For The Love Of...

[Fistandantalus]

After getting several calls telling me that we'd be putting up a dozen relatives and their animals from the Gulf Coast for the forseeable future, I went and rooted out all the towels without obvious holes or stains, went to the grocery store to stock up on things and unpacked all of said things, then I went to lie down as I had an unmanageable headache and my husband was still home.  As I lay there with a pillow over my eyes, I heard something from the living room that shot a bolt of fear and pain through the very core of me.

"I feel love...all around....I can feel it..."

Oh no.  No no nononononono NO NO!  Not Benji. 

While Benji is undoubtedly a classic movie and one the best examples of both dog training and dog photography ever, Benji was one the most painful experiences of my young life.  It started out okay, cute dog doing cute things, sweet kids being sweet and a little doggie romance; nice.  Then all of a sudden, there were Bad Guys there, doing Bad Things like kicking dogs and kidnapping children!  Benji's hopeless search for assistance for his doggie girlfriend and human family tore a hole in me; where was everybody?  I went screaming out of the theater and into the lobby, crying and hollering an carrying on.  My poor mother, baby sister in tow, came after me to find out what all the fuss was about; had I found a spider in my Milk Duds?  No, it was the sudden and extreme clarity that there were such Bad Guys in the world, and that they did do Bad Things like kicking dogs and kidnapping children.  All the witches and wicked non-mothers in the fairy tales grew to huge proportions in my mind; were they real too?

Sure, I was five at the time but I never got over it.  I refused to go back inside and see the ending.  The very mention of Benji would cause nightmares.  It wasn't until I was 12 and on a plane to Japan that I had to face my greatest fear.  Benji was the movie playing on the airplane,  I was smack dab in front of it and my teacher had kindly gotten headphones for everyone so I really didn't think I should say no way.  So I finally got to see Benji save the day, his girlfriend and his human family and the Bad Guys whisked off for certain punishment. 

In terms of emotional filmmaking, Joe Camp hit one out of the park there. 

Nigel became enraged during his first screening of Toy Story a few years ago. 

"That's NOT fair!  Toys don't have feelings and it's wrong to try and make people think they do!  Aren't there enough dogs and cats and pigs and fish I care about and cry for?  I don't want my toys to be real!"

The kid had a point there.

[Kiter]

Aug. 30, 2008 at 5:46 PM

toys being real would be scary. no one needs that.

but I do love The Velveteen Rabit. it's the only book that makes me cry- every time I read it.

[Woodenvelt]

Aug. 30, 2008 at 8:43 PM

I was emotionally scarred by Gremlins as a child. Benji didn't bother me though. My family is in the Beaumont area but I am fortunately far enough away that they won't be crashing with me.