Did We Just Become Best Friends?

Oct. 6, 2017

Have you ever felt that instant connection?

You meet someone, and you immediately get each other’s jokes and immediately agree on just about everything.

It’s like you’ve known each other for years.

The problem is that this doesn’t happen very often. Why not?

Because so many people let us down.

Most people we meet aren’t the same as us. Most people we meet have silly secret agendas or misguided priorities or archaic beliefs. Most people didn’t grow smart up like us and their surroundings led them down different paths.

I suppose it’s not their fault.

But that doesn’t help us find a new friend.

So how do we do it? How do we find that person who’s such a perfect fit?

We could join eHarmony or FriendHarmony or some other Harmony site that allows us to input flattering answers into their questionnaires, but I’m not sure that’s going to speed up the process.

No, there’s an easier way to find someone great to hang out with, and it only takes a few seconds.

You give them The Movie Test.

All you have to do is ask your new prospective friend a few quick questions about a few movies, and you can know immediately whether you might soon be vacationing in Spain together or if you’ll shun that person for the rest of your life. Or you’ll find out that person simply didn’t know the essentials of life and needs some more time to grow into a proper human.

The fact is: there are just some movies that need to be watched. Without these movies, life is a pasty, bleak existence barely worth living, and no one needs to spend time with people living pasty lives.

So here’s all you have to do. 1) Ask your candidate about these three movies; 2) If they answer correctly, give them the keys to your house; 3) If they answer incorrectly, send them on a Snipe Hunt and never think of them again.

Here’s the list:

1. Fight Club. This is big. You may not need to ask any more questions based on his/her response to this one. First, this may the be the highest-quality movie ever made. If they don’t get that, they probably don’t even think Roger Federer is the greatest athlete of all time, and they can be dismissed (the more rudely, the better). Second, this is not an easy movie. If they can’t watch from beginning to end, then you don’t need someone like that in your life. Last, it absolutely works as a filter. One of my old tennis students used to use Fight Club as her dating measuring stick. If her squire didn’t like Fight Club, there would be no second date. And now she’s happily married. You do the math.
2. The Usual Suspects. This also does the trick. This movie has probably the best plot of all time and that needs to be recognized. After one of my best friends saw this movie for the first time, he said, “I feel intellectually inadequate.” That’s the proper response. This movie should knock you on your behind and give you lecture. Anyone who says they knew what was coming is a dirty liar and can be immediately ejected. Anyone who didn’t like this movie for any reason doesn’t deserve vocal cords.
3. Step Brothers. This is the final hurdle. It seems like sophomoric slapstick, but it’s immeasurably wise underneath its immaturity. If your friend-clients can’t see that, they’re gone. If your friend-clients think it’s stupid, they’re gone. If your friend-clients haven’t fallen off the couch laughing at least once during the movie, they’re gone. It really doesn’t get much simpler than that.

There you have it. Just slyly slip those movie questions into your conversation and you’ll know everything you need to know.

So I guess the question is: Did we just become best friends?

My book is called The Inevitability of Becoming Rich, and you can find that here.