Lori Duff Writes

Lest you think that all lawyers are boring and stuck up[1], the Georgia Bar is doing something fun on Twitter – they are having a March Madness-type bracket of 64 to determine the greatest legal movie of all time.[2]  This is a fun little exercise, and I’m trying to vote in all the rounds.

As I’m doing it, I am reminded of all the other posts that people put out there all the time: what’s your favorite book?  Favorite actor/actress?  Favorite song?  Favorite color? 

When I see those, I usually read the comments to see what other people have to say, but I rarely contribute.  What’s my favorite book?  I don’t know.  I can give you a list of about a hundred that have touched me in some way, but to single one out?  That’s impossible.  What mood am I in?  Do I want to laugh?  Cry?  Feel vicarious romance?  Get my blood pumping with a thriller?  Learn something?  Think about something in a new way? 

My favorite color is yellow, though.  It’s happy and sunny and makes me smile. 

Anyway, the point is this: The Princess Bride being a near-perfect movie does not take away from the fact that My Cousin Vinnie[3]is, too.  Why is it important to rank them?

We’re so obsessed with ranking.  Social media makes it so easy, because you get data.  You can see who has more followers than whom, whose posts get more likes.  You can see the percentage of votes about which beautiful actress wore which gorgeous dress better. 

Y’all: it’s not a competition.  Don’t get me wrong – I’m a fairly competitive person.  I have cheered myself hoarse at basketball games[4] and don’t you dare try to beat me at Scrabble.  It’s been twenty years and I still feel like I have to apologize for ‘only’ coming in second on Jeopardy! But not everything is a competition.  Someone winning means that someone else is losing.  How does the world get better when one incredibly talented and good person is made to feel like a loser just because another incredibly talented and good person edged them out? 

Let’s just try to celebrate the goodness in what we enjoy.  I would leave my husband in a hot second for Jason Momoa OR Henry Cavill.  I don’t have to choose which one I’d leave him for first[5].  Just like having a second child didn’t diminish my love for my first,[6] my love for pasta drenched in fresh marinara doesn’t diminish my love for a good bagel with lox and onion.  I don’t have a favorite.  I have a ‘what I feel like having.’

Love all, I say, and if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all. 

[1] I’m not saying a lot of us aren’t.  I’m just saying that not ALL of us are.

[2] I don’t know why they are bothering.  The answer is obviously My Cousin Vinnie.

[3] See footnote 2.

[4] Go Duke!

[5] Don’t worry, Mikey.  You’ll always have a special place in my heart.  Plus, I know how you feel about Jennifer Lawrence.

[6] Though it did increase my exhaustion.

If you enjoyed this and want to read more like it, visit Lori on Twitter or on Facebook or read her award winning books.  Her newest book, a Foreword INDIES Gold Medal award winner, “If You Did What I Asked In The First Place” is currently available by clicking here.

Lori Duff

Lori B. Duff is an award-winning author who practices law on the side.  Her latest book, “If You Did What I Asked in the First Place” was awarded the Gold Medal for humor in the Foreword INDIES awards in 2019. You can follow her on Twitter at @LoriBDuff and on Facebook. For more blogs written by Lori, click here. For more information about Lori in general, click here. If you want Lori to do your writing for you, click here. If you want Lori to help you market your book, click here.