Almost as significant as the role music has played in my life, so have movies, books and art. I love the opportunity these different avenues have allowed me to experience new worlds, cultures and ideas - often without the need to travel beyond a theater, museum, or even a comfy chair to do so.
Tonight, I’m focusing on moving pictures. Or, rather, the pictures that have moved me. The list is numerous, but I’ll stick to 5 themes and keep it simple.
1. SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS
I cannot watch footage of the Civil Rights movement without getting emotional. Watching African Americans marching peacefully, trying to claim their rights as human beings, and be treated with such brutality makes me physically ill.
Just last week I chaperoned a field trip for my 10 year old’s fourth grade class to the Addison Gallery at Phillips Andover where they had an incredible exhibit about Civil Rights on display. As the young guide took us through the “child friendly” rooms (lynching is not appropriate for elementary school children, but frankly I don’t know that I could have handled it either,) she asked them questions about their feelings regarding what they saw. I found it remarkable that they felt the same empathy, shame and guilt that many of us do watching the powerful footage that changed the minds of so many bystanders in the 1960’s. Images are a powerful thing. It was one thing for the kids to hear about the movement and look at some posters hanging on the wall as they entered the gallery. it was quite another for them to see peaceful people trying to gain their rights, only to be attacked and treated so horrifically. It was only then did they get the full picture. Moving images allowed that to occur.
2. IF I COULD WRITE MYSELF INTO A MOVIE SCENE
I adored the movie Almost Famous, about a teenager who becomes a writer for Rolling Stone magazine and goes on tour with an up and coming band. It was written by and modeled after Cameron Crowe’s real life story, and it’s a great tale of love, friendship, teamwork (or lack of it) and coming of age.
This scene on the bus takes place after the lead singer has deserted the band for a night, and hung out with “real people.” The band is at odds, and the tension is high. And yet, when forced all together, it is ultimately the true love of music that unites them all. I would love to be on this bus with them.
3. MUSIC THAT GAVE ME GOOSEBUMPS
I am one of the music nerds who looks forward to the Grammy Awards and other music shows every year, to see who’s performance will connect with me. Even if I love a song, rarely does the live performance ever really make me go, “WOW.” It’s happened three times. I am cheating and rolling these three performances into this one category.
The first happened when I was a kid. 30+ years ago. I distinctly remember my dad calling my brother and I out of bed on a school night saying “You’ve got to see this!” It was the Motown 25 Special, and the Jackson 5 were performing. They left the stage, and then Michael Jackson, who was just becoming popular with the Thriller album, moonwalked across stage while singing Billie Jean. I was mesmerized. Coolest thing I had seen a performer do to date, even though it looks SO dated now.
I started watching music performances actively after that, in search of the next singer or group that would really resonate and inspire me to actually go out and buy their music. And it came in the most unlikely form.
In 1999, Ricky Martin owned the Grammy stage. Singing in both English and Spanish, his song La Copa de la Vida had been a world wide hit at that year’s World Cup Soccer tournament. He was a relative unknown in the US, but after that night his star was on a meteoric rise. I bought the CD on Amazon that night after he finished singing.
And finally, my girl Pink. I cannot watch this video without getting chills. I have no idea how she can sing upside down. How she does this without any safety gear. How brilliant and moving this performance is on so many levels. If I could trade places with anyone for a day, it might be her. This is my single favorite musical performance.
4. MOVIE I WISH I HAD BEEN A CHARACTER IN
I am a child of the 80’s, and as such, I was a student of the John Hughes films that spoke to my generation. Movies like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Sixteen Candles and Pretty in Pink were staples and I’ve seen them so many times I can recite along with them at this point. But it was The Breakfast Club that truly spoke to me. The essential premise of the movie, that five kids representing different stereotypes from high school meet up for a full day of Saturday detention and realize they have more in common than they would have imagined, spoke to every kid that watched it. The final scene of the movie sums it up beautifully, seen below.
5. AND HOW COULD I NOT THROW A LOVE SCENE IN
And it’s not what you think. My easy go to would be a love scene in the movie Chocolat with Johnny Depp, or Brad Pitt in Legends of the Fall…but those are a distant second to a simple scene, held in a kitchen, fully clothed. Meryl Streep is a married farmer’s wife, and Clint Eastwood is a National Geographic photographer on assignment in Iowa she has met by happenstance in the movie The Bridges of Madison County. They fall in love over a period of days. This was an incredible book, and I love these two as actors. There is nothing remarkable about this scene, except feeling like you are watching two people actually fall in love.
There is a plethora of art, pictures, and other assorted creations that inspire me. However, I think it is actual moving images that have the ability to tell such a powerful story in a such a visual, visceral way. Things I saw 30+ years ago still have lasting effect and impact. I think that’s pretty awesome.
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