Life Matters

Popcorn goes with every genre

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A crucial honor of raising 5 kid has been movie time. There is nothing like an air conditioned theater on a hot summer day with an endless supply of precious “buttered” popcorn. I fill their cardboard trays with snack, and we settle back to enjoy a Disney movie. While many parents abhor the cartoon mischief, I always seem to find something funny to laugh at. Who can forget Scrat from the Ice Age Movies? His intense acorn hunt is invariably a humorous failure, and my laughter is loud enough to embarrass my children, (some of whom move away from me and pretend they don’t know me.) Manny the mammoth is not only voiced by Ray Ramono but is an actual caricature of the man, with his sarcastic comments and dim outlook on life. Many of the other parents think they are just watching a silly animated children’s story, but if one pays attention with an adult mind, these movies have hidden adult humor and adult themes. Watching Disney movies has always been an adventure of hidden innuendos.

The latest Disney movie we saw was The Lion King, which is billed as “live action”, meaning it uses real animals to play the animated characters. What a feat! I wonder how they got all of the actor animals to jump for joy together or to bow in reverence to their Lion King. Their mouths even moved as they “spoke”. What great acting! Munch, munch, munch on the popcorn.

One of my favorite movies of all time is Raiders of the Lost Ark. Harrison Ford displays his dry humor that never fails to cause laughter. My most loved scene takes place in the market place where he is using his famed whip against the bad guys. Whip, whip, whip in the air with perfect precision. Then he quickly takes out his gun and shoots the enemy. Hilarious! The female lead is impressed with his skills and strong physique, as am I. Although he does play a romantic role, it is always done tongue in cheek and takes second place to the action. Munch, munch, munch on the popcorn.

When much younger, adventure movies were my calling. I fell in love with the Poseidon Adventure, which was a ship that capsized upside down, reminiscent of the last half of the Titanic, with the same harrowing underwater obstacles to be overcome, or not in some cases. The thrills were as non-stop as the complications and hindrances. Last weekend the same action anxiety was replicated in the movie Crawl. Without any famous named actors, it started out to be what I thought was a cheap little film. Once the hurricane strengthened, so did the action. As soon as the huge alligators invaded the home of the heroine and her dad, it was heart-pounding action all the way to the end. Munch, munch, munch on the popcorn.

Of course, the James Bond franchise has always been a favorite. My frugal father was a fan, and he loved going to the drive-in to see it on the “big screen.” (My brother and I would have to stay hidden under the blankets in the back of the car so he wouldn’t have to pay for us.) I have seen each Bond movie since the first, “Dr. No,” luridly interested in the women silhouettes swaying across the screen of each opening. My favorite Bond actor was Sean Connery, and my favorite movie was Goldfinger, mainly because the writhing women were covered in gold, an interesting viewing for a child.

I loved going to the drive-in! Clutching a quarter in my little hand, I would skip to the concession stand to pick out the box of popcorn that seemed to be filled the most. Every last kernel was a treasure and I took my popcorn picking seriously. Munch, munch, munch on the popcorn.

The movies I like the least are the ones Marie chooses. She loves scary horror movies, something I loathe. We have attended movies such as The Cabin in the Woods and The Conjuring. During such “entertainment”, my eyes are closed every time scary music is played, and I hate it when there is a surprise scare. To calm my rapidly beating heart, I eat twice as much popcorn out of nervousness, sometimes swallowing the pieces whole without chewing. Fortunately, Marie now has a one on one aide who takes her to scary movies so I can get out of this motherly duty.

The common denominator of all of these movies is popcorn. Movie popcorn with its fake “butter” is notoriously bad to eat, especially now that the theaters let me put my own butter on it. I joyfully drench it all with the yellow goop that makes it taste so good. Yes, it is very unhealthy and cholesterol laden, but one would never know it by the broad smile on my face. I would probably sit through any movie as long as my mouth could be kept busy chewing.

Munch, munch, munch on popcorn.

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