Daily Dialogue — May 13, 2019

Harry: Why don’t you tell me the story of your life?
Sally: Story of my life?
Harry: Got eighteen hours to kill before we hit New York.
Sally: The story of my life isn’t even going to get us out of Chicago. I mean, nothing’s happened to me yet. That’s why I’m going to New York.
Harry: So something can happen to you?
Sally: Yes.
Harry: Like what?
Sally: I can go into journalism school to become a reporter.
Harry: So you can write about things that happen to other people.
Sally: That’s one way to look at it.
Harry: Suppose nothing happens to you. Suppose you live there your whole life and nothing happens, you never meet anybody, you never become anything, and finally you die one of those New York deaths where nobody notices for two weeks until the smell drifts into the hallway.

— When Harry Met Sally… (1989), written by Nora Ephron

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Meet Cute.

Trivia: In many romantic comedies, there is a bullying significant other or a contrived misunderstanding that would keep the two leads apart. This film is special in that it has neither of these clichés; the only thing keeping Harry and Sally apart is their own various neuroses.

Dialogue On Dialogue: They meet to share a ride from Chicago to New York and within minutes, Harry tramples Sally’s idyllic take on why she’s moving in the first place. After Harry’s ‘New York death’ side, the scene description in the script reads: “Sally looks over at Harry? Who am I stuck in this car with?”