*All this week we’re sharing #LiveFully thoughts and stories from writers around the web. Today we here from Joe Poe, a production intern living in Austin, TX and working for Global Short Film Network (a ministry of Cru). You can check out his blog or twitter if you want to connect with this movie buff.
It’s a Saturday evening and my whole family is sitting around the TV watching a movie dad rented. Each of us sits in our own designated seats that have been assigned to us over the years through repetition. In our hands lie plates full of those scrumptious treats that clog our arteries on the way down to our stomachs: pizza rolls, Bagel Bites, chicken wings, buttery popcorn (with a double dose of butter of course).
On this typical night, the movie playing may or may not be one any of us has even heard of. Dad has an uncanny ability to pick the most random movies out there. Trust me; I have seen my fair share of B-movies over the years.
We laugh, we throw in our own commentaries, we are held in suspense, we cover our eyes, we ask questions, we rebuke, we say what should have been said, we stretch our imaginations, we travel to foreign lands, we confront personal fears, we fall in love, we become a hero, we root for the underdog. All my life, one simple set of moving pictures on one ordinary evening has had the power to bring my family together.
Even when I went away to college, I found myself coming home on breaks and holidays and enjoying the latest movie with my parents and brothers. This is why I love film. It has the power to cross generations, cross language boundaries, and provoke us to deal with issues in our culture and personal belief systems. Film brings us together. It unites us all as an audience and allows us to take a journey through a story, through all the laughter or pain. It is a medium that will continue to be added upon, critiqued and improved as each generation passes.
So before I leave the living room, as I stuff down my last handful of popcorn, I thank dad for renting the movie tonight. I know he has cherished this moment just as much as I have.
What does your family do for family time?
Enjoyed this post? Get more like it, plus a free #LiveFully sticker when you join our e-mails.
*Image by @kyle_sklenar
Our family movie night is one of the things we all look forward to doing together. It’s been replaced with the Olympics for now, but it’s just an intermission. The one things that disappoints me is having such a hard time finding movies that are appropriate for all of us. The movie industry keeps pushing the envelope on what is acceptable for PG or PG-13. The good thing is we can push “fast-forward,” but it doesn’t always keep the images from flashing long enough to leave an impression. I miss the days when Disney was a reliable movie company and G-rated meant “good” movies, not just “general” movies.
Love this. A sweet and simple view of one of those long lasting family traditions that becomes a part of who you are almost without you even realizing it. Our family has movie nights as all–we’ve watched The Princess Bride at least a dozen times and part of the joy is quoting the lines as they come along. 🙂 Great post!
Inconceivable!
Hey! Another PB fan!
Everybody keeps going on about the innocent days of film but to be honest I don’t remember those days. There are plenty of films that are for kids that are graphic for a kids film like “Fantasia”,”The Land Before Time”,All Dogs Go To Heaven”,and “An American Tail”. I do see how the rating system has changed though. For example I recently went to see “Total Rekall” the remake not the orginal and there was this one scene that came comepletly out of nowhere that had nudity in it. The reason this surprised me was because the film was rated pg13. Anyways I think there should be a balance on rating systems so kids minds don’t get screwed up with all the fake violence and fake sex they see. I don’t see that happening with the current state of things though because America is an extremely monetary based country.