Monday, August 29, 2016

Movie Night


Before tonight, I hadn’t been to the movies since 2014. I don’t know if that makes me sad, because going to see a movie is fun or smart, because going to see a movie is almost as expensive as my monthly Netflix AND Hulu subscriptions combined.

Either way, I broke the streak tonight and went to see Bad Moms with Melissa and Laura. (I realize this is making me sound like the cliché to end all clichés. New mom doesn’t have time to go to the movies! Mom goes with her mom friends to see a movie about other moms who are also tired and late to everything all the time!)

The movie itself was both better and worse than I expected it to be. Better because I thought the three main actors had great chemistry and you could tell they were actually laughing for real in some scenes. We were laughing throughout, too, don’t get me wrong—it’s a fun movie, if nothing else. But, when we left the theater my friends and I were wondering out loud if that’s really what it’s like with the PTA and all that once your kids are school age. (Ours are all 2, so we haven’t really dealt with that yet…)

But actual movie reviewers have highlighted the downsides better than I could. Especially this, from the review on Slate:

“But Bad Moms’ essential message—to the extent it has one, beyond the thesis that partying with your besties rules—is that, rather than overturn the systems that cordon off “moms” from the rest of society by attempting to keep them at once as sacrosanct and as powerless as possible, women should look for the evil within the women around them—that the problem is other women, who seek their oppression for personal reasons of vengeance or jealousy.” 
I thought that was pretty on point--the whole thing is worth a read. 

But, like I said, it was a fun movie regardless—and I’m glad we went to see it. If for no other reason then I got to hang out with MY friends for two hours and can finally say I’ve seen a movie in the last year that wasn’t from the vantage point of my couch.






photo credit: Vintage Roxy Theatre Marquee Sign, NY: 1956 Movie Premiere of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Carousel" via photopin (license)

No comments:

Post a Comment