... Are you somebody’s favorite person? Think about it carefully.

When I was at Sundance, I saw a short called “Are You the Favorite Person of Anybody?” Before I saw the short, I worried slightly that this was going to be some strange abstract about someone named “anybody” and the existentialistic viewpoints of the writer.

Not to worry, thank goodness, and it turned out to be my favorite short of the series that I saw. Actor John C. Reilly was standing at the side of a backstreet holding a clipboard and taking a survey. His survey was simple – Are you anybody’s favorite person, and then a ranking of how confident you were of that answer.

The first person who came by was a woman. She answered that she was someone’s favorite person. Then he asked her on a scale of 1 to 5 how confident was she – Very Confident, Pretty Sure, Thought so… etc etc. She initially said she was very confident, and then lost her confidence on it all and left him with she thought she was someone’s favorite person.

The next person who came by was a young man in his 20s. He was very confident that he wasn’t anyone’s favorite person. Then the survey taker asked him if he’d like any oranges, because he had trees that were overflowing. The young man took one. Then he asked for another because he was sure his girlfriend would like one.



Makes you wonder what this guy did to ensure that he wasn’t his girlfriend’s favorite person or why he didn’t have a very high opinion of himself.

The third (and last) person to pass by was an older man who didn’t want to have any part of the survey because he didn’t vote and wasn’t into the whole free love thing. Makes you wonder what happened to *him* when he was younger. The short ended with the survey taker and his clipboard just standing there waiting for the next person to come by.

It was funny, and it gave me something to think about – *AM* I someone’s favorite person? I should expect that I’m DH’s favorite person (and he mine, naturally) but I think there are definitely times that I am not. And then I wonder who would replace me as someone’s favorite person and why they would get the "top slot". Interestingly enough, DH was surprised when I said that I didn’t know if I was someone’s favorite person, but didn’t elaborate on that. That brought me to thinking even harder about things.

Why should someone have a favorite person in the first place? Isn’t that rather egotistical to think that you’re someone’s favorite person? On the other hand, it’s a nice feeling to have – it conveys the idea that you’re loved and needed and enjoyed. But it’s still an ego trip, either way. But then what happens to your ego when you know you're not someone's favorite person anymore? I know I've dropped off a few "lists" in my time on this earth, but I don't think it's made me think any less of myself.

I know some people who say their favorite person is themselves. That makes some sense, oddly enough – because if you don’t think well of yourself, other people might not either. That also could be ego too, and could convey the idea to everyone else that you don’t think as much of them as you do yourself. I could (and probably am) completely off base here for this one, and feel free to let me know that. Some people may use the "I'm my own favorite person" line to make others feel small and unimportant - that's only if you consistently reinforce the idea that you are your own favorite person to them or if they have low self esteem to begin with. I think in any case that wondering if you are someone's favorite person or figuring out who your favorite person is might be some dangerous territory to be treading into...

...because you don't want to deal with the accusation that you're playing favorites.

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Jury Duty Status for today: They've called a bunch of group numbers that are very close to mine... so... I call in at noon my time. *sigh*