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<\/a><\/p>\n\nWhen I was around 8 or 9, my parents let me watch Sounder<\/i> with them. I sat on the floor in front of the television. My parents were behind me on the couch. During the scene when Nathan returns home – that incredible scene – I felt an explosion of feeling inside of me, and I was so young I had never felt anything like that before in a movie made for kids. I glanced behind me at my parents and I saw that my mother was sitting there with tears streaming down her face. It shocked me. It made such an impression. I had never seen her cry like that before.<\/p>\n
I look at that moment as a watershed “A-ha” moment. I was a child. My mother’s reaction confirmed to me that what was going on for me was also going on in the Grownup Land (which wasn’t always the case). I remember thinking, vaguely, in an 8 year old way – “Wow. Okay. So this must REALLY be good if grownups are crying.” <\/p>\n
And – in looking back – it was the first time I realized what art could do, what the movies could do. I had responded to movies before. I had loved movies before. But there was something about seeing this one with my parents – and catching my mother’s pure response to it – that made me realize that art was serious, it could touch people in this way. <\/p>\n
I have never written about Sounder<\/i> before, and finally I got a chance to. My essay on Sounder<\/i> is now up at Film Comment<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When I was around 8 or 9, my parents let me watch Sounder with them. I sat on the floor in front of the television. My parents were behind me on the couch. During the scene when Nathan returns home … Continue reading