Culture, Peas, and Carrots

It's remarkable when you think about the things that have a lasting influence on society.  Movies may have varying levels of influence, depending on your age, but even if it's limited to an age range, some movies have staying power that defies logic.  We may not all embrace Citizen Kane (1941) or Gone With the Wind (1939) the way previous generations have, but they once enjoyed nearly universal acclaim.

When I was attending the University of California, I was determined to experience all aspects of college life, so I volunteered to work for theatrical shows put on by the students from time to time.  As benevolent as this may make me sound, I also received units toward my degree for doing so, thus it was a win-win.  The problem with working a theatrical production is the downtime between scenes.  My job focus was always costumes: quick changes, quick repairs, and downtime.  In an era before movies became digital, they were anything but portable.  I knew "rich" people who had VCRs and tiny televisions in their vehicles, but even those people were limited by the bulk of VHS tapes.

My solution to the downtime during shows was simple enough: bring a VCR with all the necessary wiring, plus a few tapes just for the variety.  What started as a way for me and the rest of the crew to unwind during downtime, quickly evolved into a reflection of cultural staying power.  The University of California is quite diverse both culturally and ethnically, yet certain movies always filled the room, while others did not.  Instead of the popular romantic comedies or the slapstick comedies of the time, the movies that left standing-room-only in The Green Room tended to be relatable and timeless stories.  

While the age of the movie had some effect, it wasn't the deciding factor.  The three I remember most were Rocky (1976), Star Wars (1977), and Forrest Gump (1994).  Despite two of the three having been released before most of the cast or crew were born, they had staying power decades after their release.  What is the common thread between a boxing movie, an epic space opera, and a Vietnam War period piece?  All of them contained a charismatic underdog the audience desperately wanted to see succeed.

As a family, we share our passion for art and film with one another.  Although my children aren't quite ready for the weight of films like Rocky or Forrest Gump, they have embraced Star Wars.  Despite releasing 30+ years before their births, they find the story relatable, and often quote the film, incorporating it into their daily vernacular.  My wife and I are no different.  We often quote different movies to one another, and speak in a make-shift shorthand that is hard for others to follow.  We aren't the only ones.

When children first learn to speak, their words are distorted, often triggering responses from their parents that are irrelevant.  When my daughter was around 20 months old, we were still in the process of teaching manners: specifically the importance of "please" and "thank you."  Despite her best efforts, my daughter's "thank you" sounded more like "dee-doo," and her "please" sounded more like "peas."  Naturally, this prompted her mother to respond with "peas and carrots" from the Forrest Gump archives in her mind, to the amusement as well as bewilderment of our daughter.

Apparently, she was more amused than bewildered, because it wasn't long after my wife first started quoting Forrest Gump to my daughter that she began asking for things, dispensing with the boring attempts at "please" and enthusiastically exclaiming, "Peas-Tedders!"

Of course you may have more food.  And "dee-doo" for asking politely.

The Boy Lady Gaga

I remember the first time I was introduced to Lady Gaga.  She was performing on American Idol, a show my wife loved despite me.  As a compromise, she would record the show on our DVR, and watch the following day while I prepared dinner.  Although I was never actively watching, I would catch snippets of things going on in the show that I would sometimes find appalling ("Queen Week" comes to mind), certain of the inevitable train wreck the show's producers must have been hoping for.  Being a fan of music in general allowed me to take in moments from time to time, and Lady Gaga's performance was one of those moments.

Her performance was quirky and odd, but in an artistic way, and it reminded me a lot of some of Madonna's performances from the early 90s.  To borrow from American Idol's most (in)famous alum, Simon Cowell, "It was memorable."  "Forgettable" was always the one thing you didn't want to be in his eyes.  

And then Lady Gaga was everywhere.  There was no escaping "Poker Face."  I remember telling my wife that rather than hearing "can't read my, can't read my poker face," I kept hearing "cutie pie, cutie pie, poker face."  Naturally, my version made no sense whatsoever, but me being me, I kept insisting to my children that "cutie pie" is what she was saying to the point that they believed me, prompting my wife to correct the record.  

When my son was three and my daughter was five, my wife sought out the official video and played it for them on her phone.  At first, they would gleefully belt out my "cutie pie" version of the lyrics (something we have plenty of videos of), as the studio cut still wasn't clear enough for them to hear the difference.  This prompted my wife to search YouTube for alternate versions one day while I was at work, believing perhaps an acoustic version would contain less distortion.  This is what she found:

Chris Daughtry's acoustic version was a revelation for my children.  His version was crisp, and powerful, and cleared up any misunderstandings about lyrics created by their father.  It didn't take anything away from the original, but rather added to it, giving it greater depth.  My children were so excited in fact, the moment I arrived home from work, my five year old daughter raced up to me and exclaimed, "Look Daddy!  It's The Boy Lady Gaga!"

Of course it is.

The Flux Capacitor

With so much out there about how awful things have become, it's nice to stop and consider some of the more positive things about living in the 21st Century.  For one thing, the overwhelming majority of us walks around with a super computer on hand, that can instantly provide access to all of the information and knowledge humans have accumulated in our existence — beyond remarkable when one considers how many of us only had land lines and dial-up Internet access at the turn of the century.

Such a sea-change has enabled us to embrace our inner geek.  We are not ridiculed for wearing glasses or loving Star Wars.  We are no longer mocked for having our homes geeked out in servers and cross-platform communication.  Instead, being a geek carries a form of street cred once reserved for auto mechanics, with many envious of our access to a world just beyond their reach.

Perhaps embracing our inner geek has had some unintended consequences.  Back to the Future is now north of 30, yet still holds up as probably the best time-travel movie ever (sorry Star Trek fans).  Sure, the effects and fashion are incredibly dated, but it holds up well as a period piece, and the innocence of my children allows them to enjoy it as much as I did when it was new.  Not only is it a story of redemption for both of the elder McFlys, that redemption is only made possible by the selflessness of their son, Marty.  It also gives us one of the best fictional surnames ever: McFly.

While my daughter was getting caught up in the family dynamics of the plot, my son was captivated by the time machine: The DeLorean.  The climactic Clocktower scene where a bolt of lightning is used to power the flux capacitor, ultimately sending Marty McFly back to his own time, was a jolt to his imagination.

That's where some pipe cleaners, a toy DeLorean, some string, a power outlet, and the unbridled creativity of our six year old son come together for the perfect storm.  Normally, we think nothing of it when our son asks for different materials for an art project.  He's always so involved, that we often hear him doing voices or making laser sounds as he fires imaginary weapons, so it was quite odd to have him race into the kitchen to interrupt us with shouts of "Fire!  Fire!" in lieu of his preferred "Pew!  Pew!  Pew!"

"Yes," my wife responded lazily, "Fire, pew, pew, pew."

"NOOOOO!"  He shouted as he started jumping up and down on the spot, "FIRE!!!"

We instantly sprang into action, my wife yanking the charred pipe cleaner from the power outlet, ensuring nothing was actually burning beyond that, and checking our son for any signs of serious injury.  As we calmed him down and stepped back to examine things, we realized he had recreated the entire Clocktower scene, with remarkable accuracy.  As lightning bolts are in such short supply, he decided to make do with a power outlet and a modified pipe cleaner.  Sure, he nearly burned the house down, but how else are you supposed to get that much juice into a flux capacitor?!