Girlfriends are good for the soul. Okay, I sound like a fracking Hallmark card, but it’s true. Mr. Mock is out of town and Lulu and I had a slumber party. We spent a fair chunk of the time talking about Lily – and aspiring to be inebriated enough to drunken dial her but falling far, far short. I blame the vast quantities of butter chicken and chocolate cake consumed over the course of the evening.
Last weekend the Mr. Mock and I went to see Jarhead. About halfway though, fully appreciating the Very Important Statement it was making about the nihilistic pointlessness and skincrawling futility of war, I leant over and whispered in his ear, “There’s not going to be a single girl in this movie, is there?”
“No,” he said.
“Except of course for in the porn they watch, right?” I couldn’t resist asking/pointing out.
“Right,” he said.
Since I had chosen the film, there was nothing to do but nod and settle in for another 90 minutes of burnt bodies, oil fires, and frat boys with automatic rifles.
The antidote to all this, I must say, is in fact The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Yes, it’s made for teenagers. Yes, the impossible yet central premise of the film is that there’s one magic pair of jeans that fits four totally differently-shaped best friends and, like, brings them luck. Yes, people are dying of cancer and one’s emotions are all terribly manipulated. But it’s lovely! Plus there’s this monologue near the end by the Girl With Terminal Cancer about how happiness isn’t about having a perfect life, it’s about “stringing together the small things” and making them count. You know, things like sleeping late and taking yourself out for brunch (which I plan to do tomorrow), discovering the perfect Christmas present for Mr. Mock, and having the same conversations over and over with your girlfriends.
I was struck by how if Jarhead is a movie about boys made by boys for boys, The Sisterhood is the exact opposite.
So viva la difference, I guess, but the real point is watching movies with your girlfriends and eating butter chicken is good for what ails you, even if you don’t think there’s anything ailing you.