See, my grandparents have reached, in the words of my brash, piss filled grandfather, their DEATH YEARS. My grandfather has had 3 knee and hip operations in the last 7 years, and is a man who prefers to work. Think Clint Eastwood in GRAN TORINO, sans beer drinking and Asian side kick. He's set in his ways and likes the calm sensible life. My grandmother on the other hand, has been in every major club, counsel, and associated party in the city of Cypress since 1970. She LOVES social scenes, and is a large enthusiast for Hotel Lobbies and parties. She enjoys going to the movies, and since she can be a bit..kooky, I'm the only one in the family that's willing to go with her. Which is fine with her.
I'm the first born Grandchild in my family, and apparently the greatest thing to happen to it since my uncle was born. I'm the golden child and favorite out of the other 6 grandchildren.
Horrible picture of me, but you get the idea...
Well, last month, my roommate decided to take a job in Texas, so off he went, leaving me with out a place to properly live. My grandmother told me to move in, and now I have whats basically a massive upstairs loft to call my place of slumber. I'm not paying rent, and I'm getting caught up in my bills. Naturally, that means when ever I got some free time, it goes to my grandmother. And she usually wants to go to the movies or have me drive her to Walmart or something. But I cant complain with the situation I'm in, and that I do realize that she's just as human as the rest of us and wont be around forever (her dream is to see me married and have some kids before she dies.. not make it big.. she says she doesn't ask for much)
Well, that leads me back to the point of this story.
Last Saturday, I didn't work, so I told her I would take her to the movies. There's a small theater down the street from us that she likes to go to because they're cheap and the chairs lean back. The place only had 4 movies showing. Monsters v Aliens, Hanna Montana the movie, FF and Duplicity. After me explaining to her that Hanna Montana is the cinematic equivalent of a chimp throwing poo at a sad clown, and Monsters vs Aliens is a cartoon, she opted for the movie with Julia Roberts....UGH.
I have a strong dislike for Julia Roberts in 98% of the stuff shes in. The only thing I could ever stand her in was Hook!
The pressure of seeing Duplicity hit me like Diarrhea. With quick thinking, I offered a counter: How about FAST AND FURIOUS?
Not knowing what that was I told her it had a lot of car chases and had Vin Diesel. She didn't know who Vin was, and I popped open the paper to show her the ad. Seeing a well built bald man with a hunky blond quickly convinced her that it would be in our best interest to see said film.
We make a 2 pm showing, and sit down. After the opening sequence of the robbery of a gas truck, and a muscle car driving under a rolling, EXPLODING, gas tanker, I thought she was about to have a heart attack. But the movie calmed down a bit to catch her breath and start asking me 20 questions about what was going on.
Now, it was here, that I realized something. By the time you get to be a person of my grandmothers age, its like going through childhood all over again. To most people like my self, FAST AND FURIOUS is a cool but UN eventful film. To my grandmother, it was like watching the first movie in COLOR!
She was astonished at every race scene, every time two guys got in a fight, EVER TIME A NOS2 BOOSTER WAS USED! This very well might of been the second coming of Christ. She couldn't believe that such things could be done in a movie, and this is a woman I've shown A LOT OF FILMS TO, many more off the wall than FF. But she's older, and her memory isn't as well as it could be, and its helpful when she wants to watch a movie again.
After the lights went up, I drove us home to go eat and it was like having a 5 year old sitting next to me as she asked questions and astonished at the stunts that they used in the movie. It was kinda heartwarming. Had I gone and scene with with my friends, we would be bitching and dissecting every thing about this film and ultimately, ruined any fun we would have had with it. With my grandmother though, it was a day she still talks about almost a week later.
It just reaffirmed my love of movies. And it sharpened my knife for really bad movies. I never liked the first 2 fast and furious films, but since they started going down this off the wall bat shit style, I've grown to appreciate them a bit more.
To enjoy a movie, even if it isn't perfect!
I pray to almighty Thor that when I'm that age, that I'm not exactly brain dead, but have just a slight memory loss, so that I might enjoy life in the same light my grandmother dose!
This is a sweet entry. Your grandma sounds like a cool lady.
ReplyDeleteMy grandma loved movies too -- I still remember how blown away she was by Speed, and how hilarious she thought "To Wong Foo" was. She was just unfazed by most things except realistic gore ... she hated Braveheart.
I miss her. I think it's awesome you're doing the Grandma's Boy thing. :P Enjoy it! You won't regret the time spent.