GNI and Movie Analysis
Last night ALW had "the girls" over for a Girls Night In. It was a riot! We stuffed ourselves with Rusty's pizza, watched Lilly, Dolly and Jane in "9 to 5," made popcorn and ate cookies brought by SBD. One of our major discussions of the night was about time, like which songs remind us of our teens and the movies we loved back then.
Some background--ALW and SDB are 32-ish, I am 29-ish and ASB is 26-ish. In the grand scheme of things, five to six years isn't that big of a gap. But when you're talking movies, the time frame becomes apparent. Case in point: standard high school slumber party flicks. For the older girls, cheesy classics such as "Girls Just Want to Have Fun," (with Sarah Jessica Parker and Helen Hunt), "Grease" (the original) and "Footloose" were standard choices. I remember "Dirty Dancing" being big, but I wasn't allowed to watch it. And my core group of friends were fans of horror flicks like "Halloween" and the Freddy/Jason genre, which pretty much left me sleepless for weeks. So when I think slumber party movies, I think "Stand By Me" (my first R-rated movie and subject of my 10th birthday party sleepover) and "Sixteen Candles." When we asked ASB, she agreed on the standards, but threw in "Can't Buy Me Love" and "Steel Magnolias." Granted, these movies were all made within a decade or two, but the reactions we had to each were different. ALW said her "little sister" watched some of the movies I suggested, while I had only recently heard of "Girls Just Want...". Although it was probably a reflection of my upbringing, I'd like to point to the age difference as the excuse for this.
My theories about the time period/movie preference are dependent on a few factors, one being birth order. If you were the oldest sibling, you got shafted--nothing "good" came your way movie-wise, unless you snuck them in at a friend-with-older-brothers/sister's house. The next kids in line had more flexibility. By then, parents didn't give a shit about your brain rotting or your morals being compromised by Baby and Johnny's dance style.
Yet another consideration was the junior high/high school cross-over. Perhaps some of us were banned from certain films because of adult content and our middle school standing. Once we made it to the land of high school, more cinematic doors were opened. Plus we had more friends. Add cars and exposure increased. At least this was my case.
I'm not sure why I felt it necessary to conduct a case study of time period and movie watching in a group of four women, but it was a great conversation nonetheless. "9 to 5" was hilarious and sparked even more talk about societal change. (Lilly Tomlin really hit the nail when she said, "I am NOT your 'GIRL'!")
Some background--ALW and SDB are 32-ish, I am 29-ish and ASB is 26-ish. In the grand scheme of things, five to six years isn't that big of a gap. But when you're talking movies, the time frame becomes apparent. Case in point: standard high school slumber party flicks. For the older girls, cheesy classics such as "Girls Just Want to Have Fun," (with Sarah Jessica Parker and Helen Hunt), "Grease" (the original) and "Footloose" were standard choices. I remember "Dirty Dancing" being big, but I wasn't allowed to watch it. And my core group of friends were fans of horror flicks like "Halloween" and the Freddy/Jason genre, which pretty much left me sleepless for weeks. So when I think slumber party movies, I think "Stand By Me" (my first R-rated movie and subject of my 10th birthday party sleepover) and "Sixteen Candles." When we asked ASB, she agreed on the standards, but threw in "Can't Buy Me Love" and "Steel Magnolias." Granted, these movies were all made within a decade or two, but the reactions we had to each were different. ALW said her "little sister" watched some of the movies I suggested, while I had only recently heard of "Girls Just Want...". Although it was probably a reflection of my upbringing, I'd like to point to the age difference as the excuse for this.
My theories about the time period/movie preference are dependent on a few factors, one being birth order. If you were the oldest sibling, you got shafted--nothing "good" came your way movie-wise, unless you snuck them in at a friend-with-older-brothers/sister's house. The next kids in line had more flexibility. By then, parents didn't give a shit about your brain rotting or your morals being compromised by Baby and Johnny's dance style.
Yet another consideration was the junior high/high school cross-over. Perhaps some of us were banned from certain films because of adult content and our middle school standing. Once we made it to the land of high school, more cinematic doors were opened. Plus we had more friends. Add cars and exposure increased. At least this was my case.
I'm not sure why I felt it necessary to conduct a case study of time period and movie watching in a group of four women, but it was a great conversation nonetheless. "9 to 5" was hilarious and sparked even more talk about societal change. (Lilly Tomlin really hit the nail when she said, "I am NOT your 'GIRL'!")
posted by Hootah at 9:05 AM
1 Comments:
When I was in the 8th grade, I begged my parents to let me see Backdraft (1991). I think that may have been the first R-rated film I saw in the theatre. And the "R" was not for nothing -- man, was Billy Baldwin smokin' (pun intended) in that movie!
I love this topic! More, please!
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