The Jerk or How to Shake Things Up

Sometimes it is easy to get caught up in a feeling and be unable to find a way out of it. Last weekend I was second shooting a wedding and the bride and groom were getting so wrapped up in their emotions that they could not stop crying... until the best man went to hand the groom the rings but instead accidentally chucked those rings down the steps of the stage.

They all laughed. And the minister expressed his thankfulness that this moment popped up and broke them out of their tears. Sometimes we need a little jolt like that to reset ourselves - whether it's breaking out of being unable to stop tears of joy (so we can breathe normally again), feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of something, or just when we're bummed. It's one thing to feel these emotions. It's another to feel stuck in them.

It's good to know how to give yourself a little kick too - in case life isn't providing it for you fast enough. Like how sometimes when I'm feeling bummed out, I know I can go watch Steve Martin in The Jerk. I laugh and things don't seem so bad. Steve Martin is one of my favorite comedians and if you haven't seen this movie... well it's sort of ridiculous. He plays a very uninformed man named Navin who sets out on his own for the first time and all manner of strange things happen to him, but he doesn't even know enough to know how strange the world he is experiencing is. He has the best of intentions but things don't always go all that well for him. Yet he keeps going. Ok. So maybe in it's own odd way it's a little inspirational too.

This week I stumbled upon this clip of Zooey Deschannel (duchess of adorable style) and Ben Schwartz (hey! it's Jean-Ralphio from Parks & Rec) singing "Tonight You Belong to Me" from the movie. And it reminded me that I had this pick-me-up go-to that I hadn't gone to in a while. Steve sings it with Bernadette Peters and it's sort of out of nowhere in the movie but really cute. In fact, they are adorably hilarious through a large portion of the film. I've never really cared too much for the lyrics of the song but I love the sound of it. Of course the Deschannel/Schwartz version is missing the part where one of them randomly pulls a coronet out and starts playing it, but it's still fun. :)

So here's the Ben/Zooey version, and then from the movie, an incredibly amusing soliloquy and my absolute favorite sequence. They're good fill-ins when you only have a couple of free minutes. And oh to have been the still photographer on that set.

 

Of course these video clips belong to their respective owners and I'm just using them as a reference here, but the rest... ©2011 Kristin Serna This post should not be republished without my permission. Merci beaucoup.