The Day I Finally Picked my Favorite Movies

I've recently made a big decision in my life.
One that defines me.
One that empowers me.
One that will finally give me confidence when people are trying to get to know me.

I have decided on my favorite movie.


Well, three movies to be exact.
But I am ready to spout off all three at the moment of testing, no longer needing to search the caverns of my brain to try to remember the last movie I watched or actually any movie I've ever seen or even what the heck a movie is. Because the pressure of such a small talk question like "What is your favorite movie?" can cause film amnesia to even the strongest of souls.

 No more. 

You might recall that I made this pie chart earlier this year to answer the question, "What have you been up to?". This time I just made a handy-dandy list to whip out.
So what are these movies then? Well dear reader, I shall tell you.

  • Mona Lisa Smile (2003)
  • Metropolis (1927)
  • Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009)

And now you obviously want to know why in goodness's name I love these movies so much since you maybe have seen just one of them and didn't even like it, but it's doubtful you've seen all three.  Unless I made you watch all of them with me. 

Mona Lisa Smile:
I love this movie. Obviously. Which is why it made its way to favorite movie list. I know, that's a little confusing but just stay with me. This movie is about a free-thinking professor in the 1950's who goes to teach at a conservative school where every girl is basically just waiting to become a full-time house wife. This movie continues to rock my socks because a.) it challenges you as a viewer to evaluate the way that you think and why you do what you do, b.) woman power, c.) intellectualism, and d.) at the end of the day, you should follow your heart. There is no one right answer for how to live life; if you want to be a housewife, great--do it, but do it because you want to, not because society tells you to. If you want to be a lawyer, that's also great--do it. Whatever the heck you decide to do though, do it because you want to.

















Metropolis:
Of the three aforementioned films, this is probably the one you know least about. Unless you've done your research. It's a silent German-produced film from the 1920's that lays the foundation for all sci-fi, dystopian, social critique-ing films that have since followed. Which is most of them as it turns out. Despite being originally weary of silent films, I immediately fell in love with Metropolis's soundtrack, overdramatic acting, symbolism, religious undertones, creative sets, and, of course, strains between socialism and capitalism (what film is complete without those?). 
The whole movie follows the struggle between exploited workers forced to slave away with machines in the depths while the fancy and carefree upper class citizens wastes their lives on entertainment and parties and strange pirate hats. This Hunger Games/Frankenstein/Harry Potter/Lord of the Rings/1984 mash up (or rather precursor) holds a dear place in my heart.




Confessions of a Shopaholic:
I know, possibly unexpected based on my other two favorite movies, but I stinkin' love this movie. Maybe because it reminds me that we should not let our addictions define us. Plus who doesn't enjoy a good romance movie? This particular love story includes the usual worst-possible-scenario situations, a beautiful minor version of the song "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", and, naturally, a happy ending where all is resolved and you realize what you think you want isn't always what you actually want. 



So now you know. And the next time you ask me, "What's your favorite movie?", rest assured that I will no longer be reduced to clandestinely googling "good movies" in a sad attempt to recall the name of any movie I've ever seen. 
Bring it on small talk. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Things I like about Indiana

So actually my brother Taylor started this list. But I liked it and decided to write it on my blog so that the whole world can have a taste of Hoosier Terre Haute and my family here. Some are about Indiana, but most are about the Woodward side of my family. My grandparents just celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary so a bunch of my aunts and uncles and cousins and cousin-in-laws were here. The way my grandpa always tells too many details and it bugs the daylights out of my grandma. Today she told me that he skipped the days of school where they taught kids how to write short sentences. The way that my grandpa always walks hunched over. Kinda like my brothers. They'll be lucky if they turn out like him though:) The way my aunt April says "hey listen to this" when she wants people to hear a funny story. It's like a loud speaker announcing an anecdote. The way that you can escape the billions of people at family gatherings when you need some alone time. How y
Read more

A Little Death and A Lot of Grief

Image
  “A short list of what died that day: my daughter, me, my dreams, her future, all my gods, my laughter, the cabbage I covered my engorged breasts with, and this part of my stomach where I keep her sadness.” -Sarah Agaton Howes in “Lessons from Dying” I thought I knew what it was.  I didn’t know what miscarriage was.  Wasn’t it just a heavy period in the privacy of your home, maybe before you got too attached to the little one growing inside you? I knew the stats, memorized them when I got pregnant with Teddy. 20% chance of the pregnancy ending within the first 6 weeks.  10% between 6 and 12 weeks.  5% after the first trimester.  I learned new stats this time around.  1-3% of pregnancies end in the second trimester. 1-2% result in stillbirths (after 24 weeks). These stats are, of course, raw data, without accounting for race, socioeconomic status, or previous health conditions. Among Black and Indigenous individuals, these rates are much higher, as well as among those experiencing pove
Read more

How to feed your child and get repeatedly ill while doing it

Image
When I was pregnant, I was not sold on the whole idea of breastfeeding. I mean, I knew the recommendations, but it just seemed so burdensome on one partner and not the other. Going into it, I was thinking I would try to do half breast milk and half formula because that seemed a way to make things more equal between partners.  I also knew that breastfeeding doesn’t work for everyone--your milk doesn’t come in or there isn’t enough, there are issues latching, it’s painful, other medical issues come into play, there aren’t enough maternal support structures after baby comes along (short maternity leaves), the mere mental and physical toll of being on call 24/7 (though pumping can help alleviate some of these problems), to name a few. Anyways, everything I thought I wanted went out the window when Teddy was born. I had no idea how badly I wanted to breastfeed this tiny little newborn until he had problems latching and I physically couldn’t. I pumped every three hours for the first two week
Read more