Today’s Slice muses on the difference between my husband and me when it comes to watching TV and movies. He just sits and likes to watch. I, on the other hand, am a classic overthinker. I’m analyzing camera angles, picking apart the holes in the script, looking for patterns, symbolism and the like. I’m the one putting myself in the fictional writer’s room at the ad agency figuring out how – and why – they blocked their shots and chose their images. I’m also increasingly aware that I’m kind a pain in the patoot to watch a movie with. Let’s just chalk it up to my life as a reader and writer.
“You ruin everything,”
said my husband, half
(or maybe not-half)
kidding, as we watched the
hokey feel-good basketball movie.
To be fair, I wasn’t really trying to ruin anything.
But I mean…
tropes are tropes
ammirite?
Like, this movie’s been made before.
We know which one is the love interest,
and we know the NBA is going to call the coach back,
and we know he’s going to need a reluctant sidekick,
and we know the team is going to give up on him,
or he’s going to give up on the team,
and we know they’re going to patch it up,
and we know he’s going to LEARN a THING
about himself, and life maybe,
and we know that crazy farfetched basketball shot
from that early scene
will be what decides the championship game
we know they’re going to play
So I gathered my predictions
and quietly tucked them away
so a man could finish the
hokey feel-good basketball movie
in peace.
But for the RECORD,
I was right about the love interest,
and the NBA,
and the sidekick,
and the giving-up on,
and the redemption arc,
and the championship game,
and the crazy farfetched shot
which
(for the record)
the kid missed…
(7 out of 8 ain’t bad)
Soapbox: The Way I see Things 
We are the opposite of you two. I can get lost in the movie. Sam on the other hand will point out how unrealistic something can be. This is why a majority of the time we don’t pick a movie to watch. The only movies he will suspend reality with me are Marvel films, LOTR, & Harry Potter.
I totally get that! Something has to be super-out there or really interesting for my brain to calm down and just enjoy the story…
ha! I love the for the record part best – but this is awesome in it’s voice and flow! I can do both .. just enjoy or overthink… I think it depends on the movie and the company!
Thanks! I guess sometimes I can go with the flow, but when anything strikes me as formulaic, that’s when the wheels start turning. Just have to remember to keep those ideas as THOUGHT bubbles =)
Ha! I love this. Way to keep the inside thoughts Inside Thoughts! I loved the fast pace of your list at the end, like your brain just HAD to catch everyone up with all of its trope organization. Thanks for the giggle this evening.
So much fun to read and envision, Lainie! The collected predictions tucked into poetic format and their reveal that follows make for an entertaining slice.
Ha! Loved this and well done to tuck your predictions away. ;0
I would say that I am the sit back and enjoy movie watcher. I don’t want to think too hard, or analyze what I am watching. I just want to be numb and watch.