Speak Geek to Me: Thanks for the Memories

I have always been a creature of habit. I will watch a beloved TV show or movie multiple times, like slipping into a favorite pair of fuzzy socks. When I was a kid, we subscribed to HBO and I was in heaven with the movies and shows that I enjoyed playing not just once, but multiple times in a month. I could watch the featured movie several times and Fraggle Rock three times a week (although it bugged me that I always seemed to miss The Beast of Bluerock, and the fact that I remember that, but not the last name of one of my college boyfriends, is scary indeed.)

When it was summer, step back, cause I could watch damn near anything at any time. I was a pretty vanilla kid –– I didn’t really do much my parents forbade me. So I didn’t use HBO to watch naughty movies, but I did watch an awful lot of TV. And one summer I remember clearly, June was the Month of Willow.

You remember Willow, right? Val Kilmer. A redheaded warrior. A baby. A little guy. Those are all the details I remember, but I remember loving it. I loved it so much I think I watched it every time it was on. And I don’t have HBO these days, so I don’t know how their programming goes, but at that time, that meant a LOT of showings.

But even with these warm memories, I don’t want to watch it these days. I don’t even want to rent it for my kid, unless she watches it without me. Because I know from bitter experience that, seen through adult eyes, the movie will suck…

I’m not saying it was a good movie then. I’m saying I didn’t care. And there are many movies from that era that I saw and loved but today don’t hold up. We recently rented Labyrinth, and while David Bowie still has an amazing allure of The Goblin King (and what preteen girl didn’t feel herself getting sexually aware in viewing this movie and Bowie’s tight outfits?), the movie doesn’t stand the test of time. Now I feel it's insipid, and I’m too cynical to buy the true friendship plotline. And then the end was shallow, because theme of growing up kinda gets shattered when your room is full of muppets at the very end.

I like kids’ movies these days. I have enjoyed everything Hayao Miyazaki has put out, from My Neighbor Totoro to the darker Spirited Away. I enjoyed taking my kid to see Nim’s Island, even though it required a bit of suspension of disbelief. Jerry Seinfeld’s Bee Movie was wretched drek, with dangling plotlines and a main plot that was too uncomfortably close to bestiality –– or would that be insectiality? –– for my comfort.

But the key here is my daughter liked it, just like I liked Willow, Superman III (and I remember seeing Supergirl more than once, but I’m pretty sure I hated it), and the Beastmaster. And my common sense is telling me that I should not see these movies again, I should let them stay in my memory where they were fascinating tales of adventure and magic and superheroes and plot holes and weak characters couldn’t ruin things like they can as an adult.

Part of me is sad. We all know you lose innocence with experience and knowledge. And frankly, if I thought that these movies were examples of strong, compelling plotlines and incredible conflict and characters that live on in your memory for years to come, then I might as well just forget ever becoming a writer for real. So it’s good that I understand that this is not strong writing. It’s good that I can now appreciate better movies. But it’s sad that I can’t watch these movies again with the trusting, wide-eyed view of a child who believes that something wonderful is about to happen, since the same thing happened last week.

And now it’s strange the way I look at some stories. I can suspend my disbelief and enjoy some things - things I know from the beginning are likely not terribly good. In fact, friends had told me Johnny Mnemonic was the worst movie ever, and I went into it expecting something scatologically horrifying, and ended up enjoying it. On the other hand, I watched half of the pilot of Fringe this week, the new show from JJ Abrams, and was disgusted with the basic characterization - especially of the BAD HOMELAND SECURITY GUY. He may as well have worn a T-shirt that said I AM YOUR FOIL, I AM HERE TO MAKE YOUR LIFE HARDER, AND THEREFORE MORE INTERESTING TO THE VIEWER. I probably would have enjoyed it more, except that it had Abrams’ name attached to it, and therefore I expected a lot more.

I am not a movie snob. Heck, I even liked Solarbabies when it came out, probably because I was a roller-skating kid and that movie was about science fiction AND roller skating kids, and how can you not have a hit with that? While perusing Rotten Tomatoes, though, I discovered it needs to stay in my memory as something neat instead of be revisited like I was re-watch Real Genius or Star Wars; that site gives it 0% on the tomatometer.

I’ll keep my memories, thanks.
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Mur Lafferty is an author and podcaster who recently released her first novel, Playing For Keeps. She Speaks Geek every month on SuicideGirls.com. Click HERE for more of Mur's musings.