I didn’t mean to watch the Oscars, but I did. I meant to see more of the Oscar nominated movies, though, but I didn’t. Instead, I went to see He’s Just Not That Into You and Coraline. And I fully enjoyed both of those, dammit.
Evidently, a good movie isn’t enjoyable. Good means that it should be gut-wrenchingly dismal. Nothing says quality like kicking someone when they’re down. And if you can demonstrate a small ray of light and hope, followed by an utter squashing of that meager chance for happiness, then by golly, you should be nominated for an Academy Award! Consequently, I haven’t felt terribly compelled to go see ‘Revolutionary Road,’ ‘The Reader,’ ‘Doubt’, ‘Rachel Goes to the Wedding,’ or ‘The Wrestler,’ but I’ve been having this itchy nagging feeling that I should.
I’m not sure if I thought The Wrestler was good. It was very, very bleak. At points, it was disgusting. It made New Jersey look like the place where Boredom and Bad Taste go to have bad sex in a cheap motel and then overdose on crack cocaine. And Mickey Rourke is really weird looking. Kind of like some kind of deep sea fish from the murky depths. Or a lion with no fur.
I loved that he got into his job behind the deli counter, even though he’d completely dreaded it. But then he had fun and he interacted with people in a positive, real way. There was this hope that he could carry on, having a normal, although simple and modest existence. Then he has a hopeful moment with his daughter, planting a seed that he can be a part of her life and try to have a relationship. And then, sigh… as movies are wont to do, after showing us the path that could have been, they took it all away. We’re left wondering if he even survived 5 minutes after the final scene. And if he did survive, in as much as his heart managed to keep beating, what happened then? What’s left for this guy?
Thankfully, the popcorn was free and the Kernal Season’s Popcorn Seasonings, were plentiful.
margaret edith 