Remember

****Spoiler for Remember Me****

Today Nephi and I saw Remember Me. We all know that I love Robert Pattinson (Nephi is fully aware of this and accepts it), so that is why I ventured a viewing. Honestly, I would have been willing to wait until DVD, however, many critics were frustrated by the ending and since I check up on both Eclipse and Robert Pattinson news often, I kept running into possible spoilers. I decided I had to see it before it was ruined.

Though the original purpose was to simply enjoy a couple hours of eye-candy, I actually did like the movie quite a bit. I wouldn't give it a perfect 10, but the characters were likable and fully developed (something that the last few movies I saw in the theater lacked, such as When in Rome, Percy Jackson, and Alice and Wonderland), and the story kept me interested and involved (also important).

Those of you who know me, know I watch movies ALL the time. I love going to movies, but even when I can't, I see almost every movie when it comes to DVD (just about the only perk of having a husband who works at Blockbuster). So, why mention this one on my blog? Well...because even though I wouldn't give it a 10 or anything, it really touched me in a way I wasn't expecting.

The movie begins with the main girl, Ally's, mother being shot and killed by two men on a subway platform in Brooklyn. Ally, only 11, watches as the men rob then kill her mother. It's a scenario that many movies include...yet it feels different. "Ten years later," we are introduced to Tyler as he rushes to a cemetery to meet his family. It is unclear why he is there at first, but throughout the movie you learn that Tyler's older brother, Michael, hanged himself a few years earlier. Both of these events are subtle and seem to simply set up the bigger story, but it is because of these events that I find meaning and purpose in the story.

This movie is clearly about loss. It is set up to make you think it is about love, but it really isn't in my opinion. Both Ally and Tyler had people in their lives who were there for them in one moment, and in the next they were gone. Of course the two meet each other and fall in love, but that is not really the point (as the ending so clearly illustrates).

In the end, Tyler goes to his father's office. His father, in an attempt to be a better father (something that he has sucked at through a majority of the movie), is escorting Tyler's little sister to school and thus is running late. Through a series of shots, you quickly realize that the day is September 11th and Tyler is in the World Trade Center. You know Tyler is going to die, yet you are forced to watch the lives of those around him in that moment: his little sister in school, his father riding to work, his mother on a walk, Ally in the kitchen making French Toast for when Tyler returns. Life going on as always not knowing that within a few minutes, everything will be different because Tyler won't be there anymore. It hurts to watch as each of these characters realize what has just happened--another loss.

It seems a strange coincidence to watch this movie on the eve of the 9th anniversary of my father's death, but life can be funny that way. I wonder if I would have been as reflective otherwise. This movie really hit me in the gut because in truth...it is the thing I am most terrified of. While it has been 9 years since my father died, I have not completely recovered. I still really struggle with the idea of someone being there with you one moment, listening to music in the car, going to the grocery store, enjoying dinner, and the next moment they are on the floor and the whole world seems to be spinning out of control. I am so terrified of the people I love dying. I honestly can't ever even let my mind wander that way for a moment or I find myself having a slight anxiety attack.

In the end of the movie, we see how each character's life is better because Tyler was a part of it. Sometimes we lose people, but they never really leave us. We are different because they were there. I think that I need to remember that a bit more than I do. Life goes on and we remember, and that is important.