With the recent quizzes and the bemoaning of results, I’ve been thinking about which movie I would have preferred. As I stated, I would love to be a sci-fi action flick featuring a kick-ass leading woman who beguiles as she shows the alien baddies what-for. Oh, how I wish I could say I was Alien (or Aliens, but none of the subsequent films). If some uber-hunter species from the outer realms climbed its way out of one of my coworker’s abdomen, I would like to think that—after an appropriate amount of freaking out—I would grab my flame thrower and go. Then in the sequel, I’d do it again while catching myself a Marine boyfriend and revealing my mothering instincts to a lost little girl. Alas, when I take a long hard look at myself, I must confess that I am no Ripley. If I play a role at all the Alien franchise, I am the cat or at best Newt. I spend the movie hiding from the aliens until the Ripley character finishes off the bad guys and gets me home. And it just takes a little cocoa to win me over.
So if the Ripley’s, Lilu’s, and Leia’s aren’t really who I am, but who I aspire to be—who am I?
Lilo and Stitch. (That’s right. I went Disney.) I love this movie. It is funny, heartwarming, and chock-full of Elvis tunes. I identify with both of the main characters. Lilo the incredibly brilliant and artistic child whose vivid imagination and sense of self helps her cope with the fact that she does not fit in. Stitch, the amusing to the point of obnoxiously annoying blue guy who spends most of the movie not speaking until the key moment. Yes, I can see myself as the little girl who locks her sister out of the house, flings herself on the couch, and morosely sings Elvis. I can also see myself in Stitch as he builds a replica of a city, just so he can walk through the streets and destroy it. Plus, the running mosquito joke in the film is really funny.
Well, there you have it. In a way, I’m still sci-fi with a strong female lead. I’m just a bit cuter and a bit less mature.
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4 comments:
Well done: take back your life: who better to know what movies we are than ourselves (or our inner Eberts)?
I'd love to be Alex in Carroll Ballard's The Black Stallion, but you'll never find me on a horse, not even a stick one. Especially not a stick one. The aching fatherlessness after the storm and the healing dance with the Black and then the joy of Mickey Rooney's no hold barred "scoot and boot," well, it's damned close, but the movie that gets right in there every damn time is A Little Princess: that movie rocks, with the desolation of Ms Thing's fall from grace, Becky's interventions, and then that gorgeous feast spilling out of the blessed hands of Ram Dass: anyone who has ever felt the desolation of exile and loss and dreams falling into oblivion, and THEN, renewal, oh well, more than anyone needs to know: I weep at the beginning, I weep throughout, I weep with Liesel Matthews' singing of "Kindle My Heart" at the end. I am a complete embarrassment to my son, who I can only hope will be as utterly sappy as both his parents.
Peace.
Don’t forget “Secret Garden.” Poor little rich girl finds the path through agriculture and brings hypochondriac rich boy along for the ride. Not that I would ever garden—that’s where they keep the bugs you know. I always liked the Hallmark Movie version, strained accents and all. There was something about how she discovered the world just through her own reluctant wanderings.
Don’t worry too much about warping the kiddo. I survived a Mom who had a yen for Barbara Streisand movies. (I still cringe at "Yentel", but "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever" has some solid comedy and a delightful cameo by a younger than young Jack Nicholson.) I forgive her the trespass as she did insist on a steady diet of sci-fi during the formative years.
Happy Thanksgiving
Happy Thanks back to you. Rise and look around you.
Ms Bones: Check out the Influxers, et. al. You've got homework.
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