Turning a Problem into a Solution

[csberry]

The #1 thing that I HATE about watching movies with Calvin is his constant need to know what is going on, what is about to happen, who everyone is, and other such questions every. minute. of. the. movie. Tonight, I found a way I could enjoy a movie and still be willing to answer every one of his questions. We watched the first 30 minutes of Airplane! on AMC tonight.

I took advantage of the 100 jokes a minute to talk over the jokes I didn't want to explain or have him hear to explain the jokes I felt were fine for him. We had so much fun. There wasn't really anything visual during that portion of the movie, so it was just a matter of what he heard. I've seen the movie a zillion times, so I wasn't really compelled to watch it without stopping and I was able to set up jokes that were about to happen while inappropriate jokes were being told.

Along with explaining the jokes, Calvin now knows about nuns, Hari Krishnas, how movie makers use soundtracks to tell you about moods, IVs, jive/slang, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, shell shock/PTSD, and Ethel Merman.

Comments

[cingulus.livejournal.com]

You can probably appreciate this. The day Ethel Merman died, I was working in a college newsroom. We were arguing about how much -- if any -- play to give that bit of news. Somebody said Ethel Merman had never recorded anything of interest to our college audience. Another retorted, "What, do you expect her to turn out an album, 'Ethel Merman Sings the Eurythmics'?" And then the girl -- a drama major, no less -- belted out, "Here comes the rain again" in Merman's warbly style.

That rendition is stuck in my head almost 30 years later.

[wc-helmets.livejournal.com]

Yea, I think I would have a hard time explaining the white zone/red zone dialogue at the beginning that devolves into "you just want me to get an abortion" to my son too. Yet I loved watching this movie with my dad at about that age. I'm not sure how it left such a lasting impression, but it certainly did.