If We Were a Movie ...

I really love the random conversations that come up when talking with my kids each day. Yesterday while I was making dinner Spencer asked me what movie I would choose to be an extra in if I had the chance to pick any movie in history. Without even hesitating I gave him my answer ...

STAR WARS!!

And I'm talking Episode 4: A New Hope, not the ridiculousness that was episodes 1-3. How could I refuse the chance to be an extra on that one? It was such a groundbreaking movie with special effects that had never been seen before, fun action, and big scenes ... although as an extra I would really hope to be part of the rebellion and not the empire. I think the empire masks would have sent me into a panic attack with claustrophobia.

So what did the rest of my family choose?

Spencer's  choice:

The Longest Day

Lots of shooting, rolling around in mud, yelling ... all of this is right up Spencer's alley. He would love being in a movie like this. But I warn you, after seeing how he creates military strategy in his computer battle games, I am sure that he would have rewritten this one with a strange ending ... like having Sweden march into battle and singlehandedly destroying everyone, thus creating a new world order with Swedish culture running the show for eternity. (I can't adequately describe how he plays his games except to say that he likes to have unlikely countries conquer the world.)

Herman thought he would like to be an extra in:

Real Steel

I'm not sure who he would be in this one. I think he just wants to be around for the great robot boxing scenes. He loves that movie, and it reminds us of our time in China when we headed to a Chinese movie theater in Wuhan to see it with a Chinese audience. Super fun!

Laney's choice:

Lord of the Rings

Alright. That's a good choice. It's kind of like the Star Wars of this generation. Epic. Lots of battles. Great special effects. Aragorn (sigh). I asked Savannah about this one, and Savannah said that she could not be an extra in this one because you would be working in the rain a lot with lots of mud and gross conditions. And on top of that you would have to wear the layers of makeup. But Laney explained that she wouldn't be in the movie to be an Orc or a Uruk-hai. She would be cast as an elf so that "they could make me beautiful." 

But then, after a second of thought Laney said that maybe instead she would choose ...

Emma

She chose this movie because of the chance to do all of the dancing scenes. I'll admit. That's a good reason to choose an Austen movie, so I have to agree with Laney on that one. Except, if I was to choose an Austen movie to be in it would be ...

Pride and Prejudice

It's the crown jewel of all Jane Austen mini-series in my opinion. And please, if I get to be an extra in this alternate universe of ours, let me get to dance next to Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle in the line dance. :)

Savannah's choice:

Star Wars

That's right. Star Wars. She's my daughter. But Savannah says that if she was in the movie she would want to be a storm trooper ... or an ewok. She explained that the clone warriors in the newer Star Wars movies were mostly computer animated, but in the original movies they were live actors, so you would be part of a really big and epic group of people. Epic.

Katie had an interesting choice:

The Last Airbender

I asked Katie why she wanted to be in that movie and she said (and I quote): "Because that movie sucked, Mom. I would want to be in the movie so that I could talk to the director and let him know some important changes that he needed to make." That is such a Katie answer! My Katie: Righting the wrongs of the world one direct conversation at a time.

I wouldn't have gone with Hyrum's choice:

Attack of the Clones: Star Wars Episode 2

Star Wars Episode 2??? For me the first three episodes of Star Wars made me wonder if the entire Star Wars universe was totally lame, but I had just been too young to realize it at the time I watched episodes 4-6. I was not a fan of the later trilogy. But my sweet Hyrum, on the other hand, LOVES these movies. To him Hayden Christensen is the best actor in the universe. He loves to pretend that he is Anakin (the awesome Jedi, not the angry younglings killer). 

JoJo's choice:

Star Wars Episode 2????

Obviously I am not very cool mom to my little boys since they both picked this movie that I don't really appreciate.  But it is all about learning to be an awesome Jedi fighter, and right now JoJo and Hyrum truly believe that they too can grow up to be awesome Jedi fighters. With enough work and determination they will be able to save the world from the evil empire. And I can't fault them for that, can I?

But you know what? After giving this more thought I have to say that maybe I'll go a bit more recent in my choice and choose to be an extra in the 2012 version of  ...

Les Miserables

Music. Drama. Dancing. Fighting. Romance. Tragedy. Everything I love (in a movie that is). And maybe I can finally put all of the hours I have spent belting out these amazing songs since I was in high school to practical use. Maybe, if I'm lucky, they would let me stand in during the confrontation song and sing Javert's part. A girl can dream, can't she?

Norm Lewis: Best Javert ever!