No surprise that my father loved them. He never got enough of now politically incorrect movies such as The Four Feathers (original), anything with John Wayne, car chase scenes or racing, e.g. Grand Prix, submarine dramas, Das Boot and yet he loved Cinema Paradiso and Local Hero, go figure! He would often remember going to double features for twenty-five cents, including transportation, admission and a milk shake afterwards. You see, he'd joined the Navy too late to see the real thing, although as a Pharmacist's Mate he remembered his share of grisly wounds, and I believe he felt survivors guilt as buddies he'd gone to school with had been killed during World War II (My father's brother came back from the war, went to Harvard where he had a psychotic episode and never recovered).
Sharing movies with my Dad and Mom bonded us. We never tired of watching favorite genres. Mom and I loved romantic comedies, which my father also enjoyed. But in the end, though my parents died several years ago, the thrill of seeing a new adventure, preferably in a movie theater, has never palled.
Why do so many people see action movies, these days? Frustrated by helplessness, and hopelessness, the public, as I see it, wants to participate in a quest, journey, battle, or to go along for the ride. I'm not referring to amusement park rides, those metaphors have been used tediously. No, I'm alluding to either pretending to be in the driver's seat or to be like a front seat passenger transposing our thoughts telepathically to the protagonist on the screen. We want to beat back those who repress, stomp, remove our ability to react; to take a stand as we watch the action vicariously in the darkened cinema at the edge of our seats.
In an earlier blog, I mentioned why people with little money attend these and more violent movies, and not to judge. Here, I have a larger method to my nerdy madness. Hemmed in by various medical challenges and financial challenges, I often wish I had the endless energy and means to fight the dragon that is our political system: the narrow-minded politicians and power-mongers who only care about their own agendas. Yes, a plethora of social media exists to express one's opinions. However, who is really listening? To face bullies we must, as Gandhi and Martin Luther King imparted, stand tall, resist, boycott, march, just as the employees of Market Basket stores are doing and the Cape Down Winders are doing on Cape Cod to protest the Pilgrim Nuclear Plant (erected by the same "builders" who opened a plant in Vermont, since closed due to dangerous conditions) in Plymouth, Massachusetts. On a large scale, as participants in the People's Climate March will do in New York and across the globe.
I have done in the past and plan to do in the future at the above march, my part. Even if it means looking ridiculous walking, better yet rolling, down the streets of Manhattan with a rotator walker. To feel I'm holding my own against the world leaders at the United Nations who deny or lessen the impact of climate change. To be empowered to make a difference, in a small way--signing petitions, calling or e-mailing, Instagramming, Tweeting your Congressperson, or volunteering in your community will also have an impact. For me, that belief that I'm tapping my "heroic" side keeps me going when there have been times when I only wanted to survive.Like Groot, the touching character in Guardians of the Galaxy, who says so much with his eyes and his seemingly benign actions (it can only say, "I am Groot") until pushed to shove, we may not look like an action hero but we have inside us the courage to at least dig our feet, or roots, into the ground and fight for our convictions.
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