Because my mom falls asleep and quite simply doesn't care, I watch sci-fi with my dad. We demand absolute silence, and watch open-mouthed as someone from the 1960s gets trapped in the Twilight Zone or the Doctor saves the day and universe once again.
I actually didn't care for it when I was a kid, preferring Disney movies and PBS, much to my dad's disappointment when the original Star Wars movies were briefly re-released in theaters. He dragged me along with him to see "A New Hope," and came out all geared up to show me "The Empire Strikes Back," as my mom shook her head at him and watched me act out "The Lion King" with the friend I had been allowed to take. He asked me what my favorite part was, and I related the part when a robot in the background had been bonked on the head and fallen over.
Honestly. I have seldom seen my dad look so dismayed.
I went home about a month ago for the weekend, fell asleep on the couch Friday night, and jerked awake at about 2 a.m. to see my dad solemnly watching an episode of Star Trek and massaging the leg that keeps him up at night. He nodded in acknowledgment of my consciousness, and I watched with him, sleepy and bewildered.
"Why on earth did no one bother to wake me up before everyone went up to bed?" I asked. My dad shrugged and continued to watch the screen with great concentration until the commercial break came on.
"The thing about this show, is it addressed so many contemporary social issues. There was this one episode..." I leaned back and listened to him recite the plots and messages of the same two or three episode he could remember well, somewhat annoyed, but content.
This is lovely!
ReplyDeleteALSO: "STAR NERD." Like . . . "STAR WARS" AND MOST OF ALL, "STAR TREK."
Hehehe do you think he would be proud that you've finally joined up (sort of, but in the most awesome of ways)?
:-)
I love how zen your family is. Also, I love that your dad desperately tried to get you interested in stuff the way I keep trying to do to people with random stuff. "The thing about 'Gilgamesh' is that . . . "
Thank you! Haha, my dad's pretty matter-of-fact about my nerdiness usually, like "Duh, this was bound to happen," but occasionally we nerd out about something and that is fun.
ReplyDeleteI TOTALLY GET THE AWKWARD SHARING OF THINGS I LOVE, THOUGH. "DID SOMEONE SAY SOMETHING ABOUT DOCTOR WHO?"
"...no."
"WELL NOW THAT SOMEONE HAS, THAT IS ME, LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT IT."
OH MAN I DO THAT ALL THE TIME.
ReplyDelete"Speaking of Watson . . ."
"We weren't speaking of Watson."
"Well, since I was thinking of Watson . . ."