Last month I wrote a short entry about the interesting Kate Winslet American Express commercial. Last week I was contacted by a Forth Worth Star-Telegram reporter who found my explanation of the movie references in the commercial.
Yesterday the reporter’s column was published in the Star-Telegram (free reg required):
Q: In the American Express commercial that Kate Winslet does, she talks about her real life being dramatic enough. Was she really in jail, lost her memory, etc. — all of that before the age of 27?
— K.L., Southlake
A: A lot of my regular readers would probably bet money that I’m about to make fun of you. Well, you can’t put ol’ Brice in the same corner every time, people. The fact is, I get stuff explained to me all the time, mostly by teen-agers who suspect early-onset senility.
All of those things — “At 17 I went to prison for murder,” “By 19, I was penniless . . .,” etc. — are descriptions of movie roles and the ages Winslet was when she made those movies.
According to Silicon Valley blogger Brian Cantoni, who took the time to research the commercial completely and who gave me permission to use his stuff, the line about murder refers to her role in 1994’s Heavenly Creatures, and the second, in 1995’s Sense and Sensibility. “I almost drowned at 20” refers to Titanic in 1997. “My mind started to go at 24” is in reference to Iris, released in 2001. “Then I had my memory erased at 28” refers to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind in 2004 with co-star Jim Carrey. “And by 29, I was in Neverland” is, of course, about 2004’s Finding Neverland, based on the life of author J.M. Barrie.
Now I’m officially known in Fort Worth!
I also captured a screenshot of this online page (ads included) just for future reference.
