I get really into movies and shows. Like, really into them. My partner has evidence that will never see the light of day. During the recent pandemic I watched Harry Potter for the first time ever. I know, I know - but I was slightly out of the age range when it came out and it felt too kid-like for me. I was around 15 and I was too cool for that. Eminem, Limp Bizkit, and Korn had just come onto the scene; I was watching Fast & Furious and playing N64 while jamming to rap, rock, and techno - and everything in between.
If you've seen 21 Jump Street, I was Jonah Hill, complete with the silver ball necklace and JNCO's:
Fast forward almost 20 years and things have changed a bit, as they do. So we're watching Harry Potter because, well, pandemic, and we get to the part where Ron is seeing the image of Harry & Hermione. I didn't even realize I was doing this, but I started cheering for Ron - telling him to get up, don't let him do this, something like that - it's all on my partner's phone because SHE THOUGHT IT WAS FUNNY AND DECIDED TO RECORD IT.
Ron won, obviously, because I was motivating him to get up!
So I get into movies. I am definitely into the Fast & Furious franchise and I cried when Paul Walker & Vin Diesel drove off on different roads. When Star Wars: The Force Awakens came out I got tickets to opening night and cheered with everyone else when they gave us bits of nostalgia like bringing back Harrison Ford.
I have dabbed away tears to, probably, 75% of the Queer Eye episodes. It's a great show, the new cast members are amazing - whoever did the casting was spot flippin' on. Even the chef, Antoni, who never gets enough credit for cooking with people and showing how putting in effort in the kitchen translates to life, is an amazing member of the crew and maybe needs to read this and give me a cooking lesson.
We watched the Black Girl Magic episode last night and when that girl's shell broke and the tears came flowing out, so did ours! Wine is a great lubricant for tears, but let's be real - I would've cried either way. Also, I need to go back and add Karamo to my list of role models because I would love to be able to talk to and coach people the way he does.
There has been a lot made recently about men and crying. Apparently, people are upset that men are taught to be manly and for some that means not crying. I was never taught that because my dad cries even more than I do when watching movies! Sorry, pops, called you out. To be fair, I was always told not to "rub it" when I would get hit by a pitch in baseball. But there's no crying in baseball!
But I do let myself get into the plot, into the story, especially in movies. There's something to be said, I think, when you see some of yourself in someone else and let your emotions run with that character. I certainly can't relate to someone who was raised by religious parents who abandoned them like the girl from Queer Eye. Or with someone who street races for a living. But allowing myself to understand what they are going through allows some of my own emotions to come through.
One of my favorite Netflix shows was Sense8 (yep, time for a quote), and I remember the line:
The bed keeps you in the slum. The flat screen takes you out.
It's when Capheus is talking to Kala and Kala asks why Capheus, who is very poor, has a big TV but the bed is terrible.
I won't compare myself to someone who may never have the means to travel outside of their village in a poor country, but I'm not wealthy. It is unlikely that I will be able to travel to the far corners of the world and experience different cultures. If I could, I would cherish the experience like nothing else (mental note to tell you all about my trip to Iceland).
So I attach myself to movies and TV shows. I see myself as characters who get to travel and do all the things I wish I could do. Feel the same emotions and be a part of the culture.
I'm not the only one to do this and this piece is no revelation into how we as humans get attached to stories, books, and people in general. It was just something that happened last night and I wanted to take some time to think about why it happens. Why I cry along with someone I don't know and how I feel her pain and fear even though we have very little in common.
In V for Vendetta (all-time favorite movie and really creepy 2020 foreshadowing), Valerie ends her letter by saying,
I hope you understand what I mean when I tell you that even though I do not know you; even though I may never meet you, laugh or cry with you, or kiss you; I love you.
This is my 5th blog - I did it! 5 days and 5 blogs and I'll be back next week. And maybe all I wanted to say is that for now. I don't know you, but I hope we can be connected by some commonality across the etherwebs, and maybe you're looking up at the same moon as me wondering if I'm looking up there too. That's enough quotes for today, see you next week.
Props to @thibaultpenin for the creepy Netflix shot
Comments