Cinephile

The Horror! The Horror!

And here, we, go.

Are you watching very closely?

I hope you are. Because the closer you look. The less you'll see.

The Pledge:

(The Author) shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird, or a man. Perhaps he asks you to inspect to see if it is real, unaltered,

normal.

But of course it probably isn't.

The Turn:

(The Author) takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Now, you want to know the secret….but you won't find it, because of course you're not really looking.

You don't WANT to know.

You WANT to be fooled.

But you wouldn't clap yet. Because making something disappear isn't enough.

(Don't you see?) The greatest trick the Devil ever played was convincing the world that he did not exist. And like that…

He is gone.

(Don't be a fool!) How do you shoot the devil in the back?

What if you miss?

(You called me pure evil…)

I'm necessary evil.

I don't want to be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me.

(Don't you see? I implore you to see!) This, this is the trick. Total devotion.

(Because)

Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life.

(I'd rather be legend)

(But) A man can convince anyone he's something he's not. But never himself. A myth, to speak plainly, to me is like a menu at a fancy French restaurant: glamorous, complicated camouflage for a fact you wouldn't otherwise swallow.

Like maybe Lima beans.

What is the most resilient parasite?

A bacteria?

A virus?

An idea.

Resilient, highly contagious. Once an idea has taken hold in the brain it is almost impossible to eradicate.

(You) can cover it up, ignore it--but it stays there. Fully formed.

We are told to remember the idea, not the man (not his actions but what he stood for) because a man can fail. He can be caught, killed, and forgotten, but 100 years later (his) idea can change the world.

And ideas are bulletproof.

(But, I warn you,)

Never underestimate the predictability of stupidity.

I've witnessed first hand the power of ideas. I've seen people kill in the name of them, and die defending them. But you cannot kiss an idea, cannot touch it or hold it. Ideas do not bleed, they do not feel pain, they do not love.

(I've told you before, I'll reiterate here)

It was you.

You make me want to be a better man.

I could have been a contender.

I could have been somebody.

Instead of just (....)

Mad. We all go a little mad sometimes.

(In fact) We're all mad here!

This century hasn't got the lock on insanity.

You'll see. When the chips are down these so called civilized people, will eat each other. They need you now, but when they don't, they'll cast you out. To them, you're just a freak, like me.

(and) Deserves got nothing to do with it.

People need people like me.

Someone to plunge their hands into the filth so (they) can keep theirs clean.

So they can sit there and point--(there) that's the bad guy.

(Let me tell you a secret)

The secret to magic: always be the smartest guy in the room. (Always leave the audience wanting more, never tell them, because then you're nothing to them) it's not enough to make something disappear; you have to bring it back.

And just like that…

He's gone. My bet is you'll never hear from him again.