“The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.” Ladies, go see it. Leave the boys at home because they are not going to want to see you after two hours of nonstop sobbing and laughing. I’ve never had to actually come home after a movie to freshen up, but after this one, it was unavoidable. (Damn you, Delia Ephron! I should have known an Ephron sister was behind this screenplay!) Now, to go out and buy the soundtrack!
I have about a million things to say after the movie, but I don’t give spoilers. All I will say is that it’s about four friends who have something connecting them as they go off on their separate life adventures — the world’s best jeans, of course, but they’re a metaphor for the comfort, versatility, durability and dependability of the sisterly bonds among friends.
I started thinking about my group of friends from college — Janna, Becky and Jody. There was a time when we were an inseparable foursome, and I found myself missing them desperately. And aside from them, I was remembering both good and tumultuous times with other friends — all of us have scattered like tumbleweeds since we all first met in whatever the city. Shan sent me a birthday card that very definitely mentioned a time “when” we will be living in the same city again. And we’ve always believed it. We’re on our own adventures right now, but the roads will converge again. They have to. We will accept no less from Fate.
As far as the characters, I found myself immediately identifying with Tibby, the girl who chooses to be an iconoclast — who immerses herself in sarcasm and in observing life through movie-making than actually being the one who has or shares any feelings. Her evolution is most similar to mine. But then I saw myself in Carmen, with the father who found a better life without her and her mother. And then there’s Lena, the scared little girl inside who turns her back on opportunities for happiness at every turn.
And, unexpectedly, I saw myself in Bridget, who doesn’t know what she’s looking for but she’s determined to find it in everything she encounters. And Bridget, after giving 100 percent of her passion to her athletics, is constantly chastised for being so good at what she does. I have always been told to take my passions down a notch or 20 so that others can keep up or, at least, not be made to look bad. But when your passion is really all that you have, how can you help but excel at it? And shouldn’t others, then, be trying to keep up with you instead of holding you back?
I guess what I miss most of all about my friends is their physical presence. I know we’re all here for each other in spirit and on the other end of the phone/IM. But some days, all you really want is someone who can look into your eyes and understand what you’re thinking without you saying a word. You want someone who will laugh with you and help you to dry your tears and to point you toward solutions that your brain is too addled with confusion to immediately comprehend. You don’t want to have to give the backstory and all of its gory drama when you need comforting right at that instant — you want someone who just knows … and who knows what to do in response.
And while I love men and for all of their boy abilities and parts and senses and the magic and wonder and butterflies (and even the heartbreak, oftentimes) that they bring, there’s something about friendships between women that defies the logic that men always seem to require. And while, sure, I took issue with some of the things that happened in the movie (like when the boy came back at the end to apologize — yeah, whatever, that was clearly fiction), I remembered the magic that is in each of us that we often forget and that it’s our girlfriends who hold up the mirror and remind us just how smart, strong and downright special we are. And, we don’t ever let each other forget it.
So, girls, here’s to us. And you WILL see me at this movie again and again. It might even encourage me to buy a DVD player when it’s released to the masses, and I know quite a few people who will be receiving copies of it as gifts from me. 🙂
On iTunes: Sister Hazel, “Champagne High”