It’s a Saturday evening and my whole family is sitting around the TV watching a movie dad rented. Each of us is in our own designated seats that over the years have been assigned to us through repetition. In our hands lie plates full of those scrumptious treats that clog our arteries on the way down to our stomachs: pizza rolls, Bagel Bites, chicken wings, buttery popcorn with a double dose of butter. On this typical night, the movie playing may or may not be one any of us has even heard of. Dad has an uncanny ability to pick the most random movies out there. Trust me; I have seen my fair share of B-movies over the years.
We laugh, we throw in our own commentaries, we are held in suspense, we cover our eyes, we ask questions, we rebuke, we say what should have been said, we stretch our imaginations, we travel to foreign lands, we confront personal fears, we fall in love, we become a hero, we root for the underdog. Since I was young till now, the power of one simple set of moving pictures on one ordinary evening brings my family together. Even going away to college, I found myself on breaks and holidays coming home and enjoying the latest movie with my parents and brothers. This is why I love film. It has that power to cross generations, cross language boundaries, and provokes us to deal with issues in our culture, and personal belief systems. Film brings us together. It unites us all as an audience and allows us to take a journey through a story, through all the laughter or pain.
So before I leave the living room, as I stuff down my last handful of popcorn, I thank dad for renting the movie tonight. I know he has cherished this moment just as much as I have.
Joe Poe
Simple Bulldog Studio
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