Compilation of comments

I have pulled out a lot of the comments from commenters on the posts I have written on Ben Marley, and as I kept going, the funnier and more awesome it got to read them all in one sitting. I am wiping tears of laughter off of my face. I feel so grateful, first of all, to those of you who have just leapt wholeheartedly on the bandwagon, sometimes far surpassing me in passion and insight. I can’t tell you what it’s meant to me in the last two months. People have lost their MINDS about Ben Marley, and putting all the comments in one place really hits that point home.

At first I labeled each quote below with the commenter who actually said it … but then I realized that it’s actually funnier reading if you don’t know who said it, and you just let the love wash over you. At least that’s how it’s gone for me, as I read through these comments, with tears of laughter down my face.

These have been some of the funniest comments in the entire history of my blog. Not because it’s a silly or a ridiculous topic – on the contrary. Ben Marley is a sweet, subtle, and under-rated actor, who had a huge impact on me as a lonely pre-adolescent, and it’s been fun to basically sit around and appreciate him for a month and a half. Sometimes, when life is the roughest, when it’s a struggle to even get through the day, it’s good to just throw yourself into something (as my dear friend Ann Marie has put it: “propel yourself into the blazing star”) – and not hold back, not worry about looking silly or “juvenile” or what other people think of you … to not worry about anything, actually, except the reality of the present moment, which might include raving about an actor’s feathered hair in the early 1980s and how hot he is and how if you had kissed a boy like that when you were 16, your whole life would be different.

I suppose it is silly. But boy, how much we lose in life when we decide to stop being silly.

In that vein, here are some of the comments. Love you all!!

None of these comments are by me. I wanted to focus on everyone out there who has “propelled themselves into the blazing star” with such commitment, making these dark months a little more bearable for me.

Some of these comments are by friends, family, people I’ve met, internet friends … some are by people I have no connection with at all. Some are male, some are female. But look at the participation. It’s a frenzy.

Enjoy.

“Ben’s hair is just devastating. Devastating. I’m on the floor, writhing in a lifetime of longing for boys with hair JUST LIKE THAT. David Cassidy, it’s all your fault.”

“I am lost in Ben Marley’s feathered bangs. LOST.”

“This is Anson Williams’s dream version of himself – chatty and sweet and HOT.”

“im so in love with Ben Marley right now….it reminds me of my Scott Baio obsession of the late eighties.”

“Thanks for the gift of… Ben Marley’s thighs!”

“Potsie, damn, you did good. Ben, oh Ben, with your denim-clad thighs and your hairless cleavage and your mop of perfectly feathered brown hair and your sweetness, and dare I say it, with me in the chair and you walking up to me, uhm, with your groin at eye level – I AM Suzy Gilstrap, I am the little crippled girl who years to fly (and yearns to dig into his fly – blush). “You can’t protect me forever, Daddy” – from flying and sex and incredibly hot guys and slow-dance wheelies and cantankerous ex-stunt pilots who flew in Thirty Seconds of Tokyo and endless bowls of chili. Here I go, skyward. Watch me fly.”

“I had to stop reading the second part just at the point Ben Marley (OH DEAR LORD) lifts her into his truck, in order to race to the dentist. I spent the entire time in the chair thinking feverishly about his feathered hair and rolled-up sleeves.”

“I am completely obsessed now: was he in Skyward Christmas? Did he wear the same blissful jeans? How could Slow-Dancing Gilstrap look so glum when his unrestrained chest was RIGHT IN HER FACE?”

“A few things…first of all, Ben marley is HOT. Of course he is ten times hotter because his character lives in the west, wears cowboy boots and drives a cool truck. Second of all, I’m dying to know what lip gloss lisa whelchel wore throughout the 80s. i’ve never seen anything so relentlessly shiny.”

“Just think, the day before yesterday, I didn’t know who he was. Now, his 1980 self is my life.”

“In my mind, Ben Marley is forever living in 1980, wearing clothes so tight one expects him to bust out of them at any second, like an infinitely hotter Incredible Hulk. I am pleased to see him still in a v-neck though, playing to his strengths. Also, it’s good there’s a little bit of floppiness in his fringe, though not enough, obviously, having witnessed the (screencapped) glory of his former locks.”

“I am so ridiculous. Oh Ben, I’ll always love you!”

“I sound like a demented realtor doing a home inspection: “Nose: The same. Check. Eyes: Still entirely blissful. Check. Bicep: Still lean and muscular. Check. Skin: Apparent sun damage. Note: Did he not use sunscreen? Was the cowboy hat not enough protection? Too much staring skyward at Gilstrap? Investigate.”

“I had an epiph as I read this — Marley stood in for US, the audience — that tight third participant, willing the craft down safely, quiet, integral”

“You know, I had coherent, meaningful thoughts on acting choices, ensemble casts etc. until you started posting the photographs. Now all I can do is quiver like a small terrier and paw at the screen. Oh, sweet Ben Marley, what have you reduced me to???”

“One aspect of this that is also heartwarming to me, and adds a layer of enjoyment to the film and his performance, is the personal side. He and Ron Howard worked on ‘Skyward’ when they were kids. Ron Howard then goes on to be one of the biggest directors in Hollywood. When ‘Apollo 13’ comes around, this guy who had been the FOCAL point of Howard’s debut is now a role player. But one who is given a real stake in the story, a real chance to show his stuff.”

“And let’s not forget glimpses here and there of lithe, lilting, gentle Ben, a compact masculine bundle of excellent acting, never showy, never anything but in the moment, doing what needs to be done.”

“I’d like to think Skyward is the reference point for Ron Howard’s entire career, and every film since then is revisiting themes he first covered there. ‘Guys, from the moment of the shuttle explosion, I want all the control room actors to give off the same feeling as Ben Marley loading Suzy Gilstrap into his truck for the first time. Ben, talk us through it.’ ”

“I loved the way he radiated authority & power. There was no mistaking this was a very physical guy, not an inch of fat on him, very strong, very alpha. It was completely believable for him to be the one to walk straight into Gary’s room, take over, pack his things without hesitation or permission. Even when he opened the curtains to the simulator, he did it with huge amounts of suppressed energy. He was deliberate & definite, even when nodding his head. Moving the guard? The smoke ring? HEAVEN.”

“I came home from work at about 1am yesterday and avidly read your blog on Apollo 13 like it was late breaking news. I had to stop to laugh at myself.”

“I’ve become so invested in Ben Marley and The Sheila Variations Exposé thereof, that this feels like a simultaneously personal and universal victory, in the way the national team winning gold at the Olympics does. (I can’t construct sentences I’m that excited). I feel like I should be waving a flag.”

“I have so much contempt for “Skyward Christmas” right now, and I have NEVER SEEN IT!!! I want to bitch slap all of them- except Ben Marley of course. Actually, I think Ben needs to write an expose of his experience…”

“Thank God Ben was in there plugging away and being his jangly sexy self to relieve us of this maudlin, mawkish mess.”

“Had the scriptwriters never met a teenage girl before? There is NO WAY that after a lifetime of being babied and feeling morose, upon landing herself a boyfriend of ASTOUNDING beauty and character – a boy whose every action is excruciatingly erotic – she would care more about Coop’s stupid problems and being wilful than spending every waking moment making the most of her teenage hormones. She would barely remember her own name, let alone her grandpa.”

“Having Gilstrap basically behave as if Ben Marley is invisible or neutered is taking this to a place where suspending my disbelief cannot follow. She would be OUT OF HER MIND and continuously offering to fly him to any stupid bull he pleased.”

“She looks like she’s pleading with him there, or at least having a little meltdown. Can’t blame her, even with those elbow patches. Wait, his shirt appears open to the navel! I completely understand now.”

“I’m sure the actors in the foreground of Apollo 13 were doing excellent things, but I was so fixated on his reactions to the action, I don’t know for certain! I had to stop it a few times, because I kept missing visual information straining to find the polo shirt, like the sexiest Where’s Wally ever.”

“My finest moment was when I was momentarily baffled by his voice; there was something off, I didn’t know what. Not until the tiny, sane bit of my brain that’s lashed itself to the mast in the midst of my Ben Marley perfect storm reminded me that the reason I didn’t recognise his voice was because I HAD ONLY SEEN HIM IN SCREENCAPS.”

“My God, my heart is broken. No wonder people haven’t forgotten this show. It portrays the intense extremes and isn’t condescending. Reading this was genuinely painful. I could FEEL again that white-hot humiliation. I was wincing in recognition all the way through. His kindness, his gentleness, his eyes BROKE me – I would’ve been more in love with him than ever. In fact, I am right now. To cheer myself up, I’m going back to the shot of him walking to the dance. DEAR GOD IN HEAVEN, thank you for it, Sheila. Hand in the hair, hand in the pocket – so perfect I squealed at the screen! Not to mention the gym shorts! The way he looks when he’s kneeling, holding the soccer ball! The sweat on his forehead! Is that hair on his chest when he’s in the yellow shirt? Oh damn you, Ben Marley, loving you is a rollercoaster!”

“Oh, GOD! Sweet, sweet Ben Marley. To be let down, gently, by him now is my goal in life.”

“I’ve never been let down that gently. I think it would’ve changed my life too. The ease they exuded amazed me. Not to mention the hair on Ben Marley’s chest. Just when I think he couldn’t be more perfect!”

“I loved this post (and am now becoming one of the THOUSANDS of Ben Marley savants in this world) and this line in particular: Change of scene, change of cock.”

“Admittedly, you could tell me you’d seen Ben Marley blowing his nose and I’d collapse like Lauren on the track. I suppose, if I’m to justify my existence outside of Bedlam, one could say that Ben Marley being wet, frantically doing anything and screaming makes the giant shark attack an inconsequential detail. Right? Right?”

“Ben Marley appears to have Shaun Cassidy’s hair. And the thighs of a bronzed statue.”

“He’s a vigorous, healthy young animal, isn’t he? Boys like that amazed me in high school. All boundless energy, bright eyes and lean muscles, like young colts. I swear they were higher life forms. He just looks so capable, particularly his hands. He looks so natural on the catamaran. He’s certainly the first person I’d cling to were I attacked by a vengeful denizen of the deep. Those arms!”

“Look at him in the fuzzy jumper. Those cheekbones! Your episode description makes me nervous. I don’t think I can take him letting me down again. I’m so vulnerable to him!”

“I’m drowning in that sweater.”