[December, 1989] Beaches and Other Scary Movies
(spoiler alert: one of them doesn't make it)
12/15/89
Dear Journal,
I just (well a few hours ago.) saw the movie “beaches” again and it was really sad at the end. It’s about this friendship that these two girls have and one of them dies at the end (that’s why it’s so sad). It got me thinking about friendship and how I would feel if one of my good (or even best!) friends died. I would be so depressed and miserable, I don’t know what I would do.
Well let’s move on to a happier subject. Like my date with Mitch (which is tomorrow by the way.) I hope it goes all right.
Also my birthday is coming up and my party is going to have a horror theme. We are going to see a horror movie then tell ghost stories, have some food then play with my Ouija board.
In case it’s still not clear, it’s sad because of the death in the movie. Of the friend. At the end.
Ah, Beaches. For those not up on their chick flicks, Bette Midler plays a bold and brassy gal (I know, so very unlike her other characters) who forges a lifelong friendship with a sensible and cautious gal (Barbara Hershey). What could they possibly have in common, you ask? Well, not a whole lot, but you know what they say about opposites (“they,” in the late 80′s, being Paula Abdul and a cartoon cat). There’s fighting, singing, crying, dying, and more crying. All to the tune of a soundtrack sung by the Diving Miss M herself, who made us take stock and ask who the wind beneath our wings might be. Despite its somber conclusion, the film has moments of levity, plus plenty of shoulder pads, big hair, and a musical sequence about the invention of the bra (you owe it to yourself to hear “Otto Titsling” at least once in your life if you never have).
To me, Beaches is a scary movie because it shows the fragility of friendship and of life itself. However, others out there might consider it to be a horror movie because of its abundance of female emotion and sentimentality. Either way, it was not part of my impending birthday’s theme.
As I previously mentioned, my parents let me immerse myself in all kinds of media related to paranormal phenomena, but they didn’t let me watch scary movies. Nothing with Freddy or Jason or Michael Myers or anything of that ilk. Initially they forbade horror movies until I was 13, but decided to loosen up and end the moratorium a year early. Clearly, I decided to really run with the theme.
What better way to celebrate the anniversary of your birth than seeing a bunch of people die onscreen, tell stories about dead people, and then try to actually talk to dead people using a toy/instrument of the occult? Sounds like my idea of a good time!
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Hi. Thanks for sharing, enjoyed your post very much. Bookmarked your blog and looking forward to reading more.
Terry
Did you ever know that you’re my hero? I loved Beaches. Loooooooved. I think I related more to the practical Barbara Hershey character, which made it even MORE of a bummer for me. It was a point of pride that I would cry every single time I watched it. And let me tell you, I watched it a lot.
On a sidenote: How were you going on all of these DATES? We could only get a boy to hang out with us in public by walking back and forth in front of his house for hours on end–and that’s just because we had good odds that at some point he’d have to come out. But go to the movies or share a meal? Ha! It would be a cold day in hell.
You make me sound like some kind of 80′s pre-teen Carrie Bradshaw! This was only the second date in my life that I was going on. If it makes you feel any better, there’s going to be a dry spell through much of my early teen years.
Also, I think I once sang “Wind Beneath My Wings” at karaoke with absolutely zero irony.
My parents pretty much sheltered me from the horror genre as well, even though my dad liked it. There were plenty of kids at my elementary school who had seen every single Jason, Freddy, and Michael Meyers movie and laughed about it, but not I!
I may have already told you about how they accidentally showed part of Gremlins to us in kindergarten, and this resulted in nightmares (for me, that is).
But other than that, my first exposure to scary movies was a friend’s Halloween sleepover party in 6th grade- her mom rented Invaders from Mars (the remake) and this other movie called The Peanut Butter Solution. IMDB describes it as a comedy, but what I remember (but isn’t in their description) is that some evil dude was kidnapping children, making their hair grow really long and fast, and using it to make paintbrushes or something. Weird! Did I completely make that up? Was I delirious from eating too much candy?
Other things happened that night- a ouija board was probably involved…
I think I’ll have nightmares just from your description of The Peanut Butter Solution. And yet now I’m also curious to watch it.
Where there’s ouija boards, there’s trouble. Just about every encounter I’ve had with one has ended in a spooky or unpleasant way.
P.S. I identified more with the Bette Midler character. She had moxie, plus the child version was played by Mayim Bialik, aka Blossom!
“Did you ever know that you’re my hero, and everything I would like to be? “
I loved Beaches!! But I haven’t seen it as an adult…I should…