Wyatt's really become interested in the movie "True Grit". I can't remember what started the fascination but Oscar night really seemed to put him over the top. Chuck couldn't remember, from watching the John Wayne version YEARS ago, if it was inappropriate for an adolescent boy to watch or read. I tried to remind him that my love of Smokey & the Bandit started in 2nd grade when my dad gave in & let me watch, but that argument should have been thought through a bit more before I presented it. I also pointed out that he, their own father, let them watch "Cliffhanger" with Sylvester Stallone, which is NOT appropriate, perhaps for ANYONE! However, Chuck went ahead and used his handy Amazon One-Click app on the iPhone & ordered a copy of "True Grit". We went to lunch at Chip's last week & it arrived just before we left so he brought it with us.
(Here is where I reveal my lack of knowledge on the book/film.)
I'm driving. He's riding along reading OUT LOUD, which, if you know me really well, you know I hate being read to. Just give it to me & let me read it myself, usually, but I made an exception since I was behind the wheel. Safety first. Even before "things that irritate Noelle".
CHUCK (reading from book): "True Grit is when you are a 14-year-old girl from Yell County, Arkansas, and you've just shot a dangerous outlaw and the gun's recoil has sent you backward into a pit.........Tom Chaney shot my father down in Fort Smith, Arkansas......not far from Dardanelle in Yell County...."
ME (interrupting): Wait, it's set in Arkansas?? So the 14 yr.-old girl who was nominated & looked adorable in her gown, I might add, was the girl from True Grit? Hayley Steinfeld?
CHUCK (disapprovingly): Yes. Charles Portis, the author LIVES here.
ME: No need to get all huffy. My knowledge of this movie consists of this: John Wayne starred in the original & there was a character named Rooster Cogburn, who I'm assuming was played by John Wayne. And my dad liked it. That's all I got for ya.
CHUCK: Yes, John Wayne played Rooster Cogburn, a U.S. Marshal.
ME: I wonder if Rooster McConaughey is named after him?
CHUCK: WHOOOO???
ME: Rooster McConaughey. Starred in that oil rig show, Black Gold on A & E. You know, Matthew McConaughey's brother.
CHUCK: No. Don't know Rooster. This entire conversation is a waste of time, isn't it.
ME: Apparently.
And this is how many conversations go over here at Chaos Central. I will add that Chuck & Wyatt have been reading it together at bedtime & Wyatt is loving it. As is Chuck. So, appropriate or not, it's working for our house.
I wonder if one of them will watch Smokey & The Bandit with me this weekend. Not that I have it on DVD or anything.
We have a SIGNED copy of True Grit for Jubilee! :)
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