In America

I watched a movie entitled In America last night. Before I became a mother, I would have enjoyed this movie, but I don't think I would have had such strong emotional reactions. I had to keep asking Mr. Squished Piggy to check the DVD jacket and reassure me that it was rated PG-13, when it looked like something bad might be going to happen to children. I can't handle seeing anything bad happen to children.

The movie is set in New York, and the young family live in a very creepy building that I fear, sadly, is extremely realistic. There's a scene where the mother sends her two little girls out for ice cream, ALONE! OMG, nobody sends children anywhere alone any more! I was squirming in my seat, certain that something horrible would happen. There are too many unpredictables and crazies in society these days, and especially in the film, in their own building. They knew their neighbors were drug addicts and crazies so how on earth could that mother have sent her kids out? I was so appalled! In another scene, the baby came early and was sent to the ICU. I lost it there. I just sobbed and sobbed, looking at that little baby that might not make it.

The film was very well done. It stirred emotions and captured human desperation, love, beauty, and triumph on many levels. I was still sobbing when the credits rolled.