Favorites

My favorite movie, above all, has always been Stand By Me... until yesterday. Now it is a tie. Last night I went to The Spectacular Now. It was so moving and had such an impact on me (as you can tell from the title of my blog) I just loved it. It does not surpass Stand By Me though. I love Stand By Me because of the way it portrays friendship. The message is very real, friends will come and go in your life but you will always be able to cherish and remember all the amazing memories from those friendships and their impact on you. I loved The Spectacular Now for so many reasons, it has so many dimensions. It exhibits addiction, depression, hopelessness, loneliness, change, and self renewal. I related to the main character a lot, not in that I am depressed or have an addiction, but in that I sort of put up a front, as a lot of people do. The main character, Sutter, is extremely well liked by his peers and he is always the easy-going, fun guy but inside he feels no love. He feels so alone and sad. My scenario is very different in detail but similar on the surface, which I feel more comfortable keeping personal, but I did find myself relating to him. The movie had a huge impact on me and I think it will be one of my favorites for the rest of my life.

 Stand By Me- Chris and Gordy

 This is not my first choice scene from The Spectacular Now but since it just came out in theaters there wasn't much option!

I cannot pin down the best experience of my entire life, but I am going to talk about a memory that is particularly special to me. When my older brother was 12 he had an extremely intense and dangerous chest surgery. His ribs were growing out away from his heart instead of the way they normally grow naturally. He has a massive scar all the way across his chest which required over 150 stitches. As you can imagine, it was incredibly painful and the healing process was very long. He was in the hospital for a couple weeks after the surgery and he was in a ton of pain. I stayed at my Granny's house until he was allowed visitors other than my parents. Then she brought my cousin Stacey and I to the hospital to see him. I had talked to my mom on the phone and she said Griffin hadn't smiled since before the surgery and it had been a few days since the surgery. To try to make him smile, Stacey and I dressed up in old lady clothes and wore grey wigs. We walked into his hospital room, Griffin was hooked up to all sorts of machines and he had the dullest, saddest look on his face. When he looked up he lit up and a huge smile spread across his face. That moment was amazing. Even though I was 9 at the time, this memory is still really vivid in my mind.