The Happy Meemaw and the Cinema

Full disclosure for my readers up front: television has been probably the most important aspect of my life since I can remember.  Movies, however, not so much.  I’ve certainly seen lots of them and have great live movie memories, but I have a bit of a short attention span and, like a book, I need a movie to grab me pretty early on or I’m out.  There’s probably some sporting event on that I’d rather watch anyhow.

I do have some great movie loves, though, so I’m going to do a post now and then on those whom I adore. There are a few who I could watch non-stop for the rest of my life and never grow tired.  Like most, there are movies that I will stop and watch no matter where in the story I land.  And while I adore Chris Evans and his many films, even I have to draw the line at London.  Good Lord Chris, what were you thinking?

My parents loved, loved, loved a western.  There were lots of trips to our local drive-in for all of Clint Eastwood’s spaghetti westerns and anything with John Wayne.  I remember waking up long enough during The French Connection to see the crazy car chase with Gene Hackman.  It must not have moved me much, because I went right back to sleep on the back seat. 

As you will learn, I am a huge scaredy cat.  I don’t like closed-in places or ghost stories or Halloween (I like little kids’ Halloween, just not the grown up stuff), and while I appreciate and understand the fun of suspense, I can’t hardly take it. 

I have two experiences with scary movies that probably carved out my future.  The first was listening to my friends during my freshman year in high school talk about seeing the movie Halloween.  I knew it was scary, but literally everyone had seen it.  One Friday night when my parents ventured out for their weekly trip to the Elks Club, I settled in with Halloween in a completely dark house by myself.  Within about 20 minutes, I was paralyzed by fear and stuck on the couch, terrified to move.  I didn’t have a pillow or blanket, which I learned to keep handy later when watching movies my husband likes, so I spent most of the movie with my eyes closed. The scary was bad enough, but the blood made it even worse.  Did I mention I’m also very squeamish? 

The second experience was when I started dating my husband.  I am married to my high school sweetheart and the guy who has truly had my heart since we first started dating.  I would’ve done anything he wanted to do, I just wanted to be with him.  When he invited me to see Halloween 2 at the theater, there was no way I was going to tell him what a weenie I am.  We walked into the theater hand in hand, said our hellos to friends we saw there (I was being very cool, like everyone else), and settled into our seats.  The opening scene had a kid who had bitten into an apple with a razor blade hidden in the middle.  I started seeing spots and my stomach rolled.  I snuggled up to my date and closed my eyes and dozed off. We laughed about it later, but it probably kept me from puking in front of him for the first time (that was a few months later when I got crazy drunk on New Year’s Eve).

I have had lots of great experiences with movies as well, including seeing The Empire Strikes Back for the first time, followed by 10 more visits in the next few weeks.  Much later, I was physically disturbed when I walked out of Avengers: Infinity Wars and had to phone my son to find out who Nick Fury messaged before he turned to dust (dug – it was Captain Marvel), and then, to see Chris as Captain America pick up Thor’s hammer in Endgame was one of those moments when you’re glad to be at the theater, cheering with your fellow patrons.

Mostly, though, I love rom coms.  There are so many I could watch non-stop.  I look forward to posting about some of my faves and sharing my thoughts on them with you.

Thanks for reading!