So the concept of a Mommy Matinee is that you can bring a crying, crapping, hungry baby in with you and no one can complain. There are also Family Matinees on other days, but these show cartoons or kid movies. Mommy Matinees are for those with kids who are too young to understand the concept of a movie and therefore they can show PG to R rated stuff to the stay at home parents.
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| My morning... |
In truth, the experiment was nearly called off. Cleo was not taking the bottle that morning (I eventually discovered that the milk had slightly soured over the weekend despite being in the fridge and that we need to freeze the supply on Fridays) and was super cranky all morning. The movie was at 2pm but by noon I was exhausted, greasy, and frustrated.
H has a much easier time with taking the kid out and being adventurous. I'm more inclined to sit at home with her. However, I know that Cleo won't thrive without a change in scenery, so I need to become more comfortable with being out and about with her. With that in mind, I pushed through the inertia and got us on our way!
Cleo cried the entire trip, but we got there. Upon entering the theater the first thing that I noticed (aside from the theater already being accented with a slight smell of baby urine) is that I am not a mom. I thought that in Portland there would be other dads around. Nope. All women and children. I think in other situations I would have been self conscious about this, but I was so far off the map at this point that it wasn't an issue.
Beasts of the Southern Wild is about 90 minutes. Here's my account of it (sort of spoilers ahead)
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| Lobby |
0-10 There's a girl and her dad, living in a dystopian future New Orlean community set up out beyond the levies. Cleo burbles to herself.
10-20 Cleo starts crying. I pick her up her up. The kid in the movie goes to school, they eat a lot of shrimp and crab. Something about glaciers melting and Aurochs (giant pig/cows) destroying the world.
20-30 Cleo needs a diaper change. I go out to the bathroom changing table. I later realize that this is a rookie move as most of the veteran moms just change their kids in the theater. I pay for this error by not knowing what is happening in the movie.
30-45 Ok. The baby is calm. Apparently the glaciers melted and there was a flood? Everyone floats around, they find each other, and they eat crab and shrimp. As I am deathly allergic to crab and shrimp, I make a mental note to never visit New Orleans since that is all they apparently eat.
45-55 The baby is fussy. I pick her up and walk her around. The movie dad tries to blow up the levy for some reason? They all get picked up by the Coast Guard and taken into the city. I guess the dad is dying and he sends the kid away when they 'escape'. I'm not clear on why they have to escape.
55-65 Cleo is hungry. I slip out to the lobby to get hot water to defrost the breastmilk.65-75 Cleo is happily feeding. These kids in the movie sure do get around. They go from the city to some floating brothel where the movie kid finds her mom and... aw hell. They do that damn silent whisper trope where she says something to her mom but the audience can't hear it! I HATE that!
75-End Carrying and rocking Cleo now and she falls asleep. Now the kids are somehow almost back home. The little girl stares down some of the giant pig/cows. These things don't really destroy anything... and I'm not clear on why they ran from the Arctic to Louisiana... but at least the girl gets to see her dad die and continues to defiantly live in squalor which is some sort of victory I guess?
So, 1-10 scale:
Enjoyment - 5 I think this might be higher if I hadn't been nervous and Cleo hadn't had a rough morning.
Comprehension - 3 The movie is definitely a character piece and I missed a lot.
Baby Satisfaction - 5 Cleo didn't get much from the experience, but it also didn't take away from anything she normally would do.
Next week the Mommy Matinee on Wednesday is Skyfall at the St. Johns Theater, so I may try that and compare to my experience to today!
It'll get easier to get out -- but harder to follow movies. Kudo's on getting out despite. I remember cabin fever really setting in February (still is) when you have to weigh the (in)convenience of leaving home, with the possibility of quelling child's nervous system with new stimuli, and the potential for getting kido sick because of the cold, dank wetness.
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