reminds me of you

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Sometimes a woman will tell me that an entertainer or character "reminds" her of me. The association is usually flattering, if somewhat mysterious. Cedric the Entertainer, Lewis Black, Dave Atell, the Rip Torn character on "The Larry Sanders Show," the John Travolta character in "Get Shorty," the Hugh Laurie character on "House"...these guys are cool enough, but they don't seem to have much in common. They're so random, in fact, it makes me wonder if this "reminds" thing isn't an appeal to my vanity designed to get me to watch certain TV shows and movies.

Sometimes, vanity is not served. Like when the AW said that the Al Pacino character in "Scent of a Woman" reminded her of me. We were newly dating, and I was still inhaling any entertainment she recommended. And man, did I ever choke on Pacino's unredeemable, insufferably obnoxious character. What a self-absorbed ass is he, and, apparently, am I. This remains my personal gold standard for anti-vanity.