In 2004, I went to Cleveland to canvass for John Kerry, and when we got to the campaign center, they told us (me and some college students) “Too bad you weren’t here five minutes ago, Matt Dillon and Paul Newman were just here”. One of the students asked me “I know the salad dressing but what else did Paul Newman do?” I said “The Hustler, H.U.D., Butch Cassidy, The Color of Money”, and the students all looked at me blankly, having never heard of any of these movies.
More recently, I was at a Starbucks, and a 60ish woman said to the 25ish guy behind the counter, “Has anyone ever told you you have Paul Newman eyes?” They guy said “Huh?” The woman said “You don’t know who Paul Newman is. Tell your mother a dirty old woman told you that you have Paul Newman eyes”.
Based on the above scientific research, I have concluded that the kidz don’t know who Paul Newman is. Explain to me why it is, then, that there are TWO songs on the radio right now that mention Michelle Pfeiffer — “Uptown Funk” and “Riptide”. Is it because the 80s were more recent than Paul Newman’s heyday (they’re not that much more recent and Newman had some hits in the 80s)? Is it the Scarface effect?
While we’re at it, what are your favorite movies with Michelle Pfeiffer? The only one I really like is Fabulous Baker Boys. How about Newman? For me, too many to mention, but I guess I’ll go with The Hustler.