Major awards, bunny costumes and a sadistic santa can only mean one thing, Christmas has arrived! A few days ago, I introduced Dan to my favorite holiday movie, A Christmas Story. As I giggled through the whole thing (especially at the weird goggle wearing kid in line for Santa= comedy gold) and Dan just thought it was okay. It didn't translate. Although, rather than it be a cultural difference, Dan pin-pointed it and said that it had to have been something you needed to have seen as a kid. He nailed it and there are a lot of movies that fit into this category.
I've never met anyone who watched Richard Donner's 1985 classic, The Goonies, for the first time as an adult and walked away liking it. Never. The response is always a mix of bewilderment, "How on earth could you like that?" and "that was stupid". On the reverse, I don't know many people in my generation, who saw it as a child, that don't absolutely love it.
I love it. I remember seeing the movie posters and begging my mom to take me to see it opening night, which she did. I remember having the soundtrack on tape and breaking it, because I listened to it so much. The only other tape that I ever broke was the soundtrack to Little Shop of Horrors, another childhood favorite movie of mine. There was no such thing as watching The Goonies too many times and with a sense of pride, I admit to knowing every-single line of the movie.
If the long rumored sequel ever actually does get made, I will be standing in line opening night, leading everyone in singing The Goonies 'R' Good Enough, Arguably, Cyndi Laupers best music video!
This is going to stir up come controversy, but I just don't get the Star Wars trilogy. I'm talking the original movies, not the recent three that are utter crap. I'm talking about the ones that everyone seems to love with a passion and fierce loyalty. I never saw them as a kid. I didn't see them until they were rereleased in the mid-90's. Meh. They were just okay and seeing them once was enough. I really don't understand the hype. A few weeks ago, we watched The Empire Strikes Back and I fell asleep about a third of the way in. Awesome nap.
The only John Hughes movie that I really love is Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I saw it as a kid and remember obsessing over it with my friends. We watched it all the time. I'm not even sure that we were old enough to get all of the jokes, but we loved it. I didn't see other much loved Hughes movies, Pretty in Pink and The Breakfast Club until I was an adult. I just didn't connect. They were dumb and didn't mirror my high school experience at all. Of course FBDO doesn't either, but maybe watching it before going to high school, when you're a kid trying to look towards the next phase to being an adult, is what made the movie magical. It's about possibilities.
As a kid, I could accept that a group of my peers could find a treasure map and save the day or that Ferris could ditch school and ride a parade float. There is a sense of optimism and a feeling of being able to conquere any challenge or go on an adventure, that slowly melts away when you become an adult.
The older I get, the less I give into fantastical story-lines. My imagination has narrowed considerably, with my inner critic running a litany of nagging thoughts on why something would be implausible. When did can turn to can't? I want my fantasy to be rooted with more realism, something like A Game of Thrones works, because it's really more of a war story than fantasy. I am more cynical with entertainment and am overbearingly critical towards stuff that is clearly meant to be escapism. When does this shift happen?
That being said, I still love, what I loved as a child. I love them with a sense of nostalgia and familiarity. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the Broadway musical version of A Christmas Story makes it way to Los Angeles next year.