08 dezembro 2008

Top 5 Fictional Speeches

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - the Remember Cedric Diggory speech, because I believe that although it's about a fictional evil on a fictional story, its message is deep, thoughtful and can be applied to general life. These are my two fave parts:

"I say to you all, once again -- in the light of Lord Voldemort's return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided."

"Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory"


Remember the Titans - a speech about race, about respect, about overcoming differences to achieve something greater as a group.

"This is where they fought the battle of Gettysburg. Fifty thousand men died right here on this field, fighting the same fight that we are still fighting among ourselves today. This green field right here, painted red, bubblin' with the blood of young boys. Smoke and hot lead pouring right through their bodies. Listen to their souls, men.

'I killed my brother with malice in my heart.'
'Hatred destroyed my family'.

You listen, and you take a lesson from the dead. If we don't come together right now on this hallowed ground, we too will be destroyed, just like they were. I don't care if you like each other of not, but you will respect each other. And maybe... I don't know, maybe we'll... learn to play this game like men.


Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Season 7 - Last Episode: "Chosen") - Buffy's last speech is amazing, but to really really get it you must watch all previous episodes, suffer, laugh, cry, get excited with them and then watch the final episode to hear this speech.

"I hate this. I hate being here. I hate that you have to be here. I hate that there’s evil and that I was chosen to fight it. I wish a whole lot of the time that I hadn’t been. I know a lot of you wish I hadn’t been, either. But this isn’t about wishes. This is about choices. I believe we can beat this evil.

Not when it comes. Not when its army is ready. Now. Tomorrow morning I’m opening the Seal. I’m going down into the Hellmouth and I’m finishing this once and for all.

Right now you’re asking yourselves what makes this different. 'What makes us anything more than a bunch of girls being picked off one by one?' It’s true, none of you have the power that Faith and I do. So here’s the part where you make a choice.

(cut to a lot of thing, until we get back to the speech on a flashback)

So here’s the part where you make a choice. What if you could have that power… now? In every generation one Slayer is born because a bunch of men who died thousands of years ago made up that rule. They were powerful men.

(She points at Willow, who smiles nervously.)

This woman is more powerful than all of them combined. So I say we change the rule. I say my power should be our power.

Tomorrow, Willow will use the essence of the scythe to change our destiny.

From now on, every girl in the world who might be a Slayer, will be a Slayer.

Every girl who could have the power, will have the power.

Can stand up, will stand up.

Slayers… every one of us. Make your choice. Are you ready to be strong?"


Scent of a Woman - the full movie is a gem, but if you want to get just a piece of this amazing movie, watch Al Pacino's final speech about integrity, about doing what is right and not what is easy (same as the HP speech above said). This is just a part of that speech, but it can give you an idea of what I'm talking about (for the full speech, with audio/video, click here):

"As I came in here, I heard those words, 'cradle of leadership'. Well, when the bow breaks, the cradle will fall. And it has fallen here; it has fallen. Makers of men; creators of leaders; be careful what kind of leaders you're producin' here. I don't know if Charlie's silence here today is right or wrong.

I'm not a judge or jury. But I can tell you this: he won't sell anybody out to buy his future!! And that, my friends, is called integrity! That's called courage! Now that's the stuff leaders should be made of. Now I have come to the crossroads in my life. I always knew what the right path was. Without exception, I knew. But I never took it. You know why? It was too damn hard. Now here's Charlie. He's come to the crossroads. He has chosen a path. It's the right path. It's a path made of principle -- that leads to character. Let him continue on his journey.

You hold this boy's future in your hands, committee. It's a valuable future. Believe me. Don't destroy it! Protect it. Embrace it. It's gonna make ya proud one day -- I promise you."



Meet Joe Black - to finish in great style, this is a speech from one of my favorite movies (and this movie has tons of them). It's all about love, about really living your life instead of just watching it passing by. Here it goes:

"Love is passion, obsession, someone you can't live without. If you don't start with that, what are you going to end up with? Fall head over heels. I say find someone you can love like crazy and who'll love you the same way back. And how do you find him? Forget your head and listen to your heart. I'm not hearing any heart. Run the risk, if you get hurt, you'll come back. Because, the truth is there is no sense living your life without this. To make the journey and not fall deeply in love - well, you haven't lived a life at all. You have to try. Because if you haven't tried, you haven't lived."

(I couldn't resist adding just another one from this movie)
William Parrish: Trust, responsibility, taking the weight for your choices and feelings, and spending the rest of your life living up to them. And above all, not hurting the object of your love.
Joe Black: So that's what love is according to William Parrish?
William Parrish: Multiply it by infinity, and take it to the depth of forever, and you will still have barely a glimpse of what I'm talking about.

2 comentários:

Paulo Chamlian disse...

humm. discutivel essa lista. eu derrubava de cara "encontro marcado" pra por Fibra moral de "Um Show de Vizinha"

Léo disse...

O discurso de "moral fiber" em "Um Show de Vizinha" até passou pela minha cabeça... mas ele está loooooonge de chegar perto do de "Encontro Marcado"...

Posta sua lista de Top 5 discursos para nós avaliarmos então. :)