40in40 – Amelie

11May09

My Netflix rating: 4/5 stars

What signifies innocence and purity?  Are the two exclusive?  Are they even related?  Amelie spurred this question with her inquisitive smile.  She’s a portrait of naiveté, but there’s elegance to her.  Is it the big eyes?  The Katie Holmes smirk?

What makes a person amiable and so easy to trust with our secrets? Amelie was the epitome of a trustworthy stranger, at times even an angel.  Is it her benign curiosity for the stranger things in life?  Were her wings aching to spread wide throughout her sheltered upbringing?

And in the end, can such a pure and angelic person be labeled an Assassin?

This was the first movie on my list that I haven’t seen before – the Fabulous Destiny of Amelie Poulain took me by surprise.  I don’t usually apply the title of “hero” to the protagonist of movies.  Too often, extraordinary people are put into outstanding circumstances and we just watch them do what they’re expected to do.  Wolverine is not a hero.  Zac Efron is not a hero.  James Bond is still cool, but not a hero. These men are gifted with amazing abilities, and like Spiderman’s uncle said, they have responsibilities.  They’re fucking rad, especially Zac, but they don’t really do anything more than what they should do.  It’s hard to be a hero, in my eyes.  So imagine my surprise to see a fragile French girl turn out to be one.

I’ve sung her praises already, but my favorite quality of Amelie is her control of destiny.  I think it comes from her childlike disregard for Destiny’s awesome power.  Who are you, little girl, to insert yourself and help these deprived souls?  What makes you so qualified?  Her answer, “let me help.”  Her name, “hard-working.”  Her destiny, well, you should watch the movie.

It’s interesting though, that in order to take on her superhero persona, Amelie felt the need to assume anonymity.  She knew she wanted to help, but she didn’t know how to do it as herself.  But all along, her most heroic qualities were herself.  Remember that scene in Kill Bill where Bill explains why Superman is unlike any other hero?  Spiderman and Batman and the rest, they are normal people with superhero alter egos.  Superman stands out because he was born Superman.  He wakes up as Superman and has to put on his human costume in order to fit in.  It’s a very original quality.  Well, Bill was wrong.  Superman was actually born Kal-el, a Kryptonian like any other.  He had to get shot clear across the galaxy to fulfill his destiny as Superman.  Anyways, this long tangent brings us back to the lady hero in question.  Like Superman, Amelie wakes up a superhero.  She actually has one up on the Man of Steel because she actually was born with everything she needs to fulfill her destiny.  There’s no alien blood or genetic mutation.  She’s just an awesome person with a fabulous destiny.  And she’s a hero because she accepts that.

I think it’s smoking hot when a tall girl can still wear heels.  When she’s that damn comfortable with herself, I don’t care that it hurts my neck to stare.  A person who not only accepts their fate, but rocks it as well… that’s a hero.  I’ll steal Linn’s handle and give Amelie the superhero name of Fate Assassin.  She grabs Fate by the horns and just kills it (in that good, awesome way).  It’s rare to see.  Even Zac Efron hasn’t done it (and he’s done Vanessa Hudgens *nsfw).  So, kudos to you, Amelie.  You go, girl.

“Mieux vaut se consacrer aux autres qu’à un nain de jardin!” –Amelie

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Tags: amelie, hero, zac efron