Frock Fridays

I love summer movies.  There are actually two kinds of summer movies: the kind that open during the summer and the kind that take place during the summer.  The first kind are usually good fun, but they're billed as seasonal blockbusters - which isn't bad in and of itself, but I have a hard time getting on board with all the hype.  The second kind can be cinema at its best, drawing you into the magic of the films while examining your own realities.

Summer is a time apart, setting a perfect scene for movies.  For students of all ages, it's a break from the routine of the academic year, a fleeting few months when, away from the confines of your desk, you can be anyone.  Because of this, so many summer movies follow a character's reinvention; we watch as children and teenagers and young adults push boundaries, test fears, and begin to mature into who they're meant to be.  I love these themes - especially when I was middle-school-aged, if I wasn't actively exploring my own limits, I was certainly dreaming about having the opportunity to do so.

It's fitting, then, that my two absolute favorite summer movies of all time focus on 12 year olds leaving the cocoon of childhood behind.  Unfortunately, however, they're not great for Frock Fridays.  Stand by Me is about a group of boys, and Now and Then features four girls but they're in shorts most of the time.  (That's sort of interesting, I guess, because I've never been a tomboy and even as a child I preferred to wear dresses, but let's not get too Freudian here, okay?)

I've been thinking a lot about summer movies - and these two in particular - since I got back from my weekend in Connecticut.  My grandparents' house is far enough from anything else that a child can get into scrapes without getting into any real trouble, and while on my walks I thought about being 12 again, grabbing a bike, and disappearing down the lanes for an afternoon, creating my own world in the woods.  I'm clearly long past the tweenage years and it's nearly impossible to return to the mindset that allows you that freedom of imagination, but I'd still love to have that sort of adventure...

[ dress / hat / bag / shoes / bike ]

I hope you have the chance to make your own adventures this weekend, dear readers.  No matter how old you are, you can always try!  At worse, you'll enjoy a lovely bike ride - at best, you'll discover a whole new realm of dreams and possibilities.