One that really got to me was 51 Birch Street. It's hard to explain exactly what this movie is about. But perhaps in the words of Doug Block, the creator, it's best described.
"Do we ever really know our parents? If we were suddenly given the chance to know all about them, would we take it? And is it ever too late to establish a deeper connection with them?"
I think the main topic in this documentary is getting to know our parents as real people. However, for me this movie had a different take. For starters, its about a marriage. And the three different views to any marriage. One, what the outsider sees, two the husband's view and three the wife's view.
We all know that 50% of marriages end up in divorce. I've often wondered how this happens. Do people give up? Do you really fall out of love? What makes a marriage work? And are there solid answers to these questions or is it all just subjective?
With this in mind, my friends and I have all wanted to make sure we end up on the better side of divorce. And in this quest to be eternally happy, I've watched couples that I see as successful. But again all I have is the outsiders point of view.
For a long time I thought you found your one and only soul mate and that was it. Happy Ever After. We're almost taught this as little girls. But now I know that's not the way it is.
I think the main answer I've found is that it takes work. And a lot of it.
And to find someone who makes you laugh.
And someone who you can have endless conversations with (hopefully all being the same person. just kidding.)
Beyond that I'm still learning. And maybe that's part of the secret, to always be open to learning.
Hi Jessica,
ReplyDeleteGot a Google Alert to your post. Doesn't get tired to know that 4 years after finishing it, 51 Birch Street is still having this kind of impact. Thought you might like to know that I'm about to do a new film (with HBO) based on the 15 years of videotaping weddings that I refer to in 51 Birch Street. No title yet, haven't even started shooting the follow-ups, but the subject of marriage never loses its fascination, does it?
In the meantime, I recently finished a follow-up film to 51 Birch Street called The Kids Grow Up. This time it's about being a parent myself: www.thekidsgrowup.com
That's so cool that Doug Block commented on your blog! Sounds like an interesting movie. I'd love to know what really went on with my parents...I feel like there are HUGE chunks of info missing. I can tell you that it was a shocker when my weeping dad left the room as my mom was dieing, and my mom looked at me with a puzzled surprise on her face and said: "He loves me. He really loves me. I had no idea. All this time I thought he loathed me and couldn't wait for me to die. But I think he really loves me." I am still pondering what actually took place in that room just a few days before she passed. Did she really not know how much he loved her and that he would be lost for years to come without her by his side? Had he not showed her how he felt before she got ill? Did the idea of having lost her husband's love after fifty-some-odd years of marriage depress her so much that it helped bring on her illness? How long had she felt this way? It's been 7 years now and my dad is suffering from Parkinson's Disease -soon it will be too late to ask him any questions at all. But if I asked and if he still remembered, would he even tell me the truth? What I do know is this: If you love any one at all and enjoy having them in your life, you should let them know and let them know often.
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