Well, last night I went to the first movie I’ve been to in years.
Oh, I’ve seen movies. I’ve watched them on TV or on video or DVD… just not in actual theater.
But Barry and I took the plunge, and went to the first movie that looked somewhat interesting to come out since we’ve been together… The Heartbreak Kid, starring Ben Stiller.
I’m sure you’ve seen the trailer on TV, but if not… here it is:
Strangely enough, the movie happened to have reflections of my life — and Barry’s life — all the way through it.
Just like our relationships mirror certain aspects of our own personalities, I’ve noticed more and more lately how what we take in from the media can reflect certain aspects of our lives.
In quantum physics terms, what we notice and observe is actually being created, so to speak, just for us. So I guess it makes sense that it should have a personal message for us.
The movie itself was funny in spots, silly in others, just as you’d expect from a Farrelly brothers script. And of course, nothing new for them to have Ben Stiller in the lead role.
Good casting on having Jerry Stiller play Ben Stiller‘s dad… I’ve been waiting for years to see the father and son play father and son. Strangely enough, it didn’t seem as natural as I had thought it would… meaning, it wasn’t one of those obvious real-life castings like, say, Kirk and Michael Douglas, or Donald and Keifer Sutherland, or Martin and Charlie Sheen.
But more than the movie’s plot, I liked some of the messages it gave me. I don’t think I was tuned in enough to notice that phenomenon the last time I went to a theater, but just the act of choosing a flick to see is going to guarantee that certain scenes will resonate with you on some level or another.
My ex-husband Wil and I used to go to lots of movies… but we’re talking 15 to 20 years ago. We used to sneak in a bottle of champagne, order a large 7-Up, then pop the cork when the pop was a third done, and make some variation of a spritzer to sip on for the rest of the show.
One time the cork went off with a bang and went flying straight at the screen. Luckily hardly anybody was in the theater, so we didn’t get caught.
Over the past many years, though, he never wanted to go. It wasn’t all his fault — there has been a steady decline in the quality of movies, and then they were coming out on video and even to free TV so fast that it hardly seemed worth it… except for one thing.
A girl wants to go to the movies with a guy, not for the quality of the show, but for the experience of being with him, of sitting close together, of touching on some level or another, and all in the dark while taking in a story — any story — together.
Last night, Barry and I held hands and snuggled, like I haven’t done since high school. It was fun, and exciting, and intimate, and an incredible way to connect to each other in the moment.
Before Barry, I can’t remember the last time I experienced that.
The last movie I went to see was Spy Game, starring Robert Redford and Brad Pitt. If you know the movie, you’ll know it came out in November 2001… that’s six years ago.
As a refresher, here’s the trailer:
The world was a different place back then. It was two months after 9-11, and everyone was still on edge. Movies about the CIA and government secrets were looked at with wide eyes and wonderment over whether it could possibly, remotely, be true… and we were just as fascinated in Canada, although perhaps more secure in the knowledge that “it can never happen here” (that’s not naive blindness, that’s just the truth).
And my life was in a different place then. I went to that movie, not on any kind of romantic journey, but with my friend Joe. He was a writer who worked with Wil and I, and since Wil didn’t want to go, I took Joe instead.
A good friend of mine that I used to bartend with, Lara Landa, was also a producer at one of the new specialty TV stations at the time. Their show was called The Chatroom, and every week they had random people be movie critics for a new release. They paid for the movie and the snacks, then the couple (it was usually a couple) would come into the studio to talk about it.
That week she asked me to do it, and told me to bring my husband along. But since he didn’t want to go, well… enter good guy Joe to save the day — and the princess — on his white horse.
The message I got from The Heartbreak Kid was “follow your heart”… that sometimes things happen between two people, that may not be at all what you expected, and you need to move on.
And sometimes people come into your life when you least expect it, and turn everything upside down, but at the same time rescue you from where you were and show you how life can be.
I don’t remember what message — if any — I left Spy Game with. But I do know there will be more fun movies, and fun times, to open up to and experience for all they’re worth… along with the company I’ll be with.
Keep Unwrapping the Mysteries of Life!
