Can't Reclaim What You Never Pawned
Sep. 2nd, 2010 02:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ravenswept*preface note* i'm well aware of the implications lj has proposed with their soul selling whore-like actions media expansion to include twit and fb inclusion, but choose to trust in those who read my journal. granted, i'm not going to be quite as open, writing wise, but i'm not going to stop writing here*
A while back I went and wrote a tab heavy post about remembering how much better my childhood TV shows were than those today. To a degree I stand by that. But last night, to kill some time, I watched an older Nostaglia Critic, specifically where he compares the older Willy Wonka to the newer Charlie remake. For those who don't know, or didn't watch the video, Willy Wonka beats the remake hands down, visuals being the only catagory it couldn't fully compete.
I still love that movie. I wish I had it on DVD so I could watch it.
But it made me think about myself. I'm not big on forgetting my childhood, or how I felt as one. My interests thus haven't changed a whole lot since then; matured, yes, but never grown out of them. I still love cartoons; not just animation, but I can get down with turning on Cartoon Network or Toon Disney and vegging for a bit. When I can I walk the toy aisles of stores, Toys R Us being the bestest one, and see what's avalible today. I will attempt to make a joke out of just about anything, and generally try not to take myself or things around me too seriously.
Then I wonder if something is wrong me... or at the very least, not quite right. Then I reverse and wonder if something is wrong with everyone else. I agree that its not for all the time, but why is it so wrong to enjoy the things that made you happy and excited as a kid? "Time to put away childish things"; screw that, I liked my childhood things.
I bring this is up because the boyfriend of my roommate (who just broke up, long story) refuses to watch anything animated (save "adult" shows, like Family Guy or American Dad). He was one of the few people who actually enjoyed Shyamalan's The Last Airbender, but he stead fastedly refused to watch anything to do with the TV show. He said it was stupid. But somehow the same world, characters, and basic (very, very basic) story is deemed "okay" because it's live action. Still a kid's movie, but being real makes it less stain worthy.
And that's just something I don't understand. At some point it became a point of pride to say you were "mature" and didn't dwell on things that could be consider "kidish". Toys, television, interests, attitude, everything at somewhere along the line became this need to be "adult".
I'm not against being an adult, we get to do things we couldn't do as kids. Having the freedom and money to pursue our interests further being one of them. And it's not like I deck my apartment out in posters I got at Target, or have a china cabnet full of action figures. But to like, openly, things that are outside your demographic is like a form of social leparcy.
I can be mature and classy. I can be adult and responsible. I can be romantic (I think (...hope)) and caring. But none of that means I won't enjoy myself in the mean time and stand up to some standard of "older" that means I can't do so.
Maybe that's why people say I have an easy time around kids (and older adults strangely), in that I easily identify with them. Once, for no reason what so ever, back when I was a server at the diner, there was a small family group waiting for a table. The only kid of the group decided to sit in the swivel chairs at the counter; not a big thing, a lot of people did that while waiting. But, just because, I leaned down on the counter and stared at him. He stared back. The other servers had seen me do this before, and shook their heads and said I was a "weirdo"; nothing really new. And the kid's family was cool about it, the dad laughed and someone made some joke. The kid was good, and for the first time since I had been doing that, I lost. I bought the kid a milkshake as a reward.
But it was just one of those things, getting into a staring contest with some kid I had never seen before, simply because I had the time between tables and he was there. And you know what, the family was cool with it and had a more enjoyable time.
At the time there was a server who was very "business" while at work. She'd joke around a bit while in back, but when she was in front of the house, she was rarely what one could call fun. Her tips reflected that, because often I could make more money with fewer tables. She didn't understand why exactly (and she didn't last long, she left saying she wasn't making enough money) that just because you have to be professional doesn't mean you have to lose your sense of humor, especially about yourself and even moreso when you're waiting tables.
I will keep the kid side of me close to the top. There's no reason to bury it just because you grow up.
A while back I went and wrote a tab heavy post about remembering how much better my childhood TV shows were than those today. To a degree I stand by that. But last night, to kill some time, I watched an older Nostaglia Critic, specifically where he compares the older Willy Wonka to the newer Charlie remake. For those who don't know, or didn't watch the video, Willy Wonka beats the remake hands down, visuals being the only catagory it couldn't fully compete.
I still love that movie. I wish I had it on DVD so I could watch it.
But it made me think about myself. I'm not big on forgetting my childhood, or how I felt as one. My interests thus haven't changed a whole lot since then; matured, yes, but never grown out of them. I still love cartoons; not just animation, but I can get down with turning on Cartoon Network or Toon Disney and vegging for a bit. When I can I walk the toy aisles of stores, Toys R Us being the bestest one, and see what's avalible today. I will attempt to make a joke out of just about anything, and generally try not to take myself or things around me too seriously.
Then I wonder if something is wrong me... or at the very least, not quite right. Then I reverse and wonder if something is wrong with everyone else. I agree that its not for all the time, but why is it so wrong to enjoy the things that made you happy and excited as a kid? "Time to put away childish things"; screw that, I liked my childhood things.
I bring this is up because the boyfriend of my roommate (who just broke up, long story) refuses to watch anything animated (save "adult" shows, like Family Guy or American Dad). He was one of the few people who actually enjoyed Shyamalan's The Last Airbender, but he stead fastedly refused to watch anything to do with the TV show. He said it was stupid. But somehow the same world, characters, and basic (very, very basic) story is deemed "okay" because it's live action. Still a kid's movie, but being real makes it less stain worthy.
And that's just something I don't understand. At some point it became a point of pride to say you were "mature" and didn't dwell on things that could be consider "kidish". Toys, television, interests, attitude, everything at somewhere along the line became this need to be "adult".
I'm not against being an adult, we get to do things we couldn't do as kids. Having the freedom and money to pursue our interests further being one of them. And it's not like I deck my apartment out in posters I got at Target, or have a china cabnet full of action figures. But to like, openly, things that are outside your demographic is like a form of social leparcy.
I can be mature and classy. I can be adult and responsible. I can be romantic (I think (...hope)) and caring. But none of that means I won't enjoy myself in the mean time and stand up to some standard of "older" that means I can't do so.
Maybe that's why people say I have an easy time around kids (and older adults strangely), in that I easily identify with them. Once, for no reason what so ever, back when I was a server at the diner, there was a small family group waiting for a table. The only kid of the group decided to sit in the swivel chairs at the counter; not a big thing, a lot of people did that while waiting. But, just because, I leaned down on the counter and stared at him. He stared back. The other servers had seen me do this before, and shook their heads and said I was a "weirdo"; nothing really new. And the kid's family was cool about it, the dad laughed and someone made some joke. The kid was good, and for the first time since I had been doing that, I lost. I bought the kid a milkshake as a reward.
But it was just one of those things, getting into a staring contest with some kid I had never seen before, simply because I had the time between tables and he was there. And you know what, the family was cool with it and had a more enjoyable time.
At the time there was a server who was very "business" while at work. She'd joke around a bit while in back, but when she was in front of the house, she was rarely what one could call fun. Her tips reflected that, because often I could make more money with fewer tables. She didn't understand why exactly (and she didn't last long, she left saying she wasn't making enough money) that just because you have to be professional doesn't mean you have to lose your sense of humor, especially about yourself and even moreso when you're waiting tables.
I will keep the kid side of me close to the top. There's no reason to bury it just because you grow up.
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no subject
on 2010-09-02 10:10 pm (UTC)I like animated films and children's tales; I love to laugh; I have a very easy time being silly around children. I don't think this makes me any less mature. I think it's stupid to try to act like you're all important and mature all the time. Why not be silly once in a while? No one's going to judge you for it. I think it's a great quality when people are able to look at the world with childlike wonder, even when they're not children anymore. The world is amazing, so why pretend it isn't? I hope I'll be able to keep my inner child right there with me all through my life and create something memorable for myself.
no subject
on 2010-09-03 02:51 am (UTC)Animated are my favorites, especially when they take the time to do traditional 2d stuff; I'm still pissed that I never got to see Secret of Kells in theatres.
no subject
on 2010-09-03 12:44 am (UTC)And after reading this, I'm not surprised you prefer the original Willy Wonka, as that version had more wonder in it than Burton's. And come on, there can only be one Veruca Salt, and it's not the one that gets taken down by squirrels.
no subject
on 2010-09-03 02:12 am (UTC)I'm thinking there can be only one Charlie. No offense to Freddie Highmore, but the kid is just so boring. There was no wonder or awe with him, just solemn waiting like he knows he's gonna get his. The other kid, whatever his name was, was a real kid and had natural reactions to the strangeness around him.
no subject
on 2010-09-03 01:44 am (UTC)Growing up in the 90's--good times.
no subject
on 2010-09-03 02:48 am (UTC)