Now & Then ...Now

Now & Then

90s kids rejoice, Now & Then is now on Netflix! Of course, I had to give it a rewatch. It was my birthday, and I’d had a full day with family and activities and my 2 year old was asleep, my 7 year old still wired. Typically he falls asleep right after her, but he wanted to watch a movie, and in the waning days of summer vacation I decided to let him stay up a bit later, even though I fully expected him to fall asleep before Devon Sawa kisses Christina Ricci. 

I haven’t seen this movie in many many many years, but I remembered the iconic scene where they stole the boys clothes while they were skinny dipping and Chrissy wolfing down a Twinkie while her friends painted the garage, along with the general coming of aging premise of the movie. I had completely forgot about Crazy Pete or the mystery behind Dear Johnny, two things my son latched onto as he watched it like a mystery movie.  

I probably watched this movie a million times in 1995-1996 timeframe. I had completely forgotten the mystery central to the movie because at the time, I guess there was another piece I latched onto. My mother passed away that same year the movie was released, and last night as I watched Christina Ricci destroy Cloris Leachman’s mirror, and make copies of the news article with her mother’s death in it, eyes brimming with angry tears, I realized this was the piece of the movie that drew me in.

I was a tomboy, playing basketball every day of the summer between bike rides with my two best girlfriends that lived down the street, traipsing all over town long before cell phones were a thing, dropping by home to “check in” every so often, crushing on boys and spending lazy afternoons in the swimming pool between it all.  Christina Ricci was me-although I never had to worry about taping my boobs down (24 years later and that’s still not a problem). The free spirited girl with a bubbling well of anger and sadness mixed with pre-pubescent curiosity-wasn’t it all of us, really?

I didn’t remember the movie being set in 1970, though I’m sure I realized it then.  Watching now, in 2019, aside from the clothes (Nancy Sinatra look-alikes)and the soundtrack (knock three times... that scene! Oh how I loved that scene!) this movie could have been us, in 1995 cruising the streets of our neighborhood, being chased or chasing down the neighbor boys all the while figuring out our own “stuff.”

The end of the movie, Demi Moore talks about how the treehouse was to bring them more independence but how it actually made them more independent from each other. This part holds true, especially because, unlike the foursome in the movie, my “gang” grew apart after that summer, and are distances away from each other now, with Facebook Happy Birthday messages and “likes” on our kids pictures our current contact. 

Now, the world has changed and I don’t know this movie would have the same real-life connection with today’s girls, who are always connected but it’s a lot more virtual, FaceTime replacing a bike ride over to a friend’s house and treehouses a thing of the past. Then again, maybe it will, as girls will always be curious about boys, families will always have turmoil, and friends when you were 12 will never be like any other.