Debra Winger asks, “Do you know what a meme is?” 1

editor’s note: this post dating from 2008 is a golden-oldie of the blog and one of the first blog items we published. enjoy ~!

I went to see Debra Winger give a book talk (she wrote one) at the Los Angeles Central Library Wednesday night. I’ve always liked Debra Winger’s performances, especially in three films: Shadowlands, The Sheltering Sky, and Terms of Endearment. 

(Image above is from Bernardo Bertolucci’s sumptuously cinematographic “The Sheltering Sky.”)

In the book talk, Debra Winger described how much she didn’t enjoy her career as a movie star. But she expressed this in a haughty, immodest, and entitled manner … kind of like … a movie star!  I was rapidly losing admiration for her, when, right out of the blue, Debra Winger looked the interviewer dead in the eye (and, I thought, right at me too; granted I was in the first row of the audience) and totally out of context demanded, “Do you know what a meme is?”

She then answered her own question: “A meme is a cultural transference. It’s a very interesting idea!” she said.

Weird.  I didn’t know what a meme was until two weeks ago when my brother Mark told me I should call my blog one. 

I did experience a direct Debra-to-Debra transference.