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There are those arguments you get into with friends that are just almost too cliche to even bother writing about. Like, is truth relative or absolute. Or, which is the better conference, the Big 10 or the SEC. Well, at least I hear this used to be a debate.



Anyways, today I find myself engaged in one of those debates: The classic “Who is responsible for the salvation of Earth in Independence Day ? Bill Pullman, Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, or Mankind at large?” I think it’s rather customary to eliminate the obvious answer of Randy Quaid from the choices, because, well, let’s be honest, no one would be able to argue against it. Totally takes all the sizzle out of that skillet full of deep, delicious, pointless conversation.



“Dude, it’s totally Randy Quaid”

“Shoot. You’re right”

[prolonged awkward silence]



Think about it. It’s no easy inquiry. Your emotions take you one way, your logic another, and your nostalgic recollections of the days when Jeff Goldblum ruled the summer blockbuster circuit still but another. Before you know it, you aren’t sure whether or not Bill Pullman might actually have been the president of the United States (I mean, Ich Bin Ein Berwha?. The only presidential quote you can recall is “"We will not go quietly into the night!" We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going to survive! Today we celebrate our Independence Day! ”).



