Pixar Tugging at Heart Strings So Well

Smark and I went to see Disney's Pixar's Up over the weekend. The first 10 min is so sad, everyone cries. But then after the movie, I went home and cried some more. While the rest of the movie wasn't sad, the movie as a whole was poignant in a sophisticated way. They really did a good job putting things in that elicit emotion without doing it really overtly the way the usual Hollywood drama is.



SPOILER ALERT
The older I get, the more I can relate to things in movies. I've also been getting soft and sappy. The protagonists in this movie was a nerd couple, too, which was really touching to me, especially since Smark and I are a nerd couple. I'm not used to feeling like the character in a movie is me except for maybe a supporting character. As they show them growing old together, making a house together, it was kind of eerie watching my vision of my own future on the big screen. When they got married, not only did it feel happy and right, but it felt important. I don't think I ever realized how big of a decision it is to get married or understood why it's so emotional. Before, it just seems like a rite and a piece of paper. I felt invested in their marriage. So then it was ever more tragic and personal when the girl gets a miscarriage. I never really considered how terrifying of a prospect that is. On the other hand, sometimes when I am indulging my emo sensibilities, I like to think about dying and leaving someone behind, or what if I am left behind. So seeing that always strikes a chord. They also portrayed all of this in about ten minutes, but I think it was in the style of how we all reminisce or dream about the future so it was more emotional without ruining it by filling it in with bad dialogue.

The movie also made me think of how your understanding of sad situations develop throughout the years from when you're a child to when you're really old. Some things seem so important to you when you're young and you overreact, but at the same time, sometimes there is an underlying situation that is really sad, but you don't even realize how sad the situation really is. As you grow older, you start to foresee the vast and complex implications of things that happen, and suddenly everything is more poignant, and you feel very sensitive and vulnerable.

And...then you're like, eh, the show must go on! Dwelling on sad things is bad for your health.