Coming to a venue very close to you: 24 Years A Slave. The story of an emotional struggle of one (or more) sane and balanced individuals to come to grips with the consequences of their biological drive(s) to reproduce. It has not received any Academy nominations nor is it likely to. The producer/director pushed this feature into production but refuses to have his/her/its name associated with the end result. The participants have observed that production costs continue to skyrocket despite no apparent increase in quality of the final cut.
Early in life the seed is planted…that one day, we will be mothers. We were expected to play with dolls and arrange dollhouse furniture. We then move on to play with larger dolls and push scaled down carriages. We were expected to develop our nurturing instincts in advance of the babysitting jobs we would hold as teenagers. We dismissed the antics of our friend’s children or those of strangers as aberrant – these could not possibly represent the outcomes of our own production. We would know better. We would be better parents and raise our children right.
The painful reality is that your children – though a combination of genetic material from seemingly reasonably-minded adults – are their own entities. You can try to teach/coach/cajole/prompt/threaten/demand/entreat/coax them to develop the better sides of their natures, but there are those who refuse to listen – damn them. Even though they are well into early adulthood they are still needing “things” and contacting you for help…or money…or whatever else comes into their still under-developed minds.
Don’t get me wrong, I do love each of my children. But I ask in all seriousness: When are these shackles going to be removed? “Children are a lot of work, but they are worth it.” Bullshit. If this was a movie production it would have been terminated in production by a responsible management team. What started out as a G rated family adventure has devolved into an R rated documentary with cautions for strong language and nudity inappropriate for minors. In short, a feature that nobody will want to see. You will be the only one(s) at the screening and it will take the rest of your life/lives to pay off the theater rental.
Here’s to all of the actual Academy Award Winners and their films!