Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

 ... you can learn from:

Anomalisa (2015)

Michael: Always remember the customer is an individual. Just like you. Each person you speak to has had a day. Some of the days have been good, some bad, but they've all had one. Each person you speak to has had a childhood. Each has a body. Each body has aches. What is it to be human? What is it to ache? What is it to be alive? I don't know. What is it to ache? I don't know. What is it to be alive? I don't know... Uh, yes. "How do I talk to a customer?" How do I talk to a customer? These are the important questions for a customer service representative. What do I say? Do I smile while I'm on the phone? Well, they can tell, if you're smiling, even if they can't see you. Did you know that? Try it as an experiment on the phone with a friend. Try it. Go ahead. Watch. I'm lost. See I was smiling when I said that? I've lost my love. She's an unmoored ship and she's drifting off to sea. I have no one to talk to. I have no one to talk to. I have no one to talk to. I'm sorry. I don't mean to burden you with that, I just don't know what else to do because I have no one to talk to... Be friendly to the customer. Think of the customer as a friend...

It's the 67th birthday of Charlie Kaufman! Not only that but I just realized this Anomalisa is turning 10 in a few weeks! So this post is what we in the biz call a "two-fer" then. I didn't realize it was Charlie's birthday when I did today's "Five Frames" post (which spoiler alert was for Being John Malkovich) but now that I do realize it's his birthday let's give the man some affection. I re-watched I'm Thinking of Ending Things a few weeks ago for the bazillionth time (which is probably why I brought up Pauline Kael talking about Gena Rowlands earlier this week) and it remains a perfect sparkling diamond in my eye, but I certainly do understand why some people find Charlie's work difficult or off-putting. All the more for me! That said I haven't gone back and re-watched Anomalisa in several years so I'm gonna do that this weekend to celebrate my beloved meloncholy genius.