I don't know how I went so long without ever seeing this movie! Seriously, this movie has almost been out 20 years. Before I started watching it last night, I already knew who was in it and some of the plot points, but I had no knowledge of the feel or tone of the movie. I always assumed it would be boring, as I do with most movies set in that time period or before (Jane Austen is completely lost on me, sowwy), but I actually really LOVED IT. Does that make me a nerd? I mean, I'm only half literary nerd, but I think my love for this movie bumps me up to three-fourths.
Could my wet eyes during Beth's death and my emotional connection to all of these women be attributed to the amount of red wine in my system? Maybe. Well, certainly, but it was still pretty freaking overwhelming at times. Also, Marmee is the best mom ever. So encouraging and real, answering her daughters questions: "Well, people care about him simply because he's a man," and other true facts about their time (and mostly all of time).
I've been thinking a lot lately about my luck. My luck with my family in particular. I don't know if there's some magic formula, because maybe people want it and don't have it, or in vice versa, having it but not caring. And I know there are many different types of families out there whose arrangement can make the holiday season really forced and awkward, and that's okay, too. Somehow, on account of some planetary alignment, or something the Lord knows that I don't, I have a pretty great Mom and Dad who I mostly enjoy spending time with, and an older sister and brother-in-law who I see at least once a week. Nothing is perfect, but to others it seems like a supernatural feat that I am able to endure a weekend, let alone a full week at home with my family for the holidays (and all the while wishing every year that I could be with my WHOLE extended family for every holiday season). But I'm proud of that.
Sometimes I feel like many aspects of my life turned out how "they're supposed to," and it makes me feel like kind of a freak, honestly. A lucky freak. The family in this movie wasn't perfect, but they sure appreciated each other and it just made me happy to see a family who relied on each other so much and truly valued the companionship of one another always.
Also, I feel like back in the day, they had SO MUCH TIME to do everything. I feel like now I have way too many distractions to get things done. Sometimes I wish I could go back to my high school years when my passion for writing was just blooming and I would stay up super late writing and then get up super early for school. It's like now that I have freedom, I have no discipline or schedule. My writing/passion time gets eaten up by entertainment, my job, and other things I feel like I have to get done for "work." I could probably write a book in the 1860s, too!
Also, can we talk about how adorable Christian Bale is in this movie and how hard I shipped Laurie and Jo from the beginning. Laurie was right, though, once Jo found a guy she couldn't live without, she would understand love.
Oh, ho hum, so many thoughts, so little time.
Modern movie next,
Murray Christmas,
Stephanie
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