"The babe with the power."

You were minding your own business watching some random film at the movie theater when suddenly you were smitten by one of the characters on screen. The movie may have been a piece of crap but you weren’t really paying attention. After the credits rolled you found yourself dreaming pathetically about some fictional character portrayed by a person you would probably never meet.

Bowie rules!

It happened in 1986… my first movie crush. The film was Labyrinth and Jennifer Connelly had left me breathless. I was twelve years old and I thought my heart was going to burst out of my chest. I had liked other girls before but not like this. It was quite pitiful. Years later she popped up in The Rocketeer. The movie wasn’t very good… I think. I can’t really remember the film. It was 1991 and she had grown up… a lot. Yep… once again, I was stupefied by her stunning presence. Over the years she had proven to be quite a talented actress. In movies like A Beautiful Mind, House of Sand and Fog and Requiem for a Dream she had demonstrated her versatility. As an avid filmgoer, I began to see her solely as a formidable element in my favorite medium.

After meeting real girls and going on real dates, movie crushes were soon replaced by real ones. Some may have been brutal and heartbreaking but they were always real and that’s what made them awesome! Now and again our jaws may drop at the sight of some outrageous beauty on the silver screen but we are able to recognize their virtual nature… unless you’re some creepy person living in a basement eerily contemplating on how to attract a certain Hollywood starlets attention. Then you need help.

As with all childhood things, we outgrow our little crushes. I watch her movies now with a great deal of respect and professional objectivity. Although… I still think she’s a hottie.

Who were your movie crushes?