Four Days, Four Movies

I love going to the movies. It's my little escape. For $9.00, I can go on a two hour vacation complete with popcorn and diet coke. I particularly like the chick flick genre, musicals, comedies. Nothing terribly deep. It's just that if I'm going to go on vacation (even for 2 hours) I don't want to come home depressed. So give me a feel good movie, and I'm happy.

Over the past 4 days, I made 4 trips to the local movie house. We have a gorgeous theater in our town, that was built originally to show arty and foreign films, not necessarily the big blockbusters. It's atmosphere is almost serene, with a coffee bar, complete with pastry and biscotti, leather couches and high brow magazines and newspapers. You definitely avoid the popcorn laden rowdiness of some of the other theaters that we have been to. Through the years it has morphed into more of a main stream theater, but it has maintained its original sophisticated flavor.

But I digress (I do that a lot)...Anyway, I saw Forgetting Sarah Marshall (thanks to Amber, my bloggy twin), Baby Mama (kind of a disappointment)and finally, I saw Young at Heart. In fact I loved Young at Heart so much, I went back the very next day to see it again with my parents and daughters.



If you haven't heard about Young at Heart, it is a documentary about a choral group made up solely of seniors, aged from about 70 and up. They perform all kinds of pop and rock music, such as The Clash, The Ramones, James Brown and Coldplay. Absolutely amazing. I was incredibly moved by the experience.

We are so used to seeing movies that are pretty. In Forgetting Sarah Marshall, the two female love interests were absolutely flawless. Perfect skin, hair, white teeth, gorgeous bodies. It's easy to see why women and girls can develop body issues, if this level of perfection, is portrayed as our role models. It's beautiful to look at, but REALLY, who looks like that in the real world?

The women and men in Young at Heart were real people. Their body's were worn down, a by-product of life. Their skin, with broken capillaries, pock-marks, extra chin hair and soft wrinkles, did not have the advantage of good lighting, air-brushing or botox treatments. To function, they relied on canes, oxygen machines, blood transfusions, magnifying glasses, and the help of good friends. There bodies seemingly healthy and robust, could turn on them in the blink of an eye. They have to become accustomed to ill-health and loss.

But instead of giving up, these people live more vivaciously than I do. They have passion, for their music, for their friends, for being a part of a community. They envision their future, not for the next few months, but for years and years. They are true role models, because, instead of just existing, the are LIVING.

My father-in-law passed away about 3 years ago at the age of 86. He'd lived a full life, with a large and loving family, he never really retired, adored the playing golf and watching baseball games. He was a quiet man, with a sparkle in his eyes that was inherited by my husband and daughters.

The week before he passed away, he was admitted into the hospital. His body was failing and his death was inevitable. We spent many hours at the hospital, taking turns with Gregg's brothers and sisters at his bedside. I went to his room to say goodbye one evening before we left. He took my hand and told me, "I don't think I'm going to live another year, and I'm not ready to die. I just don't want to miss seeing your babies grow up." He wept as he confided in me.

Here he was, and the end was there, and he was planning on living another year. He died peacefully in his sleep 4 days later. Everyone said he was a lucky man, to live so long. But he surely wasn't ready to let go.

I guess this movie struck a nerve with me, because sometimes I feel I'm just existing. I get caught up in the laundry, the bills, the computer, the homework, cooking, cleaning, only to go to bed and wake up the next day to do it all again.

But one day, God willing, I'll wake up, feeling like the person I am today, but in the mirror I will see those broken capillaries, soft wrinkles, and chin hairs. I hope, like my father-in-law, I'll be planning my life, not my death. And I hope I'll have passion, community and that joy, just like the members of Young at Heart. My new role models.