Age and Experience
Over the past month or so, I've watched the movie Goonies a bunch of times (and now I see online that this year is the 20th anniversary of the movie's release, which explains why its been all over HBO). Aside from being a great movie, Goonies holds a special place in my heart because it was an crucial part of the Waskom family pirated video collection back in the day (other important additions include Better off Dead, Meatballs and Mr. Mom).
The first time I saw Goonies, I was probably 9 or 10. Right around the age of the younger kids in the movie. So of course I identified with them, and I thought the older girls (especially Andy, the redhead) were very, very cool.
Watching it recently, I expected to appreciate the movie in a whole new light. I'm older now and know more about both real estate developments and pirates, so I figured I'd experience the movie in a different context. Instead, I found myself sort of regressing. I still identified most with the kids, and I felt younger than the teenage characters (who are, in the movie, probably 15 years younger than I am in real life).
I've done the same thing with other movies, and with books, as well (Catcher in the Rye comes to mind - I guess I'll always feel younger than Holden Caufield.) Its a sort of strange phenomenon to me, that the first time I read or watched something is such a defining factor in the overall experience of that movie or book for me. More so, it seems, than the content.
Now, I wonder, if I'll be so conscious of how I'm watching old movies or reading old books, that I'll actually change the experience.
The first time I saw Goonies, I was probably 9 or 10. Right around the age of the younger kids in the movie. So of course I identified with them, and I thought the older girls (especially Andy, the redhead) were very, very cool.
Watching it recently, I expected to appreciate the movie in a whole new light. I'm older now and know more about both real estate developments and pirates, so I figured I'd experience the movie in a different context. Instead, I found myself sort of regressing. I still identified most with the kids, and I felt younger than the teenage characters (who are, in the movie, probably 15 years younger than I am in real life).
I've done the same thing with other movies, and with books, as well (Catcher in the Rye comes to mind - I guess I'll always feel younger than Holden Caufield.) Its a sort of strange phenomenon to me, that the first time I read or watched something is such a defining factor in the overall experience of that movie or book for me. More so, it seems, than the content.
Now, I wonder, if I'll be so conscious of how I'm watching old movies or reading old books, that I'll actually change the experience.
posted by Kit Pollard at
1:04 PM
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