The movies at the theater lately have been kinda lame. And I hate spending $10 per ticket for lame movies...or movies that play just as well on a TV screen. (I don't have a huge HD tv, but it's big enough!) Today, however, all of that changes. Today is the start of the end of the year movie push. We got Thor: The Dark World coming out today and close behind are the sequels to The Hunger Games and The Hobbit. Next year's offerings look pretty cool, also...a Robocop remake, another Captain America, and Spiderman and the X-men make a return appearance, too. They just announced that the new Star Wars installment will be released in December 2015...But that's a whole 'nother topic to write about.
In this recent cinematographic dry spell, though, I was able to catch up, via Netflix, on some movies that I had missed in the past but heard good things about. One of the best of these catch-up films was Lars and the Real Girl. It's about a young man, Lars, who, for reasons that we are never explicitly told, finds it very difficult to relate to others - especially women. He lives in the garage apartment adjacent to the home he grew up in where his brother, Gus, and sister-in-law, Karin, now reside. Lars goes to work and is able to function well enough with his co-workers in order to make a living and provide for his own well being. And Gus and Karin look after him as best they can, even beg him to join them for meals, but Lars' anxiety is overwhelming and it is obvious that he is lonely.
Things begin to change for Lars when a large package arrives. It is delivery of an order he had placed a few weeks earlier. We, the audience, have an inkling about what might be in the package because of a strained interaction that Lars had earlier in the movie with his cubical-mate at work. But the full truth is revealed to us at the same time as Gus and Karin discover the bizarre new wrinkle in Lars' behavior. He has called the house to ask if he might be able to join them for dinner. They eagerly indulge his request and are further delighted to hear that he is bringing a friend - a female friend. But when Lars arrives at the door, he is holding the hand of a mannequin - and not the kind that they put clothes on at a department store, rather the kind that is bought and sold by mail order and is usually tucked away in the recesses of sexually immature young men's bedrooms.
Lars, however, is certain that Bianca (we don't know if he gave her that name or if that was the name her sellers assigned to her) is real. He talks to her, he listens to her, he holds her and leads her from place to place as if she is real. He even asks his brother if Bianca would be permitted to sleep in the guest room of the house, because it would be improper for them to spend nights together in Lars' small apartment.
Gus and Karin are as flabbergasted at this plotline as we are. How can this be tolerated? How can we let Lars continue in this delusion that we are certain is crazy, sick, deviant and humiliating? What will people say? What will people think? What is wrong with Lars?
Well, I've probably already told you too much - and maybe you think I'm kinda weird, myself, for watching such a movie (it's rated PG-13, I swear!). But I would like to encourage you to watch Lars and the Real Girl. It's a movie about acceptance, love, honesty, loss, grief, hope and genuine community. Lars learns to trust himself and the offer of affection from others. Lars' family and community learn to trust each other and give themselves away for the needs of others. And we, the watchers of this tender story, are given a glimpse of what a world might be like where all people are considered whole and complete and good and real just the way they are.
I'm probably not going to try and fight the crowds at the theater tonight to catch Thor...maybe I'll stay home and watch Lars again. It's that good.
In this recent cinematographic dry spell, though, I was able to catch up, via Netflix, on some movies that I had missed in the past but heard good things about. One of the best of these catch-up films was Lars and the Real Girl. It's about a young man, Lars, who, for reasons that we are never explicitly told, finds it very difficult to relate to others - especially women. He lives in the garage apartment adjacent to the home he grew up in where his brother, Gus, and sister-in-law, Karin, now reside. Lars goes to work and is able to function well enough with his co-workers in order to make a living and provide for his own well being. And Gus and Karin look after him as best they can, even beg him to join them for meals, but Lars' anxiety is overwhelming and it is obvious that he is lonely.
Things begin to change for Lars when a large package arrives. It is delivery of an order he had placed a few weeks earlier. We, the audience, have an inkling about what might be in the package because of a strained interaction that Lars had earlier in the movie with his cubical-mate at work. But the full truth is revealed to us at the same time as Gus and Karin discover the bizarre new wrinkle in Lars' behavior. He has called the house to ask if he might be able to join them for dinner. They eagerly indulge his request and are further delighted to hear that he is bringing a friend - a female friend. But when Lars arrives at the door, he is holding the hand of a mannequin - and not the kind that they put clothes on at a department store, rather the kind that is bought and sold by mail order and is usually tucked away in the recesses of sexually immature young men's bedrooms.Lars, however, is certain that Bianca (we don't know if he gave her that name or if that was the name her sellers assigned to her) is real. He talks to her, he listens to her, he holds her and leads her from place to place as if she is real. He even asks his brother if Bianca would be permitted to sleep in the guest room of the house, because it would be improper for them to spend nights together in Lars' small apartment.Gus and Karin are as flabbergasted at this plotline as we are. How can this be tolerated? How can we let Lars continue in this delusion that we are certain is crazy, sick, deviant and humiliating? What will people say? What will people think? What is wrong with Lars?
Well, I've probably already told you too much - and maybe you think I'm kinda weird, myself, for watching such a movie (it's rated PG-13, I swear!). But I would like to encourage you to watch Lars and the Real Girl. It's a movie about acceptance, love, honesty, loss, grief, hope and genuine community. Lars learns to trust himself and the offer of affection from others. Lars' family and community learn to trust each other and give themselves away for the needs of others. And we, the watchers of this tender story, are given a glimpse of what a world might be like where all people are considered whole and complete and good and real just the way they are.
I'm probably not going to try and fight the crowds at the theater tonight to catch Thor...maybe I'll stay home and watch Lars again. It's that good.
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