eugene: If my mom taught logic in high school, this would be some weird country.
Have you seen Brighton Beach Memoirs?
Does anyone else find this scene humorous?
What’s your favorite scene / line?
Do you every recite scenes from movies?
8 comments:
Never seen BBM, but I'm always reciting lines from Monty Python, The Hunt for Red October, various TV shows, but mostly The Princess Bride. That is the best movie! Hello Lady!
Now I have to see Brighton Beach Memoirs! Princess Bride quotes are big in our house. Common dialogue as one of us leave the house to run errands may include the phrase "Have fun stormin' the Castle!". Of course trying to sound as screechy as Miracle Max (aka Billy Crystal)!
Ugh. I can't stand the Princess Bride. Perhaps I'm the only person on this planet to say that. I found the movie soooooooo boring that I couldn't even finish watching it.
I have never seen this, but am adding it to my list!
Haven't seen it, but I like "When Harry Met Sally," "GalaxyQuest," "The Princess Bride," and oddball stuff like that. Your exchange sounds familiar, since the jungle is currently invaded by Joisey nitwits. I bite my tongue, because they pay a lot of my tax bill. ;-)
"A qwarda pounda budda."
As a Jersey native, I have to commend your *perfect* written accent. I could hear it in my head while I read it. I never realized I had some of that accent until I moved to DC and 1) got teased by my brother-in-law for pronouncing "coffee" as "cawfee" (I was a waitress, I couldn't helo it) and "onion" as "ung-un." (no real excuse for that one.) and 2) when I return home and listen to everyone else speak. I may have shed the sounds of a Shore Town, but no one else has!
"A qwarda pounda budda."
As a Jersey native, I have to commend your *perfect* written accent. I could hear it in my head while I read it. I never realized I had some of that accent until I moved to DC and 1) got teased by my brother-in-law for pronouncing "coffee" as "cawfee" (I was a waitress, I couldn't helo it) and "onion" as "ung-un." (no real excuse for that one.) and 2) when I return home and listen to everyone else speak. I may have shed the sounds of a Shore Town, but no one else has!
Of course the Princess Bride is the best movie ever. But I could watch this one since at least one scene is so memorable. Will have to rent it. I love to recite scenes from movies...and then I remember that others around me think I'm a freak.
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