Scenes That Stay With You: Now and Then
Now and Then is the female counterpart to Stand By Me which is why it is my second favorite coming-of-age movie. The cast gave solid performances specifically the teenage cast. Although the writing was good it wasn’t nearly as strong as SBM because the tone in Now and Then is a bit lighter. There are differences from SBM, we get to see more the girls’ home lives, none of them die, and there’s a little bit of romance and mystery thrown in. The differences work for the film because we get to see the girls as adults and the strength of their friendship. They’re reuniting to uphold a pact they all made and to celebrate the upcoming birth of Chrissy’s first child (Rita Wilson). Unlike SBM tragic reveal at the end.
As a woman I completely related to all the characters, Roberta the tomboy, Teeny the boy obsessed wannabe movie star, Sam the writer and Chrissy the chubby prissy naïve one. I’m a t-shirt and jeans girl, I love entertainment and dressing up on occasion, writing is my passion and well, I was the chubby naïve girl growing up. My mother is like Chrissy’s mom, she is very feminine, demure and prudish when it comes to discussing anything relating to sex or sexuality. She also loves to garden. Bonnie Hunt played her brilliantly, it’s a cameo but it cracks me up every time I watch it. Her delivery is perfect and is exactly the way my mom speaks. Growing up, I had friends who were just like the characters.
The scene that I connected with was the séance because as a young girl I took part in one. I was five or six and it was with my sisters and my cousins (all of them were older than me). We were in my oldest sister’s room trying to contact the celebrity that the girls in the film tried to reach during a previous séance, Marilyn Monroe.
We were sitting on the floor, holding hands and our eyes were closed, my oldest sister was led séance. Then I heard my second oldest sister gasp, I opened my eyes to see the candle’s flame touching the ceiling! It actually left a singe mark! The room was nine feet high and the candle was tapered and six inches, so that flame was HIGH. There was nothing above or below the candle that would have caused the flame to rise. Being girls (ranging from ages twelve to six) we screamed! Yet, we didn't break the circle because of pure paralyzing fear. My oldest sister somehow managed to talk and the flame slowly returned to its normal height. After that, we hauled ass.
I never took part in another séance. In the film, neither do the girls. They realize that wanting to believe in something that seems impossible can turn out to be disastrous. It’s one of life’s growing pains because as children we believe in everything, no matter how ridiculous it may be. On the other hand, they also learned to believe in what is real, honest and steadfast in their lives; their friendship. That is one of life's most beautiful lessons. Despite our flaws as human beings and the curve balls that life throws at us, we can always depend on and believe in the emotional bonds that we build with one another.
Happy
