Remembrance of things past...

This weekend I watched an unusually high *three* movies. My first Blockbuster rental in, oh, years, and I checked out 5 (well, 8, but three of those were for DD and her bestest friend at Friday night's sleepover).

First up was Office Space, primarily because it seems to be in the cultural consciousness for my profession and I keep getting asked if I've seen it. So now I have. I mostly enjoyed it - it was amusing and I can certainly relate to the plight of a small cog in a big corporation. Much like Dilbert.
However, I absolutely loathed the soundtrack. I don't like rap, and I hate gangsta rap, and one of the most amusing scenes of the movie (wanton destruction of a recalcitrant printer) was overdubbed by this horrible gangsta rap that used the F-word or the N-word as Every. Other. Word. I ended up muting the movie during this scene. Anyway, now I can say "Yes, I have seen Office Space."

Next was a polar opposite, Thérèse, a beautiful movie about St. Thérèse of Lisieux. It was based on her autobiography, Story of a Soul, and traces her life from the death of her mother at a very young age until her death of tuberculosis at the age of 24. The musical score, written by a Carmelite nun, is very beautiful, and the movie is very inspiring. I was misty-eyed throughout much of the last half-hour. DD really enjoyed it too, although she fell asleep before Thérèse's illness and death. She asked the next day how old one had to be to "try out to be a nun". (One of the nuns at our parish, when asked, suggested she have a college degree.) I'm proud of her, although at 6 it's definitely way too early to indicate a religious vocation.

Then last night, we saw Pride and Prejudice, the 2005 version with Keira Knightley. I also really enjoyed this one. I'm not much given to sappy movies, but this was also a classic story, very beautifully done, and the characters were very real. Now, perhaps I'm a tad biased because I enjoyed reading Pride and Prejudice in high school, and could really identify with Elizabeth Bennet. But I think DH enjoyed the movie as well. Now I want to reread the book!

This is also the movie I've been thinking most about today. Not just the love story, but also about the vast difference in society between early 19th century and now. Some changes are good - I'm glad that I had more prospects for my life than just waiting around hoping to find a husband (although I did unexpectedly find myself a keeper at about the same age as our heroine). On the other hand, there is something to be said for the courtship procedures then, where a single kiss was a hard-won favor for a gentleman to gain. Quite a far cry from now, where it seems so many girls give up all their virtue cheaply, sometimes even to boys who are "just friends".

Hopefully, if DD wants to be a nun now, she'll hold her virtue more dear.