Goodby Brando
Friday, July 2nd, 2004
Marlon Brando is gone.
The sun may be shining down on Las Vegas right now, but the world just got a little less bright.
Brando was one of my biggest celebrity crushes. I know that sounds odd, since he was rather old and overweight by the time I even knew who he was.
I was doing research on Tennessee Williams in college while trying to follow my dream of being a Broadway playwright. Having read many of his plays and seen bad amateur productions, I finally rented the classic Streetcar Named Desire to see how it was performed in its earliest days. There he was – a smoking, masculine, oddly sensitive, mumbling, flawed, captivating god of a man.
I went on a Brando movie spree (much like I plan to do tonight)… Julias Caesar, Guys & Dolls, Apocalypse Now, Don Juan Demarco, The Island of Dr. Moreau… I’ve been a huge fan ever since.
You may note that the list doesn’t include The Godfather. No, I’ve never seen it. *audience gasps with disbelief* I keep meaning to see it, but never getting around to it. Maybe now is the time.
Goodbye Brando.
