I went to the theater tonight. Lincoln Center. The second part of Tom Stoppards new trilogy, The Coast of Utopia. A tremendous theater experience, but that's a subject for another day. The point is that this play has attracted some pretty impressive people. When we went to see Part 1 we saw Sonia Braga. Tonight we saw Phil Collins and Dana Tyler of CBS News in New York. Others too, but I'm not much for going all idiot-like over celebrities. Until I saw Sally Field. Right in front of me in the lobby. I swear...my whole childhood came rushing back. (Does anyone remember Alejandro Rey as Carlos Ramirez in The Flying Nun? But I digress...)
Looking back I think Sally Field was my spirit guide. Other than my family, she's the one person who was present for and impacting the milestones in my life. True...it took her a while to really gain respect as an actress, but hey...I was a late bloomer too. And like so many women I know, she seems has only gotten better with time, turning in her best work when she was at an age where most women are shuffled aside. I still get emotional over her performances in Steel Magnolias and Norma Rae (one of Premiere Magazines Top 100 Movies of All Time!) and Forrest Gump. These days we get to see her regularly on the small screen in an incredible turn as Maggie, Abby Lockhart's manic depressive mother on ER, and as Nora, the matriarch on Brothers & Sisters.
Her agent once told her she wasn't good enough to make movies. She fired him. In 2004 she protested alongside fellow actresses Jane Fonda, Christine Lahti, and playwright Eve Ensler urging the Mexican government to re-investigate the slayings of hundreds of women in Ciudad Juarez, on the Mexico- Texas border. And my favorite Sally quote...
"My country is still so repressed. Our idea of what is sexual is blonde hair, long legs, 22 years old. It has nothing to do with humour, intelligence, warmth, everything to do with teeth and cleavage." I may want to needlepoint this on a pillow.As a girl I wanted to be Gidget's best friend and learn how to surf. I even considered becoming the first Jewish nun so I could fly over San Juan in my hat. But today I look at Sally Field...at nearly 60...and see a woman who has inspired me all along the way. Even if I didn't know it at the time.
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