Films to Love: The Summer of Newness
It goes without saying that the Summer of 2020 is entirely brimming with new things. For many of us, those new things aren’t necessarily great. There’s shake-ups everywhere whether it’s on the health front or the civic front.
As 2020 to date has taught us, new things can really be daunting. The uncertainty can shake us to a frightening level.
However, it is important to remember that new things are essential. Even when they scare us. If we never try new things, we start decorating our comfort zone. And nothing of any impact every happens in a comfort zone.
Every great story starts when someone gets out of their comfort zone. I’m learning that. And, in watching some movies from my youth, I realized something really cool. While I might have selected the films because the innocence of childhood is a true balm, I found a commonality that I didn’t notice when I was a kid, namely, how each film champions embracing newness even when it scares you. And since Summer 2020 is full of newness…
“You’re Killing Me, Smalls.”
It’s the summer of 1962 and Scotty Smalls is the new kid in town. He knows no one. Everything is new, including the man who his mother has recently married. His life is in a flux and he’s only a kid. That’s a lot to throw on a little guys plate at once.
To make matters worse, it’s summer. There’s no school where he can meet other kids his age. He needs to go out there and do it on his own. That’s a daunting thing to do. However, as kids are so adept at doing, he finds himself in with the neighborhood kids at the local sandlot. There’s only one problem. He’s never played baseball. He’s never even held a baseball. And suddenly he’s thrown in with a group of kids who eat, sleep, and breath baseball.
He’s got to learn new lingo. He’s got to learn new history. He’s got to remember the names of the big guys in the sport, like who Babe Ruth is. And he’s got to learn the game. It’s a whole raft of things thrown at him that propel him out of his comfort zone.
There are a host of small adventures that pepper this film and remind us of the simple joys of a childhood filled with imagination. There’s the adventure at the community pool. Or the seriousness of taking on a rival team. Or the upset stomachs of trying to be too big for their britches and trying chewing tobacco at the fair. And there’s the ups and downs of having a sandlot next to a junkyard that’s guided by The Beast.
When Benny, the group’s stellar baseball player, hits the ball so hard that he knocks the skin off of it, Scotty does something huge. He sneaks into his stepdad’s office and steals his baseball. It’s not just any baseball, it’s a baseball that’s been signed by Babe Ruth. What’s the worse that can happen?
For Scotty, the ball brings him luck. He hits his first homer, but the ball lands smack dab in the middle of The Beast’s province. Not only that, The Beast finds the ball, takes it back to his lair, and chews on it.
The ball’s a goner. And Scotty sees his young life flash before his eyes and end with him standing before his stepdad telling him that he lost his prized baseball.
I’m sure most of you have seen this film. It was a staple for many of our childhoods. However, if you haven’t, I won’t give the end away.
Suffice it to say that the summer of 1962 is a summer of firsts for Scotty and his friends, but those firsts set them all on the course that unfolds into a lifelong adventure.
“Wax on. Wax Off.”
Prior to the other night, it had been many years since I watched this The Karate Kid. I had forgotten the powerful life lessons tucked into this story. (I had also forgotten how endearing Ralph Macchio is, too.)
Like Scotty Smalls, Daniel LaRusso is the new kid in town. His mother and he have just arrived on the West Coast from Newark, New Jersey. It’s not just a new location, it’s a culture shock. Unlike Scotty, Daniel does have school to go to. However, making friends is not the easiest process. In fact, Daniel seems really skilled at making enemies. It’s really not his fault, he just made friends with the wrong girl, and her ex-boyfriend, who happens to be a top student at Cobra Kai Karate school, is not too happy with that. (Neither are her parents for that matter.)
The only person his seems able to truly befriend is the local handyman at his apartment complex, Mr. Miyagi.
When Daniel ends up in an unfair fight with five guys who beat him pretty badly, it’s Mr. Miyagi who comes to Daniel’s rescue. Mr. Miyagi and Daniel go to speak to the boys who beat him up and are confronted by the boys’ sensei, John Kreese. He doesn’t want to make peace. So Mr. Miyagi throws out the challenge for Kreese’s students to face Daniel in the All-Valley Karate Championship and that in the time between then and the championship, the bullying will stop.
While this seems like a perfectly reasonable solution, Daniel is upset by it. He’s not a Karate master. He’s only taken a couple of classes back in Jersey at the YMCA.
Mr. Miyagi doesn’t see this lack of training as a problem. In the weeks leading up to the championship, Mr. Miyagi trains Daniel. Of course, Daniel doesn’t realize that he’s being trained because the series of lessons he’s given look a lot more like hard labor than Karate training. However, Mr. Miyagi understands the principles of Karate so intrinsically, he’s able to take ordinary tasks, such as waxing a car or sanding decks or painting houses and instill in them the principles of Karate. Daniel’s only a kid. He doesn’t get the ‘bigger picture.’ He just thinks he’s working hard and showing nothing for it.
When he confronts Mr. Miyagi, Mr. Miyagi shows him how all the tasks he’s been giving Daniel add up to the best Karate training he could hope for. Daniel’s muscles had the memory of how to move. With a few simple Karate lessons, they learn when to move. Daniel doesn’t just learn Karate, he learns a new way to think about life and a new way to approach issues that arise every day.
I love this movie. Period. I appreciate the respect Daniel has for his elders. He’s not the typical snarky kid we see all too often in more current films. He’s genuine. He’s sweet. He has his real life moments when he’s angry, but he’s not a violent or perpetually angry kid. He’s the sort of kid my husband was when he was young.
And I fully love the connection between Mr. Miyagi and Daniel. Daniel needed a father and Mr. Miyagi needed a son. And while they might not be blood, they are family.
“Nobody puts Baby in the corner.”
And speaking of summers and the 1960s, I can’t neglect this youthful classic. What do you think of when you think of Dirty Dancing?
Here’s a few things that came to my mind when I sat down to watch this one recently.
A spectacular soundtrack. The music is on point.
The dancing is amazing.
What I didn’t think of was how much the characters are truly stretched in this movie. Of course, we know that Baby is dealt a hand of new cards. She’s never been exposed to the ideas and dance moves that Johnny Castle introduces her to. However, her journey into new things is not the one that struck me this time around.
It was Johnny Castle’s story that really got me. Here you have a man of the world. He wasn’t raised in privilege. He’s had a tough row to hoe. Life has dealt him some blows. Though it’s not said explicitly, Johnny’s interested in a profession that his family probably doesn’t understand. They think he should get a good, solid job with the painters and plasterers union. There’s security there. Being a dancer is beyond them.
Yet, Johnny’s still following that dream. It’s a fight though. And he has a chip on his shoulder. So, when he meets Baby, a young woman from a wealthy family who is naive to the world he comes from, he pretty much writes her off.
But Baby surprises him. It starts with an act of generosity that he belittles. From there, his admiration slowly grows. He sees Baby’s commitment to her word. He sees her heart which goes out to others who have been abused and hurt. He sees her willingness to help in any way she can.
And when someone’s life hangs in the balance, he sees Baby step out bravely to ensure that the outcomes is positive. Unassuming Baby is brave as all get out and it shakes Johnny to his core. It makes him look at his life and ask some really hard questions. She challenges him and that’s a new thing for him. He used to being the one that everyone looks up to and who protects those in his makeshift family. And while Baby sees that to a degree, she doesn’t let the largess of that overshadow who Johnny really is and what he struggles with. She sees him fully and loves him for who he is and not what he projects. That’s a new thing for him, too.
And because Baby comes from the world that has only seen Johnny as a means of entertainment- whether on or off the dance floor- it’s a new thing for Johnny to see Baby’s world as a place filled with good, decent people who want the best for everyone, including bums from the wrong side of the track like him.
Johnny’s journey is one of amazing growth. Sure, Baby grows, too. But she’s poised to grow from the beginning. She doesn’t have any preconceived notions about the world. She embraces mankind as equal, and see that acted out is a new thing for Johnny, too. It’s also a new thing for Baby’s father, Jake. And that newness is transformative for them both.
It’s my hope that you’ll find solace, comfort, and succor in revisiting these movies. Yes, I know they’re movies, but they have the ability to remind us of better times that have been and instill in us hope for better hopes to come. They reminds us to keep step out and do new things even if we’ve never tried them before, to face our fears head on, to embrace those in our lives and build loving communities, and to never give up on our dreams. And while all those concepts might seem like old hat, they will always be new and important.
Happy watching, dear readers!
What movies do you think fall into this category? Are there any childhood films you’ve watched recently and seen something new in? Please share in the comments section below.
