Movies, A Thing of the Past?

For several months, I have observed that Kate has not enjoyed movies the way she used to. That has led me to try safer movies, those that I thought had the best chance of pleasing her. A good example of this was taking her to see Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. She didn’t enjoy it.

Today we went to see Maudie. This is a movie without sex and violence or foul language. It is a love story about a woman with a physical handicap. To me, the personality of the woman suggested that she may have had mental challenges as well. She leaves her family to make her own life and takes a position as a live-in housekeeper for a man with his own personality problems and is a seller of fish and a variety of other things. They eventually fall in love and get married. Maud becomes an artist who is discovered by a journalist who brings her a bit of fame. Even after watching it, I felt that it contains many elements that would make it appealing to Kate.

As I always do, I wondered how Kate was reacting to the movie throughout. It is a slow-moving film. I knew that could be a problem, but I also thought it might make it easier to understand the plot. It was clear that did not happen. On the way home, she said she could not follow the film.

This was an emotional experience for me in two ways. First, the movie brings out a lot of emotions. I am sure there were others besides me who at the end had tears in their eyes. Second, I was so saddened to hear that she had not enjoyed a movie I had like so well and hoped she would enjoy that I simply choked up and had a hard time telling her that I liked it and why
For a while, I have been saying that it looks like we are coming to the end of movie watching, something that has been a significant part of our lives for a good part of our marriage, especially since we’ve become empty nesters. Today’s experience just reinforces my belief/fear. I am not giving up on movies entirely just yet, but I will continue to be very selective in the ones we see.