I'd been talking this one up to the kids for at least a year, although I hadn't seen it myself for at least ten. I'm talking 1995's Mr. Holland's Opus! Have you seen it? You should! (SPOILER ALERT!) It chronicles the life of Mr. Holland, a young married musician whose life aspiration includes composing a symphony that rivals those of Bach and Mozart. Unfortunately (or fortunately!), real life gets in the way, and he's forced to take a job teaching music and John F. Kennedy High School in 1960. He's only supposed to teach for four years, until they have enough money scraped together so he can go back to his music full-time. He winds up having a long and esteemed career there, until he's forced to retire due to the elimination of the music department. Damn those budget constraints!
I'm not often a crier during movies, and according to my brother, we watched that movie tons growing up and I don't remember ever shedding tears over it. But seriously, the scenes with Mr. Holland's son, who was born with a 90% hearing loss, were heart-wrenching! It was like reliving some scenes from my own past, and made me feel so, so lucky to have had Adelaide in a time and place where she has benefited so much from general knowledge and technology. Not that I don't feel lucky every single day, because I do, but things like that always hit it home extra hard.
I think the kids enjoyed the movie, although Olivia seemed at times more interested in whether I was bawling again, than the movie. Then again, I remember doing the same thing when watching movies with my mom, so I guess that's normal? No one got any homework or reading done, and there are still a pile of dishes in the sink, and I'm really hoping everyone has socks and underwear for tomorrow.
One more quick tangent and then I'll sign off. The movie touches on John Lennon a bit and features a song at the end by his son, Julian. My siblings and I had an obsession with The Beatles and each of the band members, stemming from an old record my dad played for us, as well as the ABC special, "The Beatles Anthology" from 1995. I couldn't help myself from listening to 45 minutes straight of old Beatles and Lennon hits. I have always had such an appreciation of the beauty of music, and gearing up for the BF concert next week (Kales, you know what I'm talking about!!), I'm reminded of how varied of my tastes are. I love the new stuff, but damn....I love the old stuff too.
And for kicks:
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