The Silver Surfer Connection

Quentin Tarantino cited Breathless with Richard Gere as one of the 'coolest"movies. Tarantino incorporates The Silver Surfer (the obsession of Gere's character in Breathless) into Reservoir Dogs as homage. It is a poster in Mr. Orange's apartment.
Which got me thinking about his mirror speech. Mr. Orange is about to go downstairs to hook up with Nice Guy Eddie and Mr. White. Mr. Orange is an undercover cop. He opens the apartment door then hesitates, closes it and turns to the mirror. "Don't pussy out on me now. They don't know. They don't know shit. You're not gonna get hurt. You're f***ing Baretta. They believe every f***ing word 'cause you're super cool." Then he leaves the apartment.
I memorized that speech at one time in my life. When I am walking into situations that make me uncomfortable, I need words to bolster my confidence. I like that and I used it. Actually stood in front of a mirror and spoke the words while looking myself right in the eye.
I used it a few times. Job interviews, new job situations. Used to use it a lot when I was a rookie bartender at the legion. The crowd used to intimidate me so I had to get my game face on.
I have gotten away from it but the need may arise again soon.
My favorite confidence booster was Appetite For Destruction. My brother got me a job at a difficult time in my life. A very good job with very good pay. I will always be grateful to him for that.
The commute was 1 and 1/2 hours one way. Long day, baby. And the office was a nest of vipers. I was hired as a credit analyst, and due to circumstances beyond my control was quickly promoted to credit manager. It was a leasing finance company and the sales people were vicious.
I was the guy they had to go through to get their deals financed. I was over my head. They were relentless. Like the honey badger.
Guns N' Roses released Appetite in 1987. Their debut album. Bless their hearts. I started the job somewhere around 1990. It is a magnificent album filled with righteous attitude and in your face bravado. Just what I needed.
I listened to that album every single day on my commute to work. Sang along to many of the songs at top volume. It worked me up into a lather; made me feel invincible.
Events of the day would strip away layers of confidence until I was nothing but a shell by the time I hit the road for the ride home.
But Guns N" Roses was waiting for me in the morning.
Right now it's Willy, Eckhart, and Leonard. You gotta draw your inspiration from sources that make sense to you and correspond to where your head is at at that time.
Everybody has a gimmick. Some people just pretend to be tough. That is transparent 99% of the time.
Do what you gotta do. Believe in it. Make it yours. Be creative.
To quote another line from Reservoir Dogs "You got to make that shit naturalistic as hell."
Life is a game, folks and we are all actors. It doesn't hurt to learn a few lines to get you through.