Playing Hookey

Today, east of Sacramento, two grown women (the mothers of ten children between the two of them) were seen surreptitiously entering a movie theater in the mid-afternoon. Several hours later, they were seen leaving the movie Kingdom of Heaven and were questioned at the door. "Excuse me, ladies. Is it true you came all this way to see Orlando Bloom?" The older of the two women muttered a comment about being old enough to be the man's mother, and that the few seconds of a preview with Russell Crowe were more her cuppa tea. Defending their presence there at such a frivolous hour, she declared, "As home educating parents, amidst the study of this time period, a film about the Crusades was a worthwhile use of our time. Plus, they had free popcorn and soda for the grand opening. You can't ask a frugal mother to pass that up, can you?" The other woman, much younger, blushed and said, "No comment."

Okay, this is all just to tease my nameless friend that joined me in my mid-afternoon movie madness. I can count on ONE hand the number of movies I have seen in the theater in the last FIFTEEN years, so this was a rare, newsworthy site.

My thoughts on the movie? It was disturbing, as any story of the Crusades is. Who was right? Who was wrong? There was so much violence, and in the name of God (or using God's name as an excuse for bloodshed.) It was gut-wrenchingly violent (many an eye-closing moment for me) and a heavy conversation starter for the cup of coffee afterwards. I wish that life could be sewn up in a neat little box. I wish that my faith, and the expression of that same faith through the centuries, made more sense as I grow older. My faith grows stronger and deeper, and yet my questions and doubts continue to niggle at the edges of my mind. I think I will just have to rest in this spot for now.

If you don't have a stomach for violence, pass this movie by. If, however, you have seen Mr. Bloom as a shallow, pretty boy actor, you might be pleased at the maturing that he's done in this role. Still not my type, though. I go for the older, foxy, paper-grading type myself.