The Oscars are a week away, and I have seen only two of the nine Best Picture nominees: the historical biopic "Hidden Figures" and the sci-fi thriller "Arrival."
Movies are one form of mass communications that still binds us. I will feel some pull to see next week's Best Picture winner, whether it's a film I want to see ("Hacksaw Ridge") or one that's not my cup of tea ("La-La Land").
The phrase "You are what you read" needs an update. Something like: "You are what you read - and also your Netflix watch history." Films still have a profound influence on our personalities and family lives.
The other day, I was scrolling through a list of Best Picture award winners dating back to 1940. On a lark, I decided to go back to my birth year, 1958, and check off the Best Picture films I remember watching from start to finish.
I've seen 42 of the 57 Best Picture winners of my lifetime, for a batting average of 74 percent. Of course, I could raise that to 100 percent by committing about 30 hours of time and $100 in streaming rental fees. (FYI: Comcast's "On Demand" currently has all the Best Picture winners in a queue if you want to binge.)
Most of the gaps in my Best Picture watchlist were when I was very young and in the years since our boys were born. I only remember seeing two of the Best Picture winners filmed before my 12th Birthday: "West Side Story" (1961) and "Sound of Music" (1965).
Then, from 1970 ("Patton") to 2004 ("Million Dollar Baby), I count seeing 33 out of 34 winners, missing only "The French Connection," which was filmed when I was 13 years old; and, incidentally, was the first R-rated movie to win the Best Picture award (the X-rated "Midnight Cowboy" won Best Picture for 1969).
Since 2004, roughly shadowing the time since our boys were born, I've seen only six of 11 winners, or 54 percent. Clearly, movies have taking a back seat to parenthood. Still, I believe movies have taught me lessons that have helped me become a better dad.
Here are some examples:
- "Patton" (1970): My father checked me out of elementary school in sixth grade to see this film. I was too young. All I remember is George C. Scott as the great World War II general, George S. Patton, shouting cuss words. Lesson: Don't use films made for adults to attempt to teach lessons to your kids.
- "Rocky" (1976): I listened to the brassy theme song to this iconic boxing movie during a failed attempt at door-to-door sales. Lesson: You can learn more from something legitimately hard - like two months of knocking on doors in a strange city - than from something supposedly hard, like going to college.
- "The Deer Hunter" (1978): Watching characters in this film play Russian roulette was the most excruciating movie experience I've ever had. Lesson: No matter how you shield your kids from the world's dark horrors, everybody eventually learns that life is full of random evil that moms and dads are powerless to prevent.
- "Forrest Gump" (1994): Even 20-plus years later, Forrest, played brilliantly Tom Hanks', still feels like a real person in my mind. Lesson: Stories, no matter whether we consume them through books or films, are still the most powerful communication tool ever invented.
Contact Mark Kennedy at mkennedy@timesfreepress.com or 423-645-8937.