There’s no one sentence I could write to sum up my memories of Katie Walters. No one quote that could completely describe what it was like to know her or who she really was. No one could ever really know who she was, save her. She was too complicated. I was just glad to become more familiar with her as our relationship grew and grew. In honor of one of my most beloved, most spontaneous, most inspirational friends, I thought there would be no better way to commemorate her spirit than to share the art that was embedded in the very deepest part of her heart and soul.
“Time Warp” from The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Something I will never forget about Katie was her ambition and drive. She had her moments of fear. Don’t we all? But more often than not, she was a daredevil. The one who would go anywhere and do anything. In Fall 2012, when the on-campus production of Rocky Horror Picture Show came around, she was the one who encouraged me to audition. A cult musical about transsexual beings from outer space? It was completely out of my comfort zone, but I learned from Katie – who would bounce around my dorm room singing “Touch-A, Touch-A Touch Me” – that life is all about taking chances.
This film was no doubt one of Katie’s all-time favorites. She told me that she’d seen it at least seven times. I am not the least bit surprised. Filled with turmoil and discovery, Jake Gyllenhaal’s Donnie Darko is a surrealist look at the life of a teenager in the 1980s who discovers talking rabbits and time travel. Like Katie, the title character doesn’t simply fall in with the crowd – instead he steps back to observe the world in hopes that he might change it for the better, while breaking down ideas of success, identity, and love.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Before she died, one of the last gifts Katie gave me was a small poster of this film. It was both one of her favorites and mine. We never saw the film together, but it was “us” all the same. Anyone who has seen the movie knows that it is, ultimately, one about friendship. If she was Charlie, then I was Patrick. And sometimes vice versa, no doubt, depending on the day. But, like them, no one could strip away our individuality or break apart our bond. After all, the good times with Katie are not gone, even now. For we are infinite…
Katie herself was a paradox. She would blow off a movie date with me five minutes before to go to a foam party, and then would come back covered in soap bubbles to finally watch a film. She would talk endlessly about Jesus before rolling up a cigarette. And just as she once said to me in the halls of the Andy Warhol Museum, she thought that TV was corrupting our minds. Ironically, there was nothing she loved more than to chill out with her best friends and watch an episode of Glee. Whenever I heard (and hear) this song, I think of her. Blaine and Kurt were always her favorites, and there is no doubt she would have belonged as a character in the show: bold, talented, and gorgeous.
“Tonight, Tonight” by Smashing Pumpkins
Her favorite musical genre had always been indie. I never understood or could even name any of those artists. I still couldn’t if anyone paid me. But the second I heard this song that was supposedly inspired by Katie’s favorite city (Chicago), I couldn’t help but think of her and how well it captured her uncontrollable spirit. Even if it is more alt than indie…
Edie Sedgwick Screen Test by Andy Warhol
We once spent a day at The Warhol. She wore her Edie Sedgwick t-shirt and mused on the Cold War undertones of Andy’s gun paintings and ate cookies with me in the café. I talked her into buying a Dalí watch in the gift shop just before we left. Edie’s beauty was much like Katie’s own: bright, fragile, unforgettable.
One of our last fights was over which one of us was more like Gloria from Modern Family. Of course, we both wanted to be her, but in the end we decided that I was most like Manny and that she was most like Luke, an odd yet perfect team. Katie and I were different people, but we shared a lot. An appreciation of the same beautiful art, our love of all things different or odd… but most of all, we shared the same sense of humor and could laugh with each other for hours.
R.I.P., Katie… You’ve traded in your pair of Ray-Bans for a pair of angel wings.