The Young Victoria (2009)

This movie has me hoping to read the memoirs of Queen Victoria. Did she really write letters this way? Was she as strong willed as portrayed? Having watched Mrs. Brown, it is interesting to note the rise so long before the decline...

However, the best part of this movie is not its youth, it is the love story between Albert and Victoria. From their first meeting, they were taken with each other. But not in the Romeo and Juliet sort of way that many first loves happen. The weight of their births may have contributed to these two people being mature beyond their years - both wise and aware of themselves and each other. I couldn't help thinking that this was the sort of love story I wanted to tell my daughters... not the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale of a woman needing a man to bring her to life, but of a man and a woman being one by encouraging each other to be whole.

Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959)

Although seeing a young, dark haired Sean Connery singing "My Pretty Irish Girl" while breaking a glow cutting down weeds with a scythe is good for any girl with a little Irish in her blood, his role as the handsome newcomer on the scene is hardly the reason to watch this film. It is the facial expressions of Irishman, Albert Sharpe that make this movie worth watching again and again. (Well, that and the sped-up dancing maneuvers of the leprechauns as the leap into the wine glass.)

Sharpe, who plays Darby O'Gill, is so expressive, that Disney was able to carry out an entire fight scene without showing more than a few seconds of the fight. This may have gone a long way with the ratings board and the "family friendly" G-rating at the time... or not. Perhaps, Director Robert Stevenson recognized an acting genius - a man who could tell the entire story in a twitch of his nose or a downturned brow - and wanted to document it for generations to come.

Tonight, I reintroduced my family to Darby. The youngest two of the clan had never seen it and thought King Bryan was a "silly" and the banshee absolutely petrifying. (Neither of them moved while the banshee cried.)

Oh, I wish all the movies could be a bit like Darby
they'd be a bit cheesy, but they'd entertain my army...

Okay. It was a half-drunken sounding rhyme. I know. But, I was really defeated before I began. After all, who could beat King Bryan's "McKluskey and Whuskey"?

Trust

The dictionary defines the word "trust" as "reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing. Confidence."

Recently, I had the opportunity to analyze my own reasons for trusting (or not trusting) the people that touch my life. Although, I won't give the details. I found that the more someone insists that they are trustworthy, the less likely I am to trust them.

Sometimes, I find it strange that I see the world in words. Writing is a love affair for me. Yet, I do not take words at face value. There is always a portion of myself (conscious or otherwise) holding its breath in expectation because action speaks more loudly than the whispered "I love you" or the "forever" shouted from a mountaintop.

Several years ago, my mother lived with me. She was unemployed at the time and had become a finatic follower of Dr. Phil. Oftentimes, I would watch with her. I think I heard his philosophy on trust so often, that I adopted as my own. It wasn't necessarily the repetition, but the power behind it. He used to ask his guests, "What is the worst thing that could happen?" and "Could you handle it?"

Last Saturday, I met someone I couldn't trust. Not for the lack of knowing him or having anyone to recommend him, but because I knew what the worst could be and I wasn't ready to face it.

Kinky Boots (2005)

More than just a story about hot shoes for "men, women, and those who haven't decided yet," this movie is about embracing the true self - whoever that is. Billed as a "How far would you go to save the family business?" sort of film, you know that Charlie Price will at some point find himself desperate and will turn to what is thought of as a deviant lifestyle niche to save his company. What is unexpected, or rather "who", is Lola aka. Simon.

Lola is the transvestite expression of Simon. S/he is a perfomer in a nightclub and needs sexy footwear that will support the full weight of a man. S/he is also a choreographer and designer. The design elements of talents will bring her to Northampton where he dresses as Simon to avoid making the suburban locals uncomfortable. At first, this is very difficult because he feels so little like himself in a pair of jeans and flats, without any lipstick. Charlie is encouraging and they learn to respect each other as they work together.

In the end, it isn't Lola that needs to accept herself, it is Charlie. Both men have grown up under the weight of their father's expectations and find themselves facing fears and dreams while deciding what living with integrity means for them.

This movie is truly well done. Using what the world may generally see as an extreme lifestyle choice in juxtaposition to a "normal" life facing the same issues of being true to oneself, made their success even more of a triumph in the end.