No, not me. The movie. I didn’t see it when it was out in the theaters. Honestly it takes a hell of a lot to convince either Rob or I to actually expend the effort and waste the time to sit in a movie theater. Perhaps if he liked people more and I enjoyed sitting still for someone else’s story-telling. The only time I can sit still is when I am writing or reading. Otherwise, my mind is too full to entertain someone else’s ideas.
But BabyDaughter and I have been making fairly regular stops at the library in town since I discovered (after nearly a year) that I can use the county library card I have there too, and I saw the dvd and I thought it was worth a movie night.
Yes, I can watch movies at home without too much wandering of attention but it’s not a given. Plus I have the added incentive of my viewing pleasure being enhanced by the ability to curl up next to my husband in bed while we watch. You can’t snuggle horizontally in a movie theater, I don’t care how great the seats are – stadium seating and snuggling just don’t mix.
Knocked Up, if I remember correctly, got quite the rap for being another one of those films that glamorized the idea of pregnancy and keeping the baby as opposed to having an abortion, I guess. Personally, I don’t see either option as glamorous in the least, but I understand the vexation. The movie does make it seem that pregnancy can create a relationship where none existed or ultimately strengthen ties between two people. Frankly, a baby should never be saddled with that kind of baggage or responsibility. More people should disregard the notion of getting together or staying together for the sake of children, born or in the making. The movie was more than a bit fairy tale in that respect.
For me the movie brought back memories of being pregnant with BabyDaughter, mostly because it was mid- way through the pregnancy that her dad began to show signs of mental instability. Just one in a long list of early warning signs of his illness that we missed. I don’t have many fond memories of pregnancy, birth or the first year. It was overshadowed by odd and/or scary behavior that had me on the verge of walking out by the time the doctors agreed that “yes, there does appear to be something physically wrong with your husband”.
Some of the movie annoyed me too. There is a scene – several really – of the female character being “hormonal” and I complained to Rob that I hated movies that went all stereo-type like that about pregnant women. Hormonal does not mean “out of control bitch” and I insisted that I was never like that. But there were tense and even ugly moments when my late husband would do things that seemed so far out of character that I wondered who the hell I had married and perhaps I’d made a huge mistake. I don’t think my reactions were overly influenced by hormones though. I think most sane women would have been upset regardless.
Hindsight is a miserable and useless thing.
Perhaps another reason why I dislike movies (and television even moreso) is that it strives to entertain me with things that are not entertainment. Trauma. Disease. Death. Heartbreak.
Considering the fullness of my life and my ability to keep myself quite occupied within its framework, I guess it is no wonder I am not much in need of what Hollywood seems to feel I need to vicariously experience more of.
anniegirl1138 
it bothers me that you’re watching second rate films. I had a look online… is this place anywhere near you?
http://www.birddogvideo.ca/
looking at the dvd section in your local library is a good idea. or maybe you could borrow a library book of movie reviews? and aren’t there companies who, for a small fee, post out dvds you can keep as long as you want and when you’ve watched them you just post them back and get a new one?
I like dramas so I’d recommend Gone Baby Gone or The Bank Job. Juno is pretty sweet if you’re looking for something light….
I appreciate the effort but the Birddog is in Calgary and that is 4 hours south of here. Juno I have heard of and pregnant teens don’t excite – I taught too many of them my last year to enjoy something like that.
At the moment we are watching part of a series on the history of Canada. I don’t always watch fluff. Last week we always watched two Jane Austen adaptations. I am not worried for my mental health just yet.
If you are going to the library for films, look around a little. There are a lot of DVD’s in my library of old British comedies, which are much better than anything Hollywood puts out these days. And why not go for old films from the heyday of Hollywood, stuff like Rear Window, North by Northwest, and just in time for Halloween, Bell, Book and Candle?
Oh, I would never get Rob to watch old movies.
@nursemyra,
I have to say I totally agree with most hollywood films are crap. It has been my habit for quite some time to find more out of the way films, like arthouse or foreign films.
Part of our trouble, if you can call it that, is that we don’t watch television and so never see any promos for upcoming films of any kind. Granted, there are probably a few newspapers we could read that would inform us of new films, but…I don’t read them.
So, generally, we make future movie selections based upon previews contained within whichever film we are currently viewing. I don’t recall which movie had the preview for “Knocked up”, but since it featured the same director as “The 40-year old virgin” (Apatow) – which was, in my opinion, a pretty decent flick – as well as Canadian born Seth Rogen we thought we’d give it a go.
Our method of selecting movies is pretty hit and miss and there has been more than one movie that we’ve simply shut off without finishing.
Of course, for us, if a movie doesn’t contain someone dying – or being widowed – well then it’s almost guaranteed to be a success.
well most hollywood films are crap. you wouldn’t get me to see something like “Knocked Up” in a fit.
why don’t you look at the foreign or arthouse section of your dvd shop? or how about watching a good tv series on dvd? there are plenty of those around
It’s like Rob said – we look at previews and then get those we can from the library. I haven’t been in a dvd shop in a year probably. There was a real good one back in Iowa near the high school where I taught. Great foreign flick choice. Here? Only if we went into the city.
We are rewatching a season of The X-files since it has been so long ago now. Can’t believe how awful it is in retrospect. I have been thinking we should check out a series but it is a time committment and we have trouble enough just getting a stand alone movie done.
“Hindsight is a miserable and useless thing.” Way to put yourself out there! Nicely post.
I just read your entry at 50-somethings Moms blog, and I really liked that, too. Also, I’m 35, unmarried, and babyless. Where do I fit in? I don’t usually use that description of myself, only now to draw attention to the fact that others probably see me that way when, when I stop to notice.
I remember when I hit thirty, thinking “wow, if I want to hit those milestones and become properly married and babied, I better get on it.” Then I thought, nah.
Thanks for putting your ideas and great voice out there.
Thanks. I was 35 when I married. Didn’t even meet my late husband until I was 34. Baby came even later. I think anymore that the experiences we are taught are milestones for women come at such a variety of ages that it isn’t easy to categorize us anymore. Yet society still wants us in neat little columns or better yet – boxes. Thanks again for stopping by.
As soon as they make a movie about a fifty-something disabled woman living in public housing in a ritzy neighborhood in Seattle, I’ll be interested. But it sounds more interesting than it really is. Of course, the stereotype I get is the menopausal woman. So far, for me, it has meant that my skin, hair, and some other things are drying out, and I’m having to use a lot of “product.”
Considering the fullness of my life and my ability to keep myself quite occupied within its framework, I guess it is no wonder I am not much in need of what Hollywood seems to feel I need to vicariously experience more of.
Yes! Very few movies get my attention these days; the story lines have little relevance to my life — little to say to me, the trailers don’t pique my curiosity, and the actors are — just acting.
I am, however, looking forward to the release of Madagascar 2.
I just saw Knocked Up over the weekend for the first time. Best line in the film: “Life doesn’t care about your vision.” Amen to that.