We learned that we are
Willow writing about “The Graduate” on her blog reminded me that she and I kept acting out the last scene when we were in the back of the limo on the way to take pictures for the wedding. The very back of the limo had a seat that faced forward and we were sitting side by side on it. How often are you sitting side by side with a bride in a vehicle? Anyway, it was too much to resist, so we got everyone’s attention and did the very excited faces fading to normal/“Was this a mistake?” faces and made everyone guess what movie we were doing. We had to actually go back to the pounding on the glass part before people got it, but needless to say, it was hilarious. To us.
And since we are talking about “The Graduate,” I will tell you something embarrassing. Sometimes I tell people this thinking they will commiserate or also think it is embarrassing but a little funny in retrospect, but instead they are aghast and seem to actually think less of me from that moment on. So, I’m telling you this in the hopes that you will be more of the former camp. When I first saw “The Graduate,” it wasn’t until some time in college. (It was with Ahe in the French House, so I guess that makes it Junior year.) The movie ended—the glorious, famous ending—and I believe my exact words were, “What was that look all about? That’s it? That’s the end?” And everyone in the room shot fiery hate at my ignorance and someone had to explain that it was a Very Meaningful ending. I will now embarrass myself a second time by reminding you that upon viewing “Rocky” for the first time, very recently, my reaction was much the same (with the added insult that couldn’t believe he’d lost the fight).
I get a lot of grief from J about these, especially “Rocky,” and because I have since come around and very much love the nuances of the endings now, I have been thinking about what it was that made me react this way towards these movies. The only conclusive thing I can come up with is that both were movies I had heard so much about, and that are really an ingrained part of pop culture, that by the time I actually saw the movies, I had already made up what I thought the movie would be like. In doing so, I grossly oversimplified them and underestimated their impact, so just wasn’t prepared for anything outside the “classic” mold I had kept them in. So much so, that it hindered my ability to enjoy them fully.
Hmm, defensive much? ANYWAY, who else is going abroad? Jennie and Tom just came back from Prague and Frankfurt, Kelly’s possibly heading off in the same direction, Krista’s going to Beijing, and Abby’s going to Taiwan. All these jetsetters!
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