SAA Ep. 51: Cleverly Disguised as a Responsible Adult

I just watched "Finding Neverland."  I watched the entire movie.  I've only watched it once before (my roommate owns it), and honestly, I didn't like it very much, which is surprising.  I love Johnny Depp.  I love Kate Winslet.  I love Dustin Hoffman, although it was strange seeing him in something Peter Pan related where he wasn't playing the best Captain Hook EVER.  On a related note, I also thought I liked Peter Pan.  I actually read the book for the first time a few weeks ago, and I was underwhelmed.  It wasn't all bad, of course, but after seeing a gazbillion different adaptations of Peter Pan, the book wasn't very magical anymore.  And I suspect J. M. Barrie was a better playwright than he was a novelist.

Playwright?  Is that wright?  Shouldn't it be playwrite, since a playwright is someone who, you know, writes plays?  ...I'm getting off subject.  Actually, I was already off subject to begin with, and I've gotten further off subject.

I liked "Finding Neverland" better the second time, though I still can't say it's one of my favorite movies.  So, why on a Saturday evening, would I be watching a movie I don't like?  I mean, I'm socially awkward and don't have a swingin' social life or anything, but I could always just go to sleep.  The older I get, the more exciting it is to go to sleep.  Maybe that's why I don't like "Finding Neverland."  Maybe it's because I've grown up too much understand it.

Only, I haven't grown up.  And that's what this post is actually supposed to be about.  I'm getting there.

See, I watched "Finding Neverland" in its entirety because I was looking for one of the quotes in the film.  I couldn't find this particular quote online anywhere, and that bothered me.  But I really really wanted to get this quote, so I watched the movie.  The quote wasn't in the movie.  I flipped back through the scenes, thinking I'd just missed it somehow, or perhaps just forgotten which film it was in.  Then I remembered.

The quote wasn't actually in the movie.  It was in the deleted scenes.

Fail.

I watched an entire hour-and-a-half long movie that I don't even like when I could have watched a minute long clip from the deleted scenes menu.  Fail.  Fail. Fail.

No wonder I couldn't find the quote online.

Well, now maybe someone can find the quote online, because I'm going to post it:

Michael (small boy): Why haven't you had any children?
J.M. Barrie: Well, that's a very good question that I'm afraid I don't quite know the answer to, but I suppose it's because only grown-ups can have children.
Michael: Oh.  All right.

Though I didn't care too much for the film, I remembered this scene (and sort of wish now that they hadn't edited it out).  I can relate to this scene.  To the innocent bystander, I look like a responsible adult.  But I suspect that one of the reasons why the good Lord has not allowed me to (get married and) have children is because...well...maybe you really do have to be a grown-up to have children.  And I'm not really a grown-up.

For example, sometimes, when I see a kid I really like (this typically happens to me about 38 times or more in the course of any given day), I start acting a little silly.  Kids like that, see.  And then the kid starts acting silly.  Then I start acting a little sillier.  Then the kid starts acting ridiculously silly, and the parent starts fussing at the kid. 

And I exit.  Stage left. 

Then there was this one time a bunch of people I knew met at a park to walk or run.  I ran past a family I know pretty well, and the kids suddenly decided they were gonna start running with Miss Ruth instead of staying with their mom. 

I admit, somewhere in the back of my mind, a little voice said, "Miss Ruth, maybe you should make sure that the mom knows her kids are with you and that they're safe.  That would be the responsible adult sort of thing to do."  Then the kid in me said, "Nah!  They'll be fine! Let's just RUN!" 

And I proceeded to literally run off with her kids.

A few minutes later the kids' dad ran up to his kids and said, "Your mom doesn't know where you are.  You're supposed to stay with her." 

Oops. 

So, I've found myself apologizing to parents a LOT for getting their kids in trouble.  The parents always say things like, "Oh, it's not your fault.  They know better."  But my thought is, "Do they?  They're kids.  I don't really have that excuse.  I'm supposedly a responsible adult.  I'm the one who is supposed to know better."

I guess you don't have to move to Neverland in order to stay a kid forever.  You just have to be a socially awkward superhero. 

And I'd wright write more about that, but I just realized there's an old skool Batman rerun on tv!  KAPOW!