Coda

"Got a light?" Clint Eastwood constantly asks in his 1990 movie THE ROOKIE, which Dr. Theresa and I watched last night. Usually, no one does (have a light, that is). That's the joke. Wait! I should warn you there will be spoilers for this Clint Eastwood movie from 1990. Anyway, at the end, he asks his friend "Got a light?" and his friend does not have a light, and Clint Eastwood says, "Story of my life," and slumps over dead. Great ending! Except they keep going. There's a brief coda to let us know that our hero Clint Eastwood is not dead after all. Big mistake, in my opinion. It ruined the cool ending, which definitely would have gone in my cigarette lighter book, even though what Clint is looking for all through the movie would technically be a cigar lighter, because he smokes cigars. Still, there is something existentially irresistible about a man who always needs a light and never can get one and does not have one of his own. (See also.)