Movies My Husband Has Made Me Watch

A Follow-Up to “Movies I’ve Made My Husband Watch”

I recently wrote about the movies that I’ve made my husband watch in order to understand me on a deeper level. As promised, here is a list of movies that my husband made me watch for the same reason:

The Brave Little Toaster

Why I had to watch it: In a word, nostalgia. Micah grew up on this movie and somehow managed to have some kind of fond memories of doing so.

My reaction: This is one of the creepiest children’s movies known to man. Babe II: Pig in the City, is the only movie that I can call to mind that can outdo it in the “what demented horror is this?!” department. If you can watch this movie without experiencing a deep sense of the utter futility of all life, you’re a lot more well-adjusted than I am. Fun fact: this movie is kind of a weird prototype to Pixar’s Toy Story (John Lasseter being the mastermind behind both), except that in this version instead of showing the bond between a boy and his favorite toys, we get to see the bond between a boy and his favorite … small household appliances? Brave Little Toaster (or as I like to call him, “BLT”) sets out with a motley crew of outdated household items (lamp, vacuum, radio, and electric blanke — electric blanket?! Are you kidding me? I’m supposed to care about the plight of an electric blanket?!) to try and find their “master”, who, bafflingly, is not the homeowner, but a little boy who was like 8 last time they saw him.

At every turn we face the looming specter of “the way of all flesh” (and plastic/metal). A scene in a scrap yard where old cars are singing a song on their way into the crusher (“Useless”) as the main characters ponder their own inevitable fate is particularly demoralizing. Furthermore, it made me feel guilty every time I took stuff to Goodwill for months. Conclusion: I’m not old enough to watch this movie.

Lorna Doone (2001, BBC)

Why I had to watch it: Mostly because there is this one really long scene where the bad guy, Carver, is sinking stoically into a bog, just staring at the camera for what seems like about 20 minutes straight. This amuses my husband.

My reaction: It was definitely worth it for the Carver death scene. Would watch again.

Gods & Generals

Why I had to watch it: Mostly because Micah is a huge Civil War buff and this is probably the most accurate Hollywood representation of it. This was to make up for the fact that I failed miserably in my attempt to get through Shelby Foote’s 3-volume Civil War series for his sake.

My reaction: I actually quite enjoyed it. The production quality is understandably low as it was not a big-budget film, but it has some really solid acting and it was a lot easier to digest than Foote’s behemoth history. I was slightly amused by how much use they got out of their civil war re-enactors, who were probably so happy to have a reason to wear their Civil War costumes that I shouldn’t wondered if they paid to be in the movie.

Mulan

Why I had to watch it: My husband had no particular interest in the Mulan part of the story growing up, but he did enjoy the dragon and cricket quite a lot.

My reaction: I actually think the artwork in Mulan is super-cool, and it has good songs, too. Unfortunately all the stuff that Micah and his siblings found really funny about the movie did not do anything for me, and Micah was disappointed to find that adulthood had left him rather cold to it as well. Still, not nearly as bad as Almost Angels.

Robin Hood

Why I had to watch it: Pretty much for every scene with Prince John in it.

My reaction: So I actually had seen Robin Hood when I was really little, but my memories of it mostly had to do with thinking that it was really, REALLY funny when Prince John sucked his thumb. Like, rewind it and watch it 45 times kind of funny (tell me we weren’t the only kids that did this). By the time I was about 8 it brought a blush to my cheek to think that such an infantile trick had amused me, so I got it into my head that I didn’t like Robin Hood anymore. The thumb-sucking is still, admittedly, an infantile trick, but I was cheating myself of some really great interaction between Prince John and Hiss. The scene where Little John dresses up as the Duke of Chutney is now one of my favorite Disney moments. But we still hit fast-forward on the achingly boring and oh-so-seventies love song that Maid Marian sings, just like we used to when we were kids.