# "Who am I" in the movies
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-in-the-movies/680541
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [February 5, 2014, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-in-the-movies/680541 "2014-02-05T01:47:10Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2014, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-in-the-movies/680541/21 "2014-02-06T01:25:04Z")
Arguably “Casablanca” would fit: throughout the movie Rick is established as the guy who doesn’t get involved. (“I stick my neck out for nobody.”) By the end he’s re-defined himself. His speech to Ilsa at the airport would probably be the one to quote, though Rick voices his new insights as universal rather than as personal truths.
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2014, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-in-the-movies/680541/22 "2014-02-06T02:18:45Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#):
>
> Sorry for the nitpick, but it’s **hara kiri** , belly cutting.
No no no, what he really meant to say was “he contemplates [Harry Caray](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/Harry_Caray_1988.jpg).”
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### Author:  [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2014, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-in-the-movies/680541/23 "2014-02-06T02:26:23Z")
A good scene from Blade Runner:
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BYSYE1zXUw)
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### Author:  [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2014, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-in-the-movies/680541/24 "2014-02-06T02:38:09Z")
> [@astorian](#):
>
> MANY of Philip Dick’s works are about this very subject: Who am I? How do I know who I am? Is it just because of my memories? If so, how do I know my memories are real?..
> [@astorian](#):
>
> Another Philip Dick movie: _ **Blade Runner** _
> Some newer models of replicants (androids) have been implanted with false memories of childhoods and families they never really had.
> The replicant Rachael (Sean Young) thinks she’s human. She tries to convince replicant hunter Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) that she is human by telling him about her life. He already KNOWS all the details, because he was informed of her programming…
**SPOILER FOLLOWS FOR A 32 YEAR OLD MOVIE**
.
.
.
Not to mention when Gaff does the same thing to Deckard at the very end of the film.
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### Author:  [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2014, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-in-the-movies/680541/25 "2014-02-06T02:38:40Z")
Buzz’s delusions in Toy Story:
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AGUaoIbuHc)
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### Author:  [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2014, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-in-the-movies/680541/26 "2014-02-06T02:41:54Z")
There must be a scene from [Seconds](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seconds_(film)) that would fit the bill, but I couldn’t point you to a specific youtube clip.
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### Author:  [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2014, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-in-the-movies/680541/27 "2014-02-06T02:46:29Z")
The movie _Buffy, The Vampire Slayer_ had a few …
“You’re not like other girls”
“Yes, I am”
“I have something those others did not have!”
[_sneers_] “Your faith?”
“My fine fashion sense.”
But it was your standard coming of age comedy of the time.
_Streets of Fire_ had a lot of them, but they weren’t very positive …
Every version of _Pride and Prejudice_ should have a moment of Elizabeth realizing she had been at fault, too, but I don’t think kids would appreciate it - and the scene is often not well done.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2014, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-in-the-movies/680541/28 "2014-02-06T16:42:14Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Quoth **Yllaria** :
>
> I suspect that she didn’t really have any doubts.
Well, not by that point, no. She did earlier in the series, though.
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### Author:  [@TheBoltEater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBoltEater)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2014, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-in-the-movies/680541/29 "2014-02-06T21:03:38Z")
Thanks everyone, very helpful - except for you, Cartoonacy, who I do, in fact, pity. 😉
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### Author:  [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2014, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-in-the-movies/680541/30 "2014-02-06T21:13:06Z")
It’s the basic theme of \*The Breakfast Club \*-- remember the essay?
“All right people, we’re going to try something a little different today. We are going to write an essay, of not less than a thousand words, describing to me who you think you are.”
[Who are you? Who … are you? — I’m a walrus.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyA-kGFXcuQ)
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### Author:  [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2014, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-in-the-movies/680541/31 "2014-02-06T21:16:02Z")
There’s a virtual parody of this sort of thing during the climax of _Tropic Thunder_ when Robert Downey Jr’s character, an actor who lives his role 24/7 (and is playing a black guy throughout) is suddenly forced to look in a mirror. I know Ben Stiller movies aren’t to everyone’s taste but RDJ is excellently ludicrous in that film.
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### Author:  [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2014, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-in-the-movies/680541/32 "2014-02-06T21:29:31Z")
First thing that popped into my mind was the end of “Gone With the Wind” where Scarlett realizes that she loves Rhett. I don’t know if it’s exactly a “who am I” moment, though it’s certainly a personal awakening.
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### Author:  [@Evin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evin)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2014, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-in-the-movies/680541/33 "2014-02-06T21:40:55Z")
Jason Bourne: I can tell you the license plate numbers of all six cars outside. I can tell you that our waitress is left-handed and the guy sitting up at the counter weighs two hundred fifteen pounds and knows how to handle himself. I know the best place to look for a gun is the cab or the gray truck outside, and at this altitude, I can run flat out for a half mile before my hands start shaking. Now why would I know that? How can I know that and not know who I am?
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### Author:  [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2014, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-in-the-movies/680541/34 "2014-02-06T22:15:50Z")
A scene I loved from a movie I hated!
_ **Joe vs. the Volcano** _. Joe (Tom Hanks) is a guy who’s always shied away from doing anything in life, and has just been told he’s terminally ill. With nothing to lose, he takes a lot of money from an eccentirc millionaire to carry out a crazy mission.
He decides to spend some of his money on clothes, and asks his chauffeur for advice.
https://player.vimeo.com/video/21952758
The chauffeur understands, as Joe doesn’t, that the reall question being asked is “Who am I?”
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### Author:  [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2014, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-in-the-movies/680541/35 "2014-02-06T22:28:53Z")
Another “Who I am” moment from _ **The Lion King.** _
Skip ahead a bit, to where Rafiki the mandrill drops a pebble in the water while Simba rests on a log.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71_p8P_PVXo)
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### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2014, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-in-the-movies/680541/36 "2014-02-06T23:04:59Z")
\*From Dusk Till Dawn \*- outlaw George Clooney helps preacher Harvey Kietel resolve his crisis of faith. The scene more or less speaks for itself:
[“I’m a mean… mmm mmm… servant of God.”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTKNzDn8PzA)
(Warning: Tarantino dialog).
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### Author:  [@TheBoltEater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBoltEater)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2014, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-in-the-movies/680541/37 "2014-02-07T00:33:04Z")
> [@Gyrate](#):
>
> There’s a virtual parody of this sort of thing during the climax of _Tropic Thunder_ when Robert Downey Jr’s character, an actor who lives his role 24/7 (and is playing a black guy throughout) is suddenly forced to look in a mirror. I know Ben Stiller movies aren’t to everyone’s taste but RDJ is excellently ludicrous in that film.
Ha! Good one - “Me? I know who I am! I’m the dude, playing the dude, disguised as another dude!”
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### Author:  [@TheBoltEater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBoltEater)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2014, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-in-the-movies/680541/38 "2014-02-07T00:44:06Z")
> [@astorian](#):
>
> A scene I loved from a movie I hated!
>
> _ **Joe vs. the Volcano** _. Joe (Tom Hanks) is a guy who’s always shied away from doing anything in life, and has just been told he’s terminally ill. With nothing to lose, he takes a lot of money from an eccentirc millionaire to carry out a crazy mission.
>
> He decides to spend some of his money on clothes, and asks his chauffeur for advice.
>
> [Ossie Davis describes clothes to Tom Hanks in Joe vs. the Volcano](http://vimeo.com/21952758)
>
> The chauffeur understands, as Joe doesn’t, that the reall question being asked is “Who am I?”
I actually stumbled upon the only way to truly enjoy this movie - the secret is…
Don’t watch the first 15 minutes of the film! It’s such a terrible beginning that it ruins your ability to appreciate anything that comes after it. I saw it for the first time on tv after having missed the horrible opening garbage, coming in only when Hanks starts his shopping trip in New York. Saw it, enjoyed it a lot more than I expected, and started to wonder why it had such a bad rap. Then, much later, I watched the whole movie with my wife who hadn’t yet seen it - she hated it, and I immediately figured out why, after suffering through that intro myself.
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2014, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-in-the-movies/680541/39 "2014-02-07T01:45:38Z")
I don’t think I understand the OP. Not sure if this counts. [I Yam What I Yam](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8TRoMSG-5I)
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### Author:  [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2014, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-am-i-in-the-movies/680541/40 "2014-02-07T14:54:47Z")
I think movies like _From Dusk Till Dawn_ and _Angel Heart_ are excluded by the OP’s conditions.
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