The Tony Montana Mentality

Last night I relaxed a bit and watched Love Don’t Cost a Thing starring the luscious Nick Cannon and Cristina Milian. I loved it! The urban remake of the 1987 romantic teen comedy, Can’t Buy Me Love starring Patrick Dempsey was well executed and had me laughing the entire time. It also whisked me away to the mid 80’s when Corey Haim and Corey Feldman ruled the tube and Patrick Dempsey’s nerdy but heartfelt characters caused you to look at the class geek a little differently.

I’ve always been attracted to the nerds. Maybe that’s because I am one. There’s something about a near perfect GPA that gets me too excited! There’s something about being around someone who knows more than I do about certain topics. As long as they are willing to share their knowledge I’m willing to hear and to learn.

This weekend Dude came by with a surprise for me. When I think of nerds I think of him because I could have sworn he was a nerd but he really flipped it on me, which was a nice surprise.

I mentioned to him that my friend Kim recommended a movie that I should see.He showed up with a big hug and BAM, he pulled out the movie– Scarface.

Ofcourse this movie is a classic, but I had yet to see it. I figured it was a guy movie, full of killing and stealing and cussing and I’m not into violence as a form of entertainment but this movie was…MAGNIFIQUE!

I now understand why this movie is a cult classic. The perilous tale of Tony Montana’s ‘no bull-shit I am going to take over the world’ dream speaks to so many of us who come from less than desireable circumstances. Tony started off being plucked from a boat and held in a detention center and rose to the top of the drug game like WHAT!

I really enjoyed the movie’s snapshot of my city during those times. It was amazing to see how Miami used to look before it became such a hot spot. The majority of the movie’s scenes were filmed right on South Beach which looks NOTHING like it did back then.

This city is like a big p***y just waiting to be f****d!

The scene that really spoke to me was the scene where Tony is in the car with his friend and his friend reminds him that they have come a long way from the detention center. Tony looks at him and says, “I want the world and everything in it.” I shivered at the sound of his voice.

Tony was not content with what he had accomplished by fighting through the obstacles of becoming a citizen and securing a stable income. That wasn’t enough, he wanted MORE from life. He had a VISION and a PLAN and the cajones to ask for what he thought he deserved.

So many times we sit through life waiting for someone to give us what we think we deserve. But if we really thought we deserved it, we wouldn’t sit back and wait for someone to recognize it and take pity on us, we’d go get it!

Tony’s growth was evident in the scene where he’s at dinner with his girl and his friend and he looks at everyone and realizes that after all his hard work and dreams his life is still quite simple. At the end of the day he eats, hangs with his girl and drinks. No matter how much money or fame we acquire these basic necessities are still our main priority.

Watching his phenomenal rise and eventual fall helped me to understand myself better. I see so much of myself in him evidenced by the fact that I can not settle for a regular life/job/husband/house and I’d rather die than see my goals go unnaccomplished.

But unlike Tony, I need balance in my life. I don’t want my dreams to become so big and my my quest so far reaching that I never allow myself to stop and appreciate what I have accomplished in my life so far.

At some point I want to allow myself to relax and enjoy the fruit of my labor. When my family is taken care of and their future children are provided for I hope to pass the baton to my brilliant sons and become their full time guide to accomplishing all of their little hopes and dreams.

Here’s to big dreams that WILL become a reality and hopes that don’t overshadow the basic necessity of self love and appreciation for others.