In 1980, I was a small brown boy and Matt Dillon was advertised as "The Star of Little Darlings" on a poster for a March of Dimes Walkathon. If you participated, you would meet him at the end of the walk.
I had no idea what "Little Darlings" was, but I was 10, I was already a juvenile delinquent and I had inadvertently discovered Matt when I snuck out into the living room late one night to watch HBO and saw Over the Edge, a rated R drama about a group of juvenile delinquent teens vandalizing a suburb. Being a boy vandal myself, I identified heavily with the story, and immediately idolized Matt. So I collected my money, going door to door around the neighborhood with a coffee can and a lined form, meticulously writing names and donation amounts.
The day of the walk, I put a pen in my jeans front pocket, carefully rolled the poster featuring Matt and carried it with me the entire walk, so that I could get his autograph at the end. I did the walk--I have no idea how long it was, but I don't remember it being long and can't imagine having walked anymore than a couple miles--and at the finish line, there he was: Sitting in the back of a 1979 convertible red Cadillac Coupe de Ville with a rack of bullhorns attached to the front grill. He was 14 years old. Cut-off sleeveless t-shirt and jeans. Feathered brown hair. Lip snarled and smirking. He sat up on the trunk in the back seat with two teenage blonde girls on either side of him.
I was not shy and went right up to the side of the car. I unrolled the poster. Wiped dry the poster dewy with sweat from my tiny palm. Stood on my tip-toes and told him I liked him in Over the Edge and would he sign my poster. Did he say, 'Thanks, kid'? I feel like he did, in that throaty, New York Matt Dillon kinda way, but I can't be sure. What I am sure of is he hesitated, looking at me and my small extended arms holding up the pencil and poster. Even then, I registered the awkwardness of the moment. Of me, too short and too male to compete with the sea of teenage female hormones bubbling up around him.
A cute teenage girl appeared beside me also vying for his attention and he immediately gave it to her. Then another girl. And another. He looked down at me and my pencil one more time, curling his upper lip, flipping his bangs, and I thought he might get around to me after taking care of the ladies--I was a romantic boy and appreciated his prioritization and careful and studied approach of beautiful women--but when he failed to further acknowledge my existence, I tapped his jeaned hip. He flipped his feathered hair around to see who was tapping him. We clocked each other. I smiled. This time, he was more resolute in his snub of me and went back to taking photos with the girls.
I was crushed. But I took the hint and went home without my Matt Dillon autograph. Did I think he was an asshole then? No. I was such a fan, I dismissed the missed encounter and went on to love Matt Dillon for the next few years. My Bodyguard, The Outsiders, The Flamingo Kid. I got a life. Forgot about Matt. Then one night in Fall, in the year 2000, I was walking in the East Village with my girlfriend and I heard that instantly recognizable voice. I dropped my girlfriend's hand, spun around and saw a group of trench-coated men sauntering up the sidewalk about 20 feet behind us, smoking cigars. And there he was, snarling beneath a perfectly-pomaded hair cut:
Holy shit. It was two years after the cum in Cameron Diaz's hair movie. I thought about another celebrity encounter I'd witnessed recently on the subway. Booger from Revenge of the Nerds had gotten on the train and a man with a wife and young child had geeked out and exclaimed, "I love your work!" to which Booger had graciously replied "Thank you." When Booger got off the train, his wife went to town on her husband. "Oh my god, you love his work?! What is his name?" "Booger." he replied. "What's his name? You don't even know his name! You're a fan of his work. Please..."
I knew Matt Dillon's name. I was a true fan. I had details. And it was time for redemption.
The plan was to relate the March of Dimes story and finally get my autograph 20 years later.
He clocked me, the snarl ran away from his face and I knew things wouldn't work out for me once again. "Matt!" I exclaimed. "Aw, come on," he replied, already annoyed. "Real quick..." I said, and gave him the 10 second elevator pitch: "I met you in 1980 when I was 10 and tried to get an autograph but you were distracted by all the girls. You were in Little Darlings but I liked you in Over the Edge and no one knew that film but I did!"
His buddies laughed and he tried to keep walking. He didn't say 'Thanks, kid" because we were both grown men and now I realized he had no attachment to my very one-sided story of rejection. "Can I get your autograph?" If he had cared, he might have winced at me out of pity, but instead he puffed on his cigar, then waved it at the night: "I'm out with my boys trying to have a night and you're here with this?" "Aw, ok," I said, barely hiding my disappointment as I back-pedalled to my girlfriend and we all went our separate ways. Secretly, I wished for him to star in a horrible, career-ending movie. Four years later, I sort of got my wish.
/cdlbrownie/