I know I wasn't quite ten, but I knew what love was.
His name was Sonny Malone. He was a rebel, an artist, a dreamer. He was a master on wheels and wore those red jogger shorts and that red koi fish shirt like no one's business. I worshiped him. But he only had eyes for Kira. (That bitch.)
Okay, stop rolling your eyes. And "Don't walk away." This will be good.
Beth Hering over at Momformation wrote this post about "Grease" and its 30 year anniversary which brought back memories of my childhood and the outlandish stuff I used to sigh over.
"Grease" was a definite favorite. I now own the Anniversary Edition with the Jacket over the cover and everything, but it made me remember another movie which ties into my afore-mentioned crush.
I loved "Xanadu" as a kid. Every time it came on tv, my sister and I were in front of it, memorizing the lines, trying to pin down Olivia Newton-John's somewhat ambiguous accent. We practiced dancing to it in our living room, usually with me picking Lee up and twirling her (on demand). (Yeah, that. Lee Ann may have been older, but I was stronger. Her hair weighed more than she did.) We sang the songs. We dreamed about naming our future daughters Kira. (No, that's not Sprite's real name.) (..You were wondering.)
We drove our parents crazy with reciting lines and pestering my dad to replace the needle on the record player to the beginning of certain songs so we could hear them again. (My dad was anal about his stereo and would rather hear the same drek again and again than the telltale scratch of a certain minor about to be grounded for daring to move the sacred needle.)
We owned the VHS to this movie and "Grease" and both got more play than any other movie in the collection. (And VHS was expensive back then. A collection of 5 raised eyebrows. 500 these days would be status quo. 5,000 would be worrisome as people would be wondering what you really do with your time.)
I loved the music and still remember every word to the songs. There was just something so perfect about the synthesizers, the magical romance, the roller skating, the "Glitz", and the entire genre it represented. It was camp! It completely captured the feeling of my youth and the self-centeredness of the early 80's. I didn't pay attention to the obvious innuendos. Those went over my head and I was happily ignorant as I focused on the Love Conquers All story with a somewhat happy ending. And I would wander away from the movie, satisfied that love (kind of) prevailed in this twisted world of rock'n'roller skates and satisfied that my barrettes with their streaming ribbons were still properly fastened in my disappointedly brunette hair as I fastened up my Strawberry Shortcake skates (Stop laughing!) and tried to recreate the "Magic" scene with dialogue and everything.
I sometimes think back to those days with such nostalgia, it almost makes me weepy. I was able to throw myself into the story lines so effortlessly. These days, it takes more effort and concentration, but I can sometimes still imagine myself skating along at the rink with "Suddenly" blasting through the speakers and the neon lights sparkling above my head as my left leg balances on those moving wheels while my right leg pushes back and up and then I am Kira, barrettes and all, flowing tattered skirts, leggings over my skates, gliding towards my Sonny (or the boy about to wipe out in front of me) and all was right with my world. (Don't worry. These hallucinations don't last too long these days. I'm okay.)
I hadn't seen the movie since I hit the teen years, although I had John download the music onto his I-pod a while back just to hear ELO rock those synthesizers again. I still yearn for it sometimes. It makes me feel like "I'm alive."
I held that movie in high regard for many years until my mother gave me a DVD copy of it. I sat down to watch it one night, heavily pregnant with Sprite. I tried to make John sit for it, but he turned tail as soon as he realized singing and roller skates were more than just passing references in this movie. So, I was alone. And I watched. While I was impressed with my memory of entire scenes of dialogue (Especially, the "Tuesday's Wednesday" speech. Anyone else remember that?), I was also surprised that I overlooked so much of the obvious bad acting and over-the-top plot lines that made this movie everything it was. I found myself fast forwarding to the musical numbers just to relive those particular scenes like Gene Kelly in "Whenever you're away from me". I ended my viewing session wishing I had never seen it again, that I had just listened to the soundtrack and preserved my memory of those days when my sister and I fought over who got to be Kira and who was forced to be Muse # 3.
I wonder if my own daughter will someday wax poetic about movies like "High School Musical". (Yikes.) Will I be forced to hear the same songs over and over again? Will I be forced to memorize lines with her until I'm repeating them in my sleep?...You know, now that I think about it, I probably owe my parents an apology for all that torture I put them through with the endless repeats of these movies. (Does Hallmark make such a card?)
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