When I was a child, I didn't have the greatest relationship with my grandfather. I didn't really know him at all and I lived with him, but we shared a small connection through movies.
I had recorded Rocky 3 and 4 on VHS, commercials and all, and watched them often. We didn't buy movies very much when I was younger, so this was how I first started a movie collection: recording movies from TV. My grandpa would come out of his room noticing I was watching Rocky 3 yet again, and he'd say, "let me know when he's fighting Mr. T."
Or if I were watching Rocky 4, he'd say, "let me know when he's fighting the Russian." He'd ask me to do this every time, and when it was time for Rocky to step in the ring with his opponent, whether it be Clubber Lang or Ivan Drago, grandpa would come out of his room, coffee mug in hand, with a big toothless grin.
"The fight's starting? Alright."
We'd watch these Rocky fights together, and since Stallone always structured his Rocky fight sequences through montages, the rounds flew by quickly. Grandpa watched them as if they were actual fights. I loved seeing my grandpa's face, totally engaged what was happening on screen. He'd seen these fight sequences as many times as I have, but he always watched it as if it were the first time. And when Rocky wins, grandpa would stand up and say something like "he's the champ!" and shuffle back to his room with a small spark to his step.
Another time we'd share this kind of moment is through the Back to the Future scene when Marty sings Johnny B. Goode. Grandpa would never watch the full movie with me, but when he saw me watching it, he asked, "let me know when he plays the guitar."
And then when Marty gets up on stage, grandpa would once again emerge from his room, excited to see Michael J. Fox lip synch a classic song on stage. I always wondered what about this scene that my grandpa liked. Did he like the song? Did he like the whole scenario of Marty sharing a sound that a generation of kids were never exposed to in their lives? Or was it something else entirely?
Grandpa being so engaged with these movie moments stuck with me over the years because it was some of the only times that he and I connected. It was something we both shared together. We had watched television together before. Shows like The A Team and Matlock were some of his favorites, but long after we knew him as our "senile, old grandpa" and he wouldn't speak to me much anymore besides indistinguishable chatter or unnecessary putdowns, he'd still connect with me through these movies as he always did.
It makes me think about all of the people out there that may have these kind of memories through movies. With so many people out there in this big little marble we live on, I wonder about which movies impact their lives and why. How a movie may have connected two different people and opened up a conversation. Maybe how a movie is that one you pop in and watch because you're alone, and seeing it again feels like visiting old friends.
I think about all of the ordinary people that become emotionally involved with a story on screen. My grandpa would rarely miss these movie moments: Rocky fighting Clubber Lang, Rocky fighting Ivan Drago, Marty McFly playing Johnny B. Goode to a crowd of 1950's adolescence. Do my screenplays have these types of scenes? At least one? A scene that is so involving that someone would want to watch over and over again? And why? Why did my grandpa watch these scenes with me countless times while not bothering to watch the full movie?
I believe it's because those scenes made him feel something. They made him feel something good. And because they made him feel good, he was able to open up to me and be himself. We'd get to have a grandpa and grandson kind of moment. A happy one.
When I write screenplays, I strive to create these types of scenes. Scenes that speak to us deeper than surface level. The type of moments that grab us by the heart and squeeze, and never let go. Say what you want about the Rocky sequels, but somehow they did that for my grandpa, and we shared some of our only fun moments because of it.
When I write, I want to give that gift to others because I feel that was a gift to me.