1939

I attended the viewing of Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day in the upstairs room of a theater where, if you don't sit in the spacious back row, or the very front row in which you'd have to look about 180 degrees up to the screen, your legs get crushed by the seats in front of you. I vowed a long time ago that I would only sit in the back row of that theater in the future, after a series of leg-crushing, constant-crossing-and-re-crossing acrobatic incidents. This time, most of the seats in the back row were occupied, since I missed the first 10 minutes of the movie. I can imagine what I missed from later references, but it's just not the same, knowing that I didn't see the whole thing. The story wasn't a giant disappointment, but the comedic parts weren't as funny as they were supposed to be. I liked the message about the importance of being true to what you know is right, and it was nice to be reminded that you should follow what your intuition whispers to you (it's never as loud as we'd like it to be). An older woman, Guinevere Pettigrew (Frances McDormand), lost a few opportunities when she was younger, so she tried to impart to a younger woman, Delysia (Amy Adams), the knowledge she gained from her loss. And she did have an action-packed, life-changing, unforgettable day. What I liked most about the movie was the setting, 1939 in London. I haven't been exposed to much context for that particular year (nor have I searched for a context), but I have been curious because that is the year my father was born. The only other event I can link to 1939, besides the beginning of World War II, is The Wizard of Oz release to the theater. Color was mixed in to the usual black and white picture and it was a rarity. People began watching movies in the leg-crushing theater starting in 1931. Many of them are probably dead now. Many of them probably watched The Wizard of Oz in that theater. Sometimes a cool breeze blows on the back of my neck when I'm sitting in my seat there. If I were a ghost, I'd probably like to watch movies in the theater when I got the chance.