Sunday, May 17, 2009

Non Fiction Fan



Movies are hard for my son. Too dark in the theatre. Too loud (especially the previews). And there's too much conflict in the story, usually, for him to relax. He can't write it off as 'just a movie.' It's a literal interpretation that he can't ignore. So, my dreams going to the movies together has had to be radically rethought.

I've lately had occasions to visit various L.A. Public Libraries; ones in different neighborhoods I hardly know. This is wonderful. And, when I'm done with whatever brought me there (a rehearsal, a performance, a test), I peruse the media shelves. I'm prowling for music I can add to my own personal library, and today, found a wealth of DVDs to choose from at the Edendale Branch.

Alas, at home, we practically struck out. 'Bolt,' a pretty recent Disney flick about a TV dog star who lives his life in front of unseen cameras in what he believes is just real life---proved too puzzling to my son. I really thought the 'mild peril' would be the stuff that would bum him out, but he stomached that OK. It was at around the 20 minute mark, when some snarky cats came by to make fun of Bolt--well, that's when the questions kicked in.

I think it goes back to my son's challenge in abstract thought. He's a pragmatist to the enth degree. He hardly watches TV to begin with, so even a fictitious TV star hardly resonates with him. It can make him unsure or even scared. And that translates, according to my son, to be the type of movie that gives him nightmares.

Knowing he likes a more gentle pace sometimes, older movies, say, I also checked out a classic, 'That Darn Cat.' The title sequence at the top of the flick still holds up. It's a more benign if simplistic level of humor. What's curious to me is how my son's sense of humor is more advanced that this by a longshot. He's sly, in fact. But then...Frank Gorshin does a slimy bankrobber bit, and another thug is pretty tough, too. And, seeing Elsa Lancaster as a Bank Teller held hostage, well, we're done before twenty minutes again.

Our third disk of the night was a winner. Big Machines
http://www.littlehardhats.com/
Non Fiction, how things work stuff, and something that a pragmatic language issue type of guy can eat up. OK, so, we got that going. And we'll build from there.