My electric blanket is not enough

If you ever saw the movie “My Dinner with Andre,” it’s about two characters who have dinner together. That’s all that happens in the whole movie. But I loved it. Ebert said it was his favorite movie of the year.

The Andre character has all kinds of incredible adventures. He goes to Poland and participates in an improvisational theatre that takes place in the woods and goes all night long. He speculates on wild fantasies and tells stories about his exotic travels.

His dinner partner, played by Wallace Shawn (you may remember him as Vizzini in Princess Bride), is someone we could call more “normal.” He likes for things to be comfortable and predictable. He says, “I can’t imagine anything more wonderful than going to sleep on a cold night with my warm electric blanket. And to put a cup of coffee out the night before and to know that no cockroach has crawled into the cup. I mean, I just can’t think of anything that would be more perfect.”

These guys represent two aspects of our character playing tug-of-war for our dreams and our time. Jesus was fascinating like Andre was. He didn’t have a pillow to call his own. He wandered about having adventures. A crowd followed wondering, “What will he do next?”

He continually tweaked the oh-too-serious religious establishment. His verbal swordplay was edgy, like a Hebrew Cyrano de Bergerac.

Jesus was a born raconteur like Andre. His stories were provocative, often unsettling. If he were to walk among us, we’d be left to wonder what his point was exactly, scratching our heads at its practicality if we did get the point.

Like Wallace Shawn’s character, having listened to Jesus spinning tales about this fabulous kingdom of God, a majority of us would probably say, “You know, I just don’t get you. Life is hard enough as it is and you’re asking me to leave my Starbucks and my electric blanket behind.”

And Jesus would say, “Suit yourself; there’s a mortuary around the corner where they bury dead people. Go buy your own spot there on layaway.”

*Paraphrase of about five minutes of conversation: Actual dialgue from movie:

Andre:
Remember that moment when Marlon Brando sent the Indian woman to accept the Oscar, and everything went haywire? Things just very rarely go haywire now. If you’re just operating by habit, then you’re not really living.

Andre:
What does it do to us, Wally, living in an environment where something as massive as the seasons or winter or cold, don’t in any way affect us? I mean, we’re animals after all. I mean… what does that mean? I think that means that instead of living under the sun and the moon and the sky and the stars, we’re living in a fantasy world of our own making.
Wally:
Yeah, but I mean, I would never give up my electric blanket, Andre. I mean, because New York is cold in the winter. I mean, our apartment is cold! It’s a difficult environment. I mean, our life is tough enough as it is. I’m not looking for ways to get rid of a few things that provide relief and comfort. I mean, on the contrary, I’m looking for more comfort because the world is very abrasive. I mean, I’m trying to protect myself because, really, there’s these abrasive beatings to be avoided everywhere you look!
Andre:
But, Wally, don’t you see that comfort can be dangerous? I mean, you like to be comfortable and I like to be comfortable too, but comfort can lull you into a dangerous tranquility.

Andre:
I wouldn’t put on an electric blanket for any reason. First, I’d be worried if I get electrocuted. No, I don’t trust technology. But I mean, the main thing, Wally, is that I think that kind of comfort just separates you from reality in a very direct way.