When To Jump
A boy’s take on real men (#2)
My family loves Barbara Steisand but we don’t like her. She and Frank are the greatest singers on the planet. But something about Streisand isn’t right. She’s something bad. I can’t say for sure what it is, but Mom shows it as annoyance on her face.
Frank is something bad too. But his bad is part of his allure, part of the fun — so it’s not bad, it’s good.
Barabara has a big nose but Robert Redford likes her anyway. She runs around trying to change the world for the good and holds up anti-war signs and talks fast. She’s in love with him so much that she watches him sleep.
But it’s a movie.
I like Robert ten times better when he’s Sundance. Much better than those talks he has with Barbara.
The best part is when a posse traps Butch and Sundance on a cliff. Their only escape is the water far below. Butch suggests they jump. Sundance says he’d rather fight and die.
Butch says no, their only chance is to jump. Sundance admits he can’t swim. Butch laughs and says the fall will kill them. Then, without another word, they jump off the cliff together.
They didn’t need to agree on when to jump at that point. Words were no longer necessary.
Real men don’t draw things out. When they know what they must do, they jump.
