Monday, May 4, 2015

Don’t You (Underestimate the Power of 1985)

Scene: A family room.  A 40-something woman is curled up at one end of the sofa, flipping through the TV channels.  Her teenage son is lying down at the other end, watching videos on his cell phone, earbuds in.  She chooses a show to watch, and settles in.

Son (peering up from his phone):  What is this movie?

Mom: It’s called The Breakfast Club.

Son: What’s it about?

Mom:  They’re in detention all day on a Saturday.  You’ve never seen it?

Son:  No.  Do they know each other?

Mom:  Not really.  I mean, they’re not friends.  They are in different groups.  See?  The one guy’s a sports guy, and the other guy’s nerdy, and she is popular, and she is not, and he is bad to the bone.

Son (laughing): Whoa, what was that?  Did his voice change?

Mom: Well, yeah.  This is on basic cable.  They cut out the swear words and some of the content to make it appropriate for TV.  The voiceover quality isn’t very good.

Son: (quietly watching)

Mom (observing her son instantly loving this monumental piece of her adolescence): It’s a good movie, right?

Son (distractedly): Yeah.

(Some time later)

Mom:  Isn’t it time for you to go to bed?  You have school tomorrow.  You know we can DVR it.

Son:  I will.  At the next commercial.

Mom:  Okay.

(They continue to watch the movie.  He is being sucked in for the first time, and she’s being sucked in for what may very well be the thousandth time.)

Mom:  He says gutless turd there.  Not worm.

Son:  How do you know?

Mom:  I’ve seen this countless times.  It came out when I was twelve.

Son (peering at his mother, possibly wondering why she held out on him until he was fourteen to mention that this movie exists):  Huh.

Mom (twenty minutes later):  Okay.  You have to go to bed now.  Hit the record button.

Son:  Aw, okay.  I’m watching the rest of this tomorrow, though.

Mom:  Consider it your after-school assignment.

(He turns off the TV, and goes to bed.  The mom straightens up and follows him a few minutes later.  As she does, she pumps her fist in the air, a show of victory to no one in particular.)

END SCENE


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Posted by Andrea Mowery at 6:00 AM
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20 comments:

  1. I LOVE sharing what I loved with my kids. I just LOVE it.

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    1. Meeee toooooo! I've jumped the gun a few times. I recall quite accurately The Dark Crystal incident of 2005: "This is scary, Mommy! Turn it off! TURN IT OFF!" :) xo

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  2. Some of the movies I show them from my youth are met with, "Really?" but The Breakfast Club ALWAYS earns their approval.

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    1. I was surprised at myself for not introducing it to him sooner.

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  3. OMG this ties in perfectly with what I am posting today on my blog.
    IT NEEDS TO HAPPEN.

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    1. ::runs off to read your blog::

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    2. Just finished reading your blog. That is a brilliant idea. You can make book on that, missy!

      I don't know what that means.

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  4. Awesome. David and I have showed the kids a bunch of 80s movies, but not this one yet.

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    1. This is one that you have to show at the perfect time of their lives.

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  5. My boys (only 7) already LOVE this movie. And every time they ask to watch it and start asking questions about friendships, cliques, growing up...I pump my fist too.

    When Jacob repeats lines from it, I beam.

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    1. You are a very progressive parent. It awes me when my kids recite lines from movies. I can't really do this very well.

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  7. This one.
    I need to share this movie immediately.

    It's rated R, I think, so for years I thought...later.
    But my kids are almost 16 and almost 18 now.

    It's later.

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    1. Your comment brought a tear to my eye. I get this so much. xoxo

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  8. Perfect. Sharing my favorite movies with my girls is one of the things I look forward to most.

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    1. Don't wait: they're millenials. They may have already seen their own Breakfast Club, making the real one irrelevant. The thought chills me to the bone.

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  9. I tried watching it with Ben and then it came to scene when he's asking Molly Ringwald's character if she's still a virgin and I was like, "Ah, we're out". ;)

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    1. Yes, yes. Sometimes it's the wrong time. Maybe practice saying "A virgin is someone who hasn't had sex" in the mirror until you are comfortable with it? Then you'll be ready when this time comes. ;)

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