Signs

I am a sci-fi fan. I like true sci-fi much more than than sci-fi/fantasy blended. I am a purist that way.

My son and I were watching a sci-fi double feature last weekend, a couple of movies I've watched dozens of times. I was surprised at how the M. Night Shyamalin's movie, Signs, really seemed to speak to me. I can't get the movie out of my mind.

There is a scene where the two main characters, brothers, are watching the TV and trying to find more information about crop circles and alien sightings. The younger brother asked the older, who was once a minister, if this was the end of the world.

The older brother says there are two types of people. One type believes that everything is a matter of luck, that life is a series of random events, with no reason or greater purpose. They will see these events as the end of the world.

The second group sees miracles and signs--reason and purpose. They don't believe they face problems alone. Those people won't see these events as the end of the world.

There have been numerous anxious moment during the past 6 months of my life. I walked away from a good paying job to teach in a small private school, but was laid off when enrollment declined. I was totally unaware that the economy would take such a downturn. I wasn't even told that the decision to lay me off had been made till it was too late to find another teaching job. I have spent months trying to make contacts, to little avail. I have had potential employers string me along, even after positions were all ready filled and there was no chance I would be hired.

During this time I've drained my savings--and financial security. I've been concerned about making mortgage payments. Though I will soon be working at a new job, I will be earning a dangerously low salary with no benefits.

As I watched that movie, the tears began to flow. The former minister asked his brother, "What kind of person are you?"

If I looked at the chain of events this last 2 years as simply bad luck, I would be crushed. I don't know if I could be strong enough to take blow, after blow, after blow. I might think it was easier to give up and go on welfare.

--But I have tried to stay focused and believe there is something out there for me. There is a reason and purpose for what has happened. I don't know where this path leads, just that I am to follow it.

Like the characters in the movie Signs, I'm confused and don't understand what is going on in the world around me. Like the younger brother in the movie, I am seeking the signs and am comforted in knowing that I am not going through all of this alone.

Classic Movies

Last night I went to a renovated theater, built in the 1920s. During the summer, this theater plays classic movies on Friday nights. The massive movie house was packed with people waiting to see a movie they had viewed dozens of times before. Even the balcony was filled. It made me wonder, what is it about certain movies that causes people to pay to watch them time and time again?

I watched people mouth the words to Casablanca along with Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Paul Henreid. People laughed as the same bits. They cheered with every twist and turn of the story, though nothing was a surprise.

I would like to be snooty and say that a have to be seen movie needs to be well made, clever, and well written, but that’s not always true. What’s completely lame to one person might strike a chord with another. That special movie does have to speak to basic human nature. It makes them want to relive the struggle and joy the movie brings. Each viewing is another adventure.

I usually love movies with more story and suspense than special effects. I want a flawless plot line and I like witty lead characters, too. Sometimes the older movies are the best.

It’s amazing, really. You can say certain phrases and people will instantly know the movie. Here are a few I thought of right off the top of my head.

We’re gonna need a bigger boat.

We’ll always have Paris.

We’re not in Kansas anymore.

As you wish.

As God is my witness, I’ll never go hungry again.

Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings

Love means never having to say you’re sorry.

Shaken, not stirred.

If you build it, they will come.

Toga, toga.

Go ahead, make my day.

--And for the geeks at heart—

Klaatu barada nikto

Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape.

Luke, I am your father!

I’ll be back.