Randomly Accessed Memory
this journal entry posted on December.13.2012
this journal entry posted on December.13.2012
I was cooking eggs with my daughter the other night and I had a strong recollection of the scene in Kramer vs. Kramer where Dustin Hoffman is making "crunchy" french toast for his son, Billy.In 1979 I was 8 years old. My mom's best friend was talking about Kramer vs. Kramer and what an amazingly good movie it was and my mother was very interested in seeing it. I became interested in seeing it as well. But the adults informed me that it was an adult movie about adult things and assured me that children would not find it at all interesting.
I think I recall having to do a lot of promising to behave no matter what my opinion of the film was and needing to do a bunch of all-around-convincing. There was no such rating as PG-13 back then there were G, PG and R (and beyond R). There were no movies on cable, there was no cable. Seeing a movie that was PG rated and not Star Wars or Grease was a bit of a right of passage back then.
I can remember feeling very adult. Sitting in the theater with my mother watching an adult film about adult things. Being so relieved when I could understand the humor and comprehend the gritty drama. I can recall the feeling of privilege as I summarized the movie for my friends who had no chance in hell of being taken to see it (and probably not much interest either).
Yeah, I remember all that.
