Loving Mama Mia (The Movie)

12:24 a.m. I just got home from watching Mama Mia on a Thursday night. I must work tomorrow, but it was worth staying 'til late to watch it 'cause I loved it. I bet I'm not the only one; many others in the movie theater walked out singing, laughing, just feeling happy... I did too. It filled me with a warm, nice feeling inside. It had been long since I felt that way at the movies.

Yes, the film was funny. I found myself choking with laughter when she fell from the roof in front of her three exes and they assured her that she sure knew how to make an entrance. But mama's two middle aged friends were super hilarious. They reminded me that I could and should stay in touch with my girlfriends forever. It's cute to see older women, not as skinny or flexible as they probably were, jumping around and singing like teenagers. The fat, short friend was super funny; especially when she sailed on the little raft to stop her friend's two admirers from coming to the wedding. She falls into the the water, then. The lesson I got from the movie is: keep a bond with your girlfriends through the years, it will keep you young and make you happy. It's the wise, healthy, self empowering and positive thing to do for all aspects of life. I knew all this, but it's always good to be reminded.

Yes, the film was wonderful but the company of my girlfriends made it more wonderful. I would say it's a movie that should be watched with girlfriends, but then I'm influenced by a neighbor we had at the theater, who kept on asking why did they keep on singing in the movie? Well, I think the scene in which the mother is helping her daughter get dress for the wedding it's infinitely touching. Meryl Streep is superb. One of the friends sitting next to me started crying. Her mom is in Cuba and I guess the scene superbly portrayed in the movie reminded her of that mother-daughter connection she didn't enjoy anymore, but missed often, as she later told me. Simultaneously, the mother-daughter relationship was, in my opinion, realistically portrayed when the daughter screams to her mother that she's not like her and is sorry to be disappointing her by getting married so young, but she's pretty much has a mind of her own now and her life is not the same as hers. So many of us, if not all, must remind our mothers we're our own individuals with dreams, ideas, beliefs and plans of our own, totally different from theirs.

My favorite part of the movie takes place before the wedding starts, when Streep is walking towards the chapel and her ex approaches her, asking to be allowed to walk his daughter into the chapel. This is how she answers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1egohTOlQk&feature=related

The Winner Takes It All

I dont wanna talk
I don't wanna talk
About things we've gone through
Though it's hurting me
Now it's history
I've played all my cards
And that's what you've done too
Nothing more to say
No more ace to play

The winner takes it all
The loser's standing small
Beside the victory
That's her destiny

I was in your arms
Thinking I belonged there
I figured it made sense
Building me a fence
Building me a home
Thinking I'd be strong there
But I was a fool
Playing by the rules

The gods may throw a dice
Their minds as cold as ice
And someone way down here
Loses someone dear
The winner takes it all
The loser has to fall
It's simple and it's plain
Why should I complain

But tell me does she kiss
Like I used to kiss you
Does it feel the same
When she calls your name
Somewhere deep inside
You must know I miss you
But what can I say
Rules must be obeyed

The judges will decide
The likes of me abide
Spectators of the show
Always staying low
The game is on again
A lover or a friend
A big thing or a small
The winner takes it all

I don't wanna talk
If it makes you feel sad
And I understand
You've come to shake my hand
I apologize
If it makes you feel bad
Seeing me so tense
No self-confidence
But you see
The winner takes it all
The winner takes it all

My friend's eyes watered in this part of the movie. She's going through something very similar to what the main character had to endure. Definitely, movies do reflect reality, but our relaties may be a collage of different movies, that's why each of us deserve a movie of our own.

I thank Mama Mia for reminding me how AMAZING ABBA's songs are!!!! I AM LOVING MAMA MIA!!!