I’m Not Perfect and So Can You!

Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon! Marilyn Monroe! Jazz! Gangsters! Billy Wilder directing! Cross dressing!? Oh yes, Some Like it Hot, 1959, has it all. Plus a heavy dose of humanity to spare. Lemmon and Curtis play jazz musicians who witness a mob hit, disguise themselves as women, and join a travelling girls only band. Only, Tony Curtis immediately falls for the band’s singer, Monroe. He sets Lemmon up with older millionaire Osgood, at a Florida resort, so he can sneak Monroe on board Osgood’s yacht. Only, Lemmon suddenly likes all the attention Osgood lavishes on him. Curtis falls in love with Monroe, and they all gotta get out of town when the mafia comes for a convention, and their cover is blown.

As Curtis, Monroe, Lemmon all pile into Osgood’s boat to escape to his yacht, the truth comes out. Curtis admits he’s just another lousy musician, and Monroe loves him anyway. While Osgood presses Lemmon for marriage. Exasperated, Lemmon eventually pulls off his wig, declaring, “I’m a man!” To which Osgood smilingly replies, “Well, nobody’s perfect.”

Through all the wacky, frenetic energy of the film, runs a deep vein of humanity. Nobody’s perfect.

I always say we all get at least one vice or major flaw. And if none are apparent, that’s the person with the thumb collection in their crawl space (definitely not thinking of Mike Pence, but Mike Pence!). Those are the dangerous types.

I’m here to announce I’m a nobody who is not perfect. My vice? Vanity. Shoes down in the heels? Emergency! Hair looking scrubby? Pull out the clippers! And yes I DO need a new eye shadow pallette! I’m getting exercise because it makes me feel good (I want to lose weight). Walking and hiking and swimming are great (I hate work out reps). Yoga is its own reward (it rarely makes me sweat).

I can motivate myself to do just about anything out of vanity. Even turn 29 for a decade straight. But let’s look at this “fault” from the other side, shall we?

There is a certain part of me that is concerned for how I present myself to others. Which isn’t a bad impulse left alone. How many of the above behaviors just keep up my self-esteem, aside from the actual benefits?

But it’s more than that. This is an urge rooted deep inside me. So, aside from shoes, hair and skin, vanity, my sense of self worth and esteem, force me to reckon with my shortcomings all the time. Writers write. Get writing, Jess! Good people follow the Golden Rule, so hop to it, me! You ingrate! Luke Skywalker cared. Well, I care.

Luckily, I’m also lazy! Because I’d probably overdo the vanity thing. I love to have fun. Laugh. Smile. Eat. Drink. Be merry. But even that gets tiring sometimes, and I need to become a hermit for awhile.

When you know yourself, you know your faults and failings. But I am going to suggest that someone super smart, maybe Jung, possibly a Greek? OK. Let’s just say it’s me suggesting that learning to embrace our human failings is the only way to be a better writer, friend, jazz musician, and human being. Because our “faults” are simply our qualities gone wild.

So when you can identify your faults, which most folks are really good at, you can also zone in on your strengths. Something that’s truly challenging to most people. And if someone denies they have faults, just stand well back and protect your thumbs!

Hey, I’m just a Jersey girl. I vacationed in Wildwood, “Down the Shore.” I went to crummy schools. I had one nightmare of a marriage, and done dumb, hurtful things. But somehow I’ve achieved some things I’m truly proud of during my time here. Leaning into that mixture of confused, flawed humanity, yet desire to be better and do better makes me who I am. And I’m OK with me. Nobody’s perfect.😁

– JL ✌🏼💚🖖🏼😇😈😇

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