When you live in Los Angeles, you can’t really avoid the Academy Awards even if you want to. There’s been front-page stories on the Los Angeles Times, breathless and snarky predictions on social media, and multiple street closures days ahead of the ceremony.
But even though we may not watch much of the actual Oscars tomorrow night, it is not an overstatement to say that movies have played a huge role in the life of our family. Both of our kids grew up watching Disney and Pixar movies, from the classics of “Snow White” and “Pinocchio” to the computer magic of “Toy Story” and “Finding Nemo.” Our daughter’s 4th birthday had a “Wizard of Oz” theme, complete with a yellow brick road made out of cardboard and an actor we hired to come dressed as the scarecrow.
For our son, Danny, with special needs, movies have been absolutely crucial for his overall development and communication skills. As my husband, Aron says, “Movies have been his window into the larger world.” Danny can’t read by himself, and with his short attention span, even reading to him is challenging but watching a movie together, over and over and over again, has become a key way to teach him what he otherwise would never have learned, and if nothing else, has taught me patience with repetition.
Through historical movies, such as “Fiddler on the Roof “and “The Butler” Danny has learned about the hard lives many people endured in different times and places. And, the animated “Prince of Egypt” has made that central theme of redemption and liberation accessible, helping him to fully engage in family seders at Passover.
Other favorite movies such as the full-length cartoon, “The Point”, narrated by Ringo Starr, have taught him that everyone has value, no matter how different they may appear. All the wonderful musicals of Oscar and Hammerstein have given him a shared musical library with so many people, and endless hours of happy entertainment, and also served as a gateway to going out to the theater and seeing live shows.
One of Danny’s favorite live shows is the annual “Music from the Movies” night at the Hollywood Bowl when the orchestra plays music from famous movie clips while the video portion is shown on the huge screens. In 2012, we took Danny to see the Paramount 100th Year anniversary show at the Hollywood Bowl. Included in the program was the final scene of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” which features a large marmalade tabby cat with an uncanny resemblance to our own beloved fluffy feline.
During that final scene, Audrey Hepburn’s character, Holly, and the guy who loves her, Paul, played by George Peppard, are out in the pouring rain in New York City, searching for Holly’s no-named cat in an alley. The last words (Spoiler Alert!) Holly speaks are “Cat! Cat! Oh, Cat…” and then she finds the wet kitty, shows the cat to Paul and then they kiss and live happily ever after. Needless to say, Danny now says “Cat! Cat!” all the time.
So, after all the envelopes have been opened and discarded, and Hollywood Boulevard re-opens for traffic, we should all count ourselves as winners for having movies that can enrich our lives in so many ways.
