Some Stuff I Watched

I guess I am out of my paranoid mood and ready to fling opinions into public again like birdseed in the desert. It’s amusing to me how I used to say so much without giving a fig for privacy. My own, that is. But you can’t always be totally open about yourself without involving others, since most of our stories aren’t solo experiences. Luckily, I haven’t had drama of that type for many years, but I constantly see drama unfold on social media from the casual expression of opinion on whatever topic, so that sometimes gives me pause.

I finally watched Somewhere in Time (1980), which was sad and romantic, but the time travel “science” was so ridiculous that I couldn’t take it seriously. In a way, it reminded me of Blake Crouch’s novel Recursion, in which the “science” was infinitely more complex but also ultimately absurd. Both stories set up a loop of impossible events repeating without resolution. I also had a hard time believing that a successful writer would throw his current life away on a whim to find a woman in an old photo. Jane Seymour was incredibly beautiful though, so perhaps that was enough motivation. Christopher Reeve’s appearance struck me as fake, as if his face had been molded from plastic like a Ken doll. I know that isn’t true, but there was something very odd about him, and I had trouble getting into the story because of that as well. I watched it on Prime.

I also watched Death Becomes Her (1992), starring Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn. This had a crazy plot, centered around vain celebs and an anti-aging potion, along with bizarre special effects, like something out of a campy horror film. I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t what I saw; I generally enjoy both actresses and was disappointed overall in the movie, despite a few funny moments. This was on Netflix.

Nobody Saw Us Leave is a new Netflix limited series (only five episodes) based upon a true story about two wealthy Jewish families in 1960s Mexico. The families are friends because of mutual business interests, and one of their sons marries another one’s daughter. It’s not quite an arranged marriage per se, but it’s clear the couple is not in love. After having two children, the wife begins an affair, and the man she falls in love with is her brother-in-law (her husband’s sister’s husband). After her husband discovers the affair, he informs his sister, and both are more humiliated than heartbroken. They probably would have done nothing more than sulk about this, but their father decides that his son must abduct his own children and leave the country. It’s not entirely clear why the father insists upon this, even as the situation becomes more complicated when the other family hires an ex Mossad agent to successfully track them down, but the story is compelling regardless. I probably missed some nuances because the dialogue was translated and dubbed, and some scenes were out of chronological order, but still I recommend it. The book (written by the daughter who was kidnapped) hasn’t been translated ~ if it ever is, I would read it. 

Nobody Wants This (rabbi and non-religious woman, both with cuckoo families, especially hers, fall in love) has returned for its second season on Netflix, and I binge-watched the entire season this weekend. It isn’t as crazy as it sounds because each episode is sitcom length and dissolves quickly in my mind like cotton candy. I find the whole show to be basically sans substance even though it’s purportedly about major life issues. Then again, so is The Connors (also a show I’ve been watching on Netflix, though not bingeing), which has received less attention but is much better. I find Kristen Bell pleasant to look at, but her character Joanne is unbearably stupid (until maybe the last couple episodes of S2, where she finally displays some insight). Also, I get annoyed with shows that portray a Jewish mother as pushy and obnoxious, but to be fair a lot of on-screen moms are portrayed this way because Hollywood writers find this tired old trope to be endlessly hilarious, apparently. The scenes with Seth Rogen as an unconventional rabbi were the funniest overall. 

There’s one thread I pulled out of the show that I both relate to and find interesting: the idea that we have in our minds of not necessarily the perfect boyfriend or girlfriend, but the concept of ourselves in a relationship. So, we repeat behaviors because we see ourselves as a person who does such and such thing without regard to the actual unique human being we are supposed to be getting to know. For example, a man always buys roses for his girlfriend’s birthday, oblivious to the fact that his new one is allergic, even though she has mentioned it. A woman always bakes cookies for her boyfriends, but her new guy is diabetic. These are extreme examples, but you see what I mean. People get stuck on a path of actions that don’t mesh with their current situation, yet they have trouble adapting to their new reality.

Anyway. I am looking forward to seeing the new biopic of Bruce Springsteen, which has just hit the theaters.