Wednesday, May 27, 2009

My, how they change your prespective!

So, for the second time since Evan was born, James and I went to the movie theater! We took off Friday before Memorial Day for family photos with my favorite photographer Lauren Larsen. Then dropped the boys off at Grandma's house so we could see a movie.

And we played our cards right and saw 2 movies! Wolverine and Star Trek - both excellent. Every entertaining, fun to watch, suspenseful and good scripts. We had a great time!

But I now find that I watch movies through mommy eyes even when the boys are not there. (I had a few moments in both films when I thought the action/camera movements were a little too fast.) When the credits rolled on Wolverine I thought - what a good movie but how old would I want the boys to be before they go to something like that. Then the rating came up on the screen (which I still ignore when choosing a film) and it was PG-13. PG-13! Really? So I thought of my niece Maddie who is almost 13 years old and I don't think I really want her watching Wolverine stabbing people multiple times with his claws. It wasn't bloody or gory and it could have been but still...

After a quick burger we settled into the theater for Star Trek munching popcorn and feeling a little guilty about being off work and without the boys! The previews started and I was less than impressed. In fact, as the previews continued I began to wonder if there was anything I would want to take the boys to when they are older. Then the preview for Transformers 2 started and I had a reality check. Is this the kind of film the boys will be seeing as teens? Everything is so C.G. it just doesn't look real anymore. The action is fast and furious, violence is in your face and explosive. Just over the top and bigger than life. Don't get me wrong. I still love movies and will take the boys to see them. But as the previews continued I began to wonder if this was how my parents felt when we went to films and I realized just how far movies have come over the years. How much further will they go?

My parents watched John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Hepburn & Tracy, Debbie Reynolds when my sister and I were young. I loved all those old films and now to think we went from that in our living room on a Sunday afternoon to dragging my parents to Die Hard and Beverly Hills Cop films when I was in high school! What was I thinking?!?

Now I'm looking at things like Transformers 2 and wondering where we will be in 10 years!

But in the mean time, we are anticipating the Cars 2 release. That will be Nathan's first movie in the theater - and by the time it comes out, we may bring Evan along too. Maybe we can ease them into modern movies and still enjoy the old war films and westerns I grew up on. Where films were driven more by the actors and the plot than the explosions and the monsters.

It's a challenge for a movie loving mom!

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