"Ask me again"

I love the movie "Almost Famous." It is by far my favorite movie, and I have a simple test for how much I like a certain piece of cinema. If I can tune into a movie at any point and get sucked in for the next hour, I'm hooked. For this movie, this perfect movie that captures the awkwardness and awe of being a teenager in love with a band/girl, not only every scene puts a smile on my face, but just about every minute of running time. Just like the music that the movie is in love with, I cherish every little scene, no matter how ethereal or off-beat it might be.

And this is one of my favorites:

I think it strikes such a chord because it is as autobiographical as a movie can be without actually being a documentary, as director Cameron Crowe lived this story and his experience traveling with a band permeates every aspect of it.

Anyway, the reason why I love this little scene so much is because it captures what it feels like to become entranced both as a moment in your life as well as the emotions of being a teenager. This 15 year old kid is enraptured by this strange, exotic, beautiful older girl who loves music as much as he does. She wants to embrace life the way he has only dreamt about, and here she is asking him if he would like to come along.

That's where the magic happens in this scene. 

According to Crowe, when William Miller says, "Ask me again," it was not as the character "William Miller," but as the actor himself, Patrick Fugit. Crowe said that Fugit was stepping out of his character in order to ask "Penny Lane" actress Kate Hudson to repeat her line so that they could do another take. However, Crowe liked it so much that he decided to leave it in.

I can understand why. As a kid, an insecure, 15 year old kid whom everybody in school hates, there is nothing better than being invited. Even if you can't come along, and even if you don't want to come along, the act of being asked means everything in the world. It validates you as a human being, that somehow, someone whom you hold in esteem, beauty, and the like thinks enough of you to want you to come along for the ride. 

"Do you want to hang out?"

"Do you want to want to grab some food?"

"Do you want to play pick-up hoops?"

"Do you want to hold my hand?"

"Do you want to come?"

Ask me again. Ask me again so I can forever lock into my memory what it feels like to be invited into a world greater than my own. Ask me again.

"Do you want to come?"

Yes. Yes.