Catherine O’Hara exemplified the humour of womanhood in her roles. In her first mainstream film, Martin Scorsese’s After Hours (1985), she demonstrated how capable women are of gathering a crowd (or rather a mob) as Gail, a Mister Softee ice cream truck driver who rallies New York’s Soho neighbourhood to find the main character, Paul Hackett, believing him to be the local burglar. Playing actresses in Waiting for Guffman (1996) and For Your Consideration (2006), O’Hara embraced self-awareness for the industry she inhabited, and in Home Alone (1990) and Beetlejuice (1998) she depicted imperfect mothers who were more lovable because of it. Sometimes, one has to laugh at what so many women put up with and spanning her over-forty year career, it was O’Hara putting our heads back, eliciting shrieks, and activating the occasional tear.

Yet when we lost the comedy great at the very end of January, aged 71, I couldn’t help but reflect on the wisdom she imparted on me through her portrayal of Cookie Fleck in Best in Show. The 2000 mockumentary follows several pairings of eccentric dog owners, all entrants in the fictionalised Mayflower Kennel Club Dog Show. Led by filmmaker Christopher Guest, who repeatedly cast O’Hara in his comedies such as For Your Consideration (2006), each storyline is crafted with just the right amount of realism. Like any effective satire, it makes viewers laugh not because of the absurdism, but because of the truth. And there’s an abundance of truth behind a particular joke woven throughout the film. What are we to do about boyfriends?

Although they shared a screen previously, Best in Show marks the first time Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy play a married couple. We meet Cookie (O’Hara) and Gerry Fleck (Levy), in an interview-style format, gushing over their Norwich terrier and each other. Gerry admits he simply cannot believe his luck they’re married, saying, “She had dozens of boyfriends.” Cookie then clarifies, “Hundreds.” It is a set-up for numerous encounters we then witness with Cookie’s exes. Constantly magnetic, O’Hara exudes the quick wit she garnered from her improv and sketch comedy background as the film and the bit progresses. 

The first run-in is expected with the Flecks taking an overnight stop enroute to the dog show. Putting Gerry in a huff of jealousy, Max is clearly still attracted to Cookie and more than ready to reminisce about “that one time with the piñata at the lake.” And then there’s Malcom who remembers her from “18, 19 years ago” when Cookie was a waitress. And a guy at the recording studio who eagerly recalls a certain minimally-clothed rollercoaster ride. Even the dog show’s presenter — performed with the dumb-raunchy relish of the late Fred Willard – remarks over the broadcast, “That handler looks familiar to me,” as Cookie presents her terrier. While the repetition combined with Gerry’s bafflement are played for laughs, it’s Cookie’s facial expression, that knowing smile executed flawlessly by O’Hara that answers the whole boyfriend conundrum.

In what is considered a rather bleak dating era, with its relentless amount of noncommittal, immature men, Cookie’s ways offer a reframe. For every date with a man who’s not a long-term partner type, or even, the marrying kind, therein lies yet another man out there indelibly charmed – even if he doesn’t know it yet. It’s not a numbers game, rather it’s getting a laugh there are so many men who exist and still think of you. Each ex opening with “Cookie? Cookie Googleman? You look fantastic.” 

Reassuring women that the sweet, loyal, dog-loving husband or long-term partner will come and if one must have dozens or hundreds of boyfriends, well, aren’t they simply great stories to tell? We all have jokes to try out anyway, so go ahead and let someone be smitten! Fine-tune that bit in the name of Christopher Guest’s filmography.

It’s an uphill battle to claim agency as a woman, especially since it’s still considered a break in social convention, technologically-speaking and gender-wise. Labels of promiscuity or greed are often assigned to women who know what they want, act accordingly, and keep searching if it’s not under that particular baseball cap. However, when someone doesn’t match your ability to engage a dinner table, one must remember there’s an abundance of others to flirt with.

A truth O’Hara didn’t just perform, but lived by. In an interview with New York Magazine last year, she admitted to ghosting: “I just thought if after one date I’m not going to marry this person eventually, then this is not going to work out. You have to go with your gut. I’m sure I blew it many times, but I think I married the right guy. Dating is killer.”

O’Hara’s energy bounces onscreen not unlike her blonde curls in Best in Show. Proving to audiences that there’s fun to be had in the next person. Increases one’s chances of running into an admirer five years later while parading around a dog show alongside the man who understands and loves you. Living a rich life can look like a lot of boyfriends. 

To Catherine, who lived playfully and therefore, richly.