One of the greatest movies ever, GlenGary Glen Ross, with one of the greatest speeches ever that may be able to tell you much about someone by their reaction to it.

I Loved It

I was recently sick. Lying on the couch, exhausted from the illness as well as from my feverish rant to the children about how I know without a doubt that God is not merciful because I wasn't dead I decided to see what was on Netflix.

I'd taken a couple of ibuprofen for the aches even though I wasn't supposed to because of a recent kidney issue, but there really was no other choice when the oxycodone I had left over from a past back issue hadn't worked and my anti anxiety medicine was also failing to kick in, so I was waiting for the shotgun blast of medicine that I'd thrown at my body to start working and to pass the time I found myself looking for a movie.

I was feeling miserable and first off wanted a movie I could relax with. I didn't want an action movie, and the idea of laughing at a comedy felt wrong, I wanted to see people who were miserable - possibly even more miserable than me?

GlenGarry Glen Ross is probably one of the greatest movies ever made, a slow and calm movie with moments of rage and sorrow that would make even the most deathly ill person thankful that they are who they are and not the characters in the movie.

I can recite Alec Baldwin's speech nearly word for word and yet lying there as I was, feeling terrible, his speech was like a cool fall breeze against my feverish forehead because though I was listening to it - none of it was directed at me, instead I found myself hating those salesmen just as Alec's character did and my hatred for them and their being less than me made me smile warmly and allowed me to finally find the couch comfortable, but then with his character gone I was one with the salesmen and their plight of dealing with upper management. Though I knew the outcome of the movie I adjusted my head on my pillow and agreed with the salesmen that they weren't being treated right and someone should do something about it. If anything I wondered why they went with the plan of theft instead of plotting the murder of Kevin Spacey's character who was - is - one of the most perfect villians in movie history.

Through the film I was shown the joys of power, the embarrasment of being young and inexperienced, the fear of losing my job, and again the joy of being powerful over someone - which is what it's all about, you may get yelled at by one person, but there's always someone you hold some power over - of course lying there dying on the couch, I had no power - but atleast I wasn't as bad as the characters in the movie.

Now this movie is a drama, no doubt, but like Alec's character's speech - it has moments of true dark comedy, or so I think.

I showed a clip of his speech to a coworker who is in sales and he thought it was hilariously uncomfortable and an extreme view of what sales is really like. He then showed it to another guy in sales who thought it was not funny and a true depiction of the stress from working in sales. I worked in sales for just over a year, I did cold calls through out Kansas, Oklahoma, and Missiouri, and I could certainly see how the stress of sales could get out of hand, while at the same time others who enjoy that type of stuff may not see it as a bad thing but instead treat it as a goal or their drive to keep going.

I almost feel that this scene of Alec's speech could be treated as a psychological guage of a person's personality. Now I don't know what it would mean if you find this funny, or sad, or true to life, but I feel that it could be used to let you know about someone.

My suggestion, show this clip to a friend - actually show them the entire movie, but start with the clip I guess - and determine with them and the meaning of the answer to: Is this scene funny or not?