25 year ago, director Kathryn Bigelow brought together zen philosophy, bank-robberies, sky-diving, and Presidential cosplay for 1991’s surfing/heist movie Point Break. While the story of FBI newcomer Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves) going undercover to take down criminal mastermind Bodhi (Patrick Swayze) never shied away from the adrenaline-fueled action (100% Pure Adrenaline, according to the movie’s tagline), there are some real, valuable life lessons woven throughout. Today, on its 25th anniversary, here are eight lines from the original Point Break to you should try and live your life by.
“You know nothing. In fact, you know less than nothing. If you knew that you knew nothing, then that would be something, but you don’t.” – Ben Harp
Starting off from an unexpected source, FBI bigwig Ben Harp (John C. McGinley) wastes no time getting Johnny Utah acclimated to his new job as a G-Man by letting him know just where he is in the pecking order. Even though Harp goes out of his way to give Utah a hard time, there’s some real value in understanding that the world has a lot to teach you, and you might not be open to those lessons when you think you know everything.
“Fear causes hesitation, and hesitation will cause your worst fears to come true.” – Bodhi
Sure, this quote would seem right at home printed on the back of a one of those No Fear shirts that dominated philosophical fashion trends of the 1990s, but there’s some real wisdom to take from Bodhi’s quote about fear’s dependence on hesitation, and vice versa. If you hesitate, you risk succumbing to fear, and the more you succumb to fear, the more you end up hesitating. The best way to go about life is to steer clear of that whole vicious cycle entirely (which, by the way, you can do without the whole ‘becoming a bank robber’ thing).
“Sir, I take the skin off chicken.” – Utah
What this line lacks in overall quotability, it makes up for with its genuinely helpful advice about a healthy diet. While the dark meat vs. white meat debate rages on a quarter-century later, pretty much everyone can agree that it’s a good idea to take the skin off your chicken before eating it.
“If you want the ultimate, you’ve got to be willing to pay the ultimate price. It’s not tragic to die doing what you love.” – Bodhi
More than just a bit of foreshadowing to the movie’s inevitable conclusion, it’s Bodhi’s ultimate life philosophy summed up in two little lines. Live without second-guessing yourself, and always be doing something that you love. That way, if you’re always doing what you love, then you never have to worry about anything — even death. Or paddling to New Zealand.
“It’s basic dog psychology, if you scare them and get them peeing down their leg, they submit. But if you project weakness, that promotes violence, and that’s how people get hurt.” – Bodhi
There’s always something to be said about taking charge of your life, and this approach to life is identical to Bodhi’s approach for robbing banks. Bodhi doesn’t believe in using violence, but he does believe in taking control, and in his mind, the violence would only happen if he started to give up that idea of control.
“Utah! Get me two!” – Pappas
This may not be as profound as Bodhi’s meditations on fear or Utah’s feelings about leaving the skin on chicken, but when Utah’s partner, Angelo Pappas (Gary Busey), gets hungry, the man knows exactly what he wants. Likewise, when you’re faced with the prospect of hunger, don’t ever hesitate to get the number of meatball sandwiches it’ll take for you to eliminate that hunger within you.
“Sex with gods, you can’t beat that!” – Roach
Okay, so this might not be an actual lesson, per se (though it does fall under Bodhi’s philosophical umbrella of “if you want the ultimate…”), but besides all that, who’s really going to argue with Roach on this one?
“Life sure has a sick sense of humor, doesn’t it?” – Bodhi
Of course, for all his steely-eyed seriousness about what it meant to really live life to its fullest, Bodhi proved to be someone who was not only capable of rolling with the punches, but being able to shrug it all off — even as people around him are being killed because of him. Sure, Bodhi goes to great lengths to plan year-after-year of bank robberies, but he always seems to stay ahead of Utah, and the FBI, thanks to his ability to step back, look at the big picture, and chuckle. Vaya con dios, indeed, Bodhi.
