The Movies That Made Me

Once in a while, I think back on why I chose video production as my line of work. I had a few brushes with television production as a kid that helped me recognize it as a legitimate career option and I took an aptitude test in high school that said I should consider either a career in law or becoming a movie producer. At other times, my mind wanders to the movies that really shaped my love of the medium. In most cases, it’s the quality of the movie and the nostalgia surrounding my experience of watching it for the first time that makes it so memorable. Some movies will stay with me forever.

I was lucky to have parents who loved movies and started taking me to them when I was really young. I remember sitting on the floor of a theater in front of the very first row of seats at a family movie event and looking up at an insane angle to watch “The Swiss Family Robinson.” I was so little that I wanted to play on the floor instead of watch a movie, but I can still remember how cool that treehouse was.

Fantasia blew my mind as a four- or five-year-old…and not in a good way. I remember being so overwhelmed by the sensory experience that I started crying and we had to leave. Luckily, the theater over was playing Looney Tunes cartoons and I was able to recover from my Fantasia-induced trauma pretty quickly. I still love Looney Tunes and I don’t think I’ve ever watched Fantasia all the way through.

I probably wasn’t much older when my parents took me to “E.T.” This is really where I started to hit my movie-going stride. I loved “E.T.,” even though I cried through the upsetting latter parts of the movie. Unlike my Fantasia experience however, I had no interest in leaving. I couldn’t wait to go to the movies again.

It is at this point that my love of movies takes a bit of a weird turn. My parents were never big on censorship. Somehow my parents reasoned that war movies about real conflicts were “educational” and therefore acceptable for family viewing. I believe if they’d read anything about the movie before letting me watch it or stayed awake past the first 30 minutes, I probably wouldn’t have been allowed to watch “Apocalypse Now” at seven years of age. But as my parents drifted off into dreamland in front of the TV, I was captivated. Rather than scaring me, I became obsessed with HOW the movie was made. I must have given my parents a recap of my thoughts on the lighting, music and directorial choices because I remember them starting to realize that I was having an entirely different movie-watching experience than they were. This trend would continue.

It is here that I should mention that my dad was generally a terrible movie picker with zero idea of what was age appropriate. He brought home “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” for family movie night when I was eight. On the title alone, I was not allowed to watch it which was a huge injustice in my mind at the time. Soon I was put in charge of “chaperoning” my dad’s choices at the video store. My parents didn’t typically read reviews before choosing what movies to watch, which allowed me to see a lot of movies that weren’t exactly age appropriate. I am glad I had a pre-internet childhood for many reasons, but the fact that movie reviews weren’t easily to Google is definitely one of them. I remember my parents seeing “Silence of the Lambs” and “Platoon” in the theater. Coincidentally, I was not allowed to watch either film until much older.

My dad’s questionable movie taste was something we shared. We both loved terrible movies, like weird made-for-TV horror-thrillers. We also liked to re-watch our favorite movies over and over…a propensity my mom still does not understand. My Dad and I loved two movies to our very cores and would watch them any time they were on television (which was a lot): “Jaws” and “Airplane.” Both are masterpieces (in my opinion), and both remind me of my dad every time I watch them.

Lastly, we come to a movie that has shaped my tastes ever since. I was nine when we went to visit my dad’s best friend from high school and his family. His daughter was about 18 and took me to the video store to rent something. “Have you ever seen “Halloween”?” she asked. I had not. “Would you like to rent it?” “Sure!” I said, trying hard to impress her. When we brought the movie back, my mom balked at our choice (she had seen “Halloween”). I overheard my parent’s conversation: “She’s not even sleeping in her own bed…she’ll have nightmares!” My Dad replied simply, “She likes horror!”

I loved it. I loved the jumpy feeling in the pit of my stomach and hiding my eyes with my hands but peeking through my fingers anyway. Rather than giving me nightmares, watching “Halloween” gave me a deep and abiding love of horror movies that I still possess. I’ve made a surprising number of friendships throughout my life over a shared love of horror (good and bad).

I would guess that most film-lovers have a similar list of movies that “made them.” That’s the power and promise of movies. What starts as a couple hours of entertainment just might stay with you forever.

Sue O'Hora

Sue O’Hora is a writer, producer and director based in Washington, D.C.

https://www.risingnightproductions.com
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