Thursday 10 March 2011

Act One


"What's this?" I set my glass of wine on the side table next to the couch.

"Goodfellas" he answers without looking at me.

"This is what we're watching?" We have this exact same conversation every night. I walk downstairs after finishing the bedtime routine with the kids, grab something to drink, sit down and then it starts. A negotiation to find something we can both agree on.

"Why not?" He turns to me.

"It's too violent." I flinch. Joe Pesci's fists slam  into the Billy Batts character. He's calling him a f***ing mutt, kicking and punching him over and over.

"Since when? This used to be your favourite movie." He pushes the recliner back into sitting position. I've got his attention.

My face heats up. He's got me there.  If you asked me ten years ago which movie I could watch again and again, I would have said Goodfellas.

"Since now. Look at this". Irritated I point to the screen. I take a sip of the shiraz-cab blend, the first sip always burns a little going down.

They pull the car over, a thudding coming from the trunk. I shield the side of my face closest to the TV knowing what's coming but can't drown out the sound. Frip, frip, frip, Pesci stabs the body repeatedly. Then Robert DeNiro shoots the corpse three or four times. Ray Liotta slams the trunk shut.

Grizzly.

"Awww you're kidding Grandma." Frustrated he dismisses me and turns back to the movie.

"I'm  a grandma because I don't wanna watch scene after scene of violence?" I've never seen Joe Pesci uglier than in this movie.

"Uh, ya you are. Why don't you go hang out with my Aunt Bea?"

I'm laughing now. "I love your Aunt Bea."

"So do I, but you're acting like an old woman."

"Only old women don't like violence?"

I have to refrain myself from telling him that according to Wikepedia Goodfellas uses the F word something like 300 times. I googled it a few months back. I get the sense he wouldn't be as impressed as I was.

"Does everything about you have to change now that we have kids?"

"This is violent. I'm not gonna apologize for not wanting to watch it" My voice rising. We've had this same argument a dozen times since Deaglan was born.

Defeated and with a deep sigh he hands me the remote. "There's nothing else on. Look."

"Forget it. I'll use the computer. Can I at least have the recliner then?"

This is my entry for the Red Writing Hood prompt - ugly.

22 comments:

  1. This rang true with me. We both loved to listen to certain music before Amy was born-but after she came along-some of the lyrics bothered me, and I didn't want to listen to them anymore. We had this discussion whenever Stuart put on a cd I didn't think was appropriate-even though I'd loved it at one time.
    Now that Amy is 15-I have to worry about what she may choose to listen to on her own. It never ends...

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  2. I'm not bothered by the fuck-word, but I am troubled by excessive violence. I think it desensitizes people to it, and that can't be good.

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  3. I haven't watched Goodfellas... but I guess Kill Bill has the same effect... I do not like bloody violence... although i do like action movies but gory movies are something I could not tolerate either. They suck!

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  4. I am so with you. Having children has affected me in much the same way.

    There was a time when I'd watch an episode of Law and Order to zone out and relax after a long day at work. Ha!

    I always wanted to believe there is good in the world. Now that I have brought children into that world, I NEED to believe it.

    Nice piece.

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  5. He should consider himself lucky. I made our family shut off the satellite after my first was born! LOL.
    I don't think I've ever even seen Goodfellas.

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  6. This hit me like WHOA! Ever since I gave birth to my third son (10 years after #2 so it felt new all over again) I couldn't watch violence, sex scenes anything like that. Why does this happen?

    I like the way your story unfolded. Especially when describing the wine, so true!

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  7. I really loved how you did a different twist...something that you used to like (beauty) and how now it seems ugly....very clever! :)
    I have 3 teenagers so it's come back full circle now. I wasn't that sensitive to lyrics & movies, had children, "protected" them from all of that, and now I'm the one who needs protecting from what they watch/listen to! What's up with that?! lol
    Thank you SO MUCH for stopping by and becoming a follower! I'm really liking what I've seen of your blog....can't wait to read more! I'm following you also. :)

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  8. This was a very clever piece! Love it.

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  9. I think that not only having kids but just maturing in general will do this to a person. I've started to lose my taste for certain movies and even TV shows. I've never been a fan of gratuitous anything, but it's starting to bother me more and more!

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  10. I am still trying not to swear in front of my 20-month old. Seriously. I never noticed how much I swear until there is a little guy running around. Now I am painfully aware that I drop the f bomb like it's my job.

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  11. Oh it's so very true, isn;t it? We change our tune once we take on that Mama name. I'll hang with you and Aunt Bea any day. Deal? Great post! :)

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  12. Oh so real.
    And I think it's true that taste in movies change as we get older, have kids, etc.
    This was very relatable.

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  13. Oh my gosh, I thought my husband was the only one who could find Goodfellas on tv and watch it every single night. We happen to have the same argument all the time.

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  14. Great post Kim. This is how it is with me and horror movies now...nothing wrong with evolving.

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  15. Yes, so many things change after the little ones come along, don't they; but why does it seem like we're always the ones trying to convince the men of this! Ugh... I've had these kinds of conversations with my hubby too...but at least we're on the same page as far as the violence thing, so at least there's that.

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  16. The violence gets me now too. Before kids, I loved a good Tarantino flick. Now? I can't even watch the ones I've seen dozens of times.

    Great post!

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  17. My husband won't watch the same movie twice. I'm kind of glad for that reading this!

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  18. I agree with you... my sensibilities are different since motherhood.... I still do love that movie though. (And Pulp Fiction too.) I just am much more careful about when/where/who is around if I watch something like that.
    :) (Your boys are getting so big! Holy cats!)

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  19. I have the same kind of battle with Grant all the time. I'll catch him watching a thriller movie with tons of curse words and violence as the kids are walking by. He gives me such a look when I give him my LOOK (you know the one). Once he asked me, "Can I keep it on and put it on mute during the torture scenes?" Hello??? We have kids, remember? And you are way too good looking to be Aunt Bea :)

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  20. Oddly, motherhood, and the ten years of nannying which preceded it, hasn't deterred me from enjoying "mature" content, but your piece definitely stopped me in my tracks and made me think about it.

    If anything, I'm drawn to some of the darker, edgier stuff now more than I was in my teens and twenties.

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  21. loved this post. i have found myself changing as my daughter gets older. i swear a lot less because i heard my 15 yr old say $#!T when she was hanging out with her friends and it sounded soooooo ugly from her sweet little sugar lips. it was most def a wake up call that she is going to be an adult soon...le sigh.

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  22. Excellent writing, Kim. I could see the scene unfolding before me...almost like I was watching your conversation take place! I've always been a fan of mafia-type movies. The Godfather series, especially. I'm curious to see if I ever reach a point where I no longer enjoy them :)

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