Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Favorite Fictional Character --- Celeste Talbert


Well if by now you couldn't tell that I have a very eclectic taste in characters, then my choice for this week should get you to that conclusion.  I have been a humongous fan of soap operas since I was a kid and my mom would make me watch them when I was sick.  The only two that I watch now are "All My Children" and "One Life to Life" and while I love both shows, my choice is not coming from either of them.  Instead my pick is coming from the funniest movie ever made to parody a soap opera.


"Soapdish" came out in 1991 and starred the brilliant Sally Field as Celeste Talbert, a blatantly insecure, aging star of the hit soap "The Sun Also Sets".  On the night she wins her 8th daytime actress award, her married boyfriend leaves her to move back to Pittsburgh, which causes this poor neurotic woman to take bleach to all the plants he left behind. 

The rest of the movie consists of her scheming cast mates and executive producer trying to get her off the show.  When forcing her character to kill a deaf, homeless mute backfires they bring back her ex costar who also happens to be her ex lover to make her life a living hell.  Needless to say secrets come out, especially their love child that Celeste has been lying about ever since and things are forced to come to thrilling conclusion that will leave you laughing the entire time.

What I love about Celeste and what I can relate to the most is how insecure she can feel while the outside world sees her as someone on top of her profession.  She will go to suburban malls just to make sure she is recognized.  She needs to feel the love that her fans give her. She is a woman who has only wanted to be loved and love in return but for some reason she keeps throwing roadblocks in her way.  She has been running from a past that she can't quite accept but throughout the movie she is forced to confront things that forces her to grow up and find the life she has always wanted.

5 comments:

Simcha said...

Wow, this post really takes me back. I saw this movie ages ago. And while I'm not a real soap opera fan I do remember enjoying it.

ibeeeg said...

I was a big soap fan at one point in time... General Hospital, All My Children, Days of Our Lives.

Loved soapdish. In general, I greatly enjoy when others spoof something.

Sally Field in general is a great actress.

Anonymous said...

I loved this movie! Everyone was hilarious and Sally was awesome.

Yvette said...

I recently re-watched this film and loved it again. I am such a fan of Kevin Kline. He's WONDERFUL in this. As well as Sally Field. Whoopie, is of course, Whoopie. LOVE this!!!

Melissa (My World...in words and pages) said...

Oh my! This one is so ole. :) Well, its not that old. But I remember it. I never got to watch it but I remember it being on tv.

I am so sorry I have not been up to doing these lately. I am hoping to get back to them in the new year. We should be settled back down by then, after I clean up the holidays anyway. ;) But I am hoping to get back to doing these, they are so much fun. :)