some place to put your shit

So, this past weekend was a weird one. I’ve kind of had a lot on my mind, and no time to get it out onto the blog. Steph and I went to the drive-in this past Friday night to see Man of Steel and Fast & Furious 6. After watching the Fast & Furious movie, which I did as a favor to Steph, I can honestly say that I feel a bit better about my future in writing. This movie was AWFUL.

I’ve never watched any of them before, and I’m so glad that I didn’t. The action scenes defied all logic; The Rock’s and Vin Diesel’s characters literally did a Doomsday Device, which is a professional wrestling move, and a fairly unrealistic one at that. The story was awfully predictable; I’d never even seen the previous movies and knew exactly what was going to happen before seeing the movie. The comedy was immature and just plain bad; in fairness, I don’t think forehead jokes are funny for even an immature audience. The best scene was the very last one, because I could finally leave.

Surprisingly, Man of Steel felt a bit off to me as well, despite the fact that I really wanted to like it. The story was a bit jarring, as it jumped around so much in the beginning that neither of the timelines had enough time to develop. The part that I was really looking forward to was Clark Kent learning to deal with his powers and accepting what his role really was and where he came from. This transition lasted all of a minute. He went from not knowing anything about who he really was, to totally okay with being Kal-El, an alien from Krypton and the Earth’s only hope. There was no struggle with responsibility, no question his gift/curse, nothing. He’s just running around telling people “It’s not an ‘S’!” Maybe I wasn’t paying close enough attention to this development, so I will surely watch it again, but I doubt I missed something that I was really looking forward to seeing.

Superman is a difficult film adaptation, as many people have pointed out, mostly because of his seeming invincibility and basically being the opposite of Batman. While I love the Dark Knight films, which I think I’ve mentioned on here a few times already, a major difference that should very well be highlighted between the two is that Bruce Wayne chose to don the cape and cowl; Clark Kent had this responsibility thrust upon him. While we like to picture our superheroes as noble enough to stand up for our planet at the drop of a hat, that’s quite a responsibility to put on someone who was raised the same as any other kid, whether they happen to have super powers or not.

As some may know, tomorrow is my birthday, and unlike my childhood years, I haven’t been feeling all too excited about it. Instead, I think what sums it up best is a quote from Garden State that’s been sticking with me for a while, and has grown more and more true as each birthday comes to pass.

“You know that point in your life when you realize that the house you grew up in isn’t really your home anymore… all of the sudden, even though you have some place to put your shit, that idea of home is gone… or maybe, it’s like this rite of passage. You will never have that feeling again until you create a new idea of home for yourself, for your kids, for the family you start. It’s like a cycle or something. Maybe that’s all family really is: a group of people that miss the same imaginary place.”

This fits how I’ve been feeling lately perfectly. I’m sort of at an in-between stage; not a kid anymore, yet, not on my own. I feel stuck, like it’s impossible to find that feeling again. I just hope that Large is right, and that soon enough, I’ll find my own place to call home again.

BC