About a week into my daughters’ summer break, my 13-year-old mentioned in passing how many movies she’d already seen since school ended. This isn’t a particularly unusual occurrence, since her dad and I both try to ingest as much content as is humanly possible, but it did get me thinking about how to enhance her experience. I started keeping track of what we watched together, picking her brain on everything from the classics to the new 2024 movie releases. We ended up making it through 30 flicks, and I couldn’t be prouder of what she said was her favorite. Also, yeah, she hated Madame Web.
Movie nights have always been a big thing in our family, and especially now that our daughter is old enough to watch most things, it’s actually really interesting to hear her perspective on the different genres from different eras. I’d never have guessed, though, that of everything she saw this summer, Airplane!, one of the best movies from the ‘80s, would be her favorite.
My Teen Screamed In Laughter Watching Airplane!
When it comes to teenagers (and kids in general), you never know what’s going to come out of their mouths. I showed her the list I’d compiled of the movies we’d watched, and there was definitely a moment where I had to consider what my reaction would be if she said something like The Garfield Movie. Thankfully, she chose the 1980 classic Airplane!, and when I asked why she went with an older movie, she said:
Older movies are better.
Be still my heart.
She liked that the jokes were nonstop and not overtly vulgar. Obviously she can appreciate some dark humor, because boy are there a lot of WTF moments in Airplane!. Really, though, what sealed the deal for her was the scene where the stewardess Randy plays a song for the sick girl Lisa, inadvertently knocking her IV out. My daughter howled in laughter and tears flowed. That is absolutely the reaction you’d hope for.
There were some things we had to explain to her, like who Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Barbara Billingsley were, but the sheer volume of laughs that didn’t require pop culture knowledge was more than enough to make up for that.
Superbad And The Truman Show Made Up The Rest Of Her Top 3
There was a discussion beforehand about whether Superbad — one of the best movies of the 2000s — was too inappropriate for a 13-year-old, and ultimately I insisted it was fine. Almost immediately, I knew I was wrong. Somehow I’d forgotten just how crude the humor is, not to mention Seth and Evan’s ultimate goal of bringing alcohol to the party in hopes of hooking up with Jules and Becca. However, my teenager loved it.
There were more screams to be had with Seth’s dick drawings, and she may have writhed herself onto the floor in horror when Jonah Hill’s character got period blood on his pants. She agreed there are plenty of reasons to hate Superbad, but she really enjoyed McLovin and his night out with the cops, enough to make up for the rest. In the end, was Superbad too inappropriate for her? She answered:
Yes, but it was worth it.
Worth it enough, even, to endure multiple conversations with me about teenage boys, high school parties and how using alcohol to make someone like you is disgusting at best.
As for The Truman Show, I was surprised that something more dramatic made her Top 3, but she said she loved when the movie — one of Jim Carrey’s best — showed the viewers in bars and at home watching Truman’s every move. In the teen’s words:
Existential crises make for good TV.
She found it interesting to watch Truman’s life crumble around him, and she liked that she had no idea what was going to happen next.
Madame Web Was The Only Movie My Teenager ‘Hated’
Now we’ve got to get into the Madame Web of it all.
Our Summer In Movies
Coyote Ugly
Billy Madison
Hot Fuzz and The World’s End
Bad Boys
Airplane!
The Garfield Movie
The Truman Show
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Donnie Darko
Mamma Mia!
Inside Out and Inside Out 2
Madame Web
Cabin in the Woods
Twister and Twisters
All four Beverly Hills Cop movies
Abigail
Oujia and Ouija: Origin of Evil
Unbreakable
Trap
Superbad
Alien
Major League
Tarot
My 13-year-old had her own ranking system that went from “Favorite” to “Hated,” and only one movie fell into the latter category (which was written in red, incidentally, and underlined twice). She said she didn’t find the story interesting and didn’t like any of the characters. She absolutely abhorred the end when Dakota Johnson’s character used her powers to comment on the take-out the teens had gotten and to say “Bless you” to Anya before she sneezed. For real, how obnoxious.
What I found interesting about my teen’s strong reaction to this film was the fact that she didn’t know how badly the film was getting panned. I had read Madame Web’s negative reviews and mentioned it wasn’t supposed to be great, but that’s never stopped us from enjoying a clunker. (To that point, my daughter ranked Tarot and Abigail as “So Bad It’s Good.”) I may be biased, but I think the girl’s got good taste.
We Saw Twisters; My Daughter Is Not A Glen Powell Fan
She may agree with the general consensus on Madame Web, but when it comes to Glen Powell, I think she’s in the minority. After watching both Twisters and its predecessor, she claimed to hate the romance stories in both (that’s fair) and described Powell’s character as “standoffish and a jerk,” despite his well-intentioned motivations. (I promise my teen hasn’t been on Reddit.) She also thought Anthony Ramos was under-utilized, which is not a surprising statement, coming from my Hamilton– and In the Heights-loving theater kid.
Inside Out 2 May Have Hit Too Close To Home For My 13-Year-Old
I thought my daughter would relate to Inside Out 2’s Riley, as she is also 13 and has struggled with anxiety (she gave me permission to say that), but the second-hand embarrassment was just too much for her. She said:
The Riley parts were important, but is that how all adults see teenagers? Embarrassing little crapheads?
I said maybe that’s how adults remember feeling during their own teen years, but she remained skeptical. She was still all for the representation and thought Anxiety as a character was portrayed well.
Quick Hits From My Teenager
So many movies, so little time. Here are some quick thoughts from our other ventures into film this summer:
- Coyote Ugly: “Good movie, but the romance, ugh!”
- Trap: Multiple forced viewings of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour concert film did not negatively affect her opinion of this movie. She called it “Fine.”
- The Garfield Movie: “Daddy issues propaganda,” she spits out, then bursts into giggles.
- Bad Boys: “I didn’t like some parts of it.” She felt so bad for Marcus’ wife that she couldn’t enjoy the humor, which I found sweet and hilarious. She ranked it “Meh,” did not continue the series.
- Donnie Darko: “Ooh, that was a good one. Love and fear, gang. Spread it.”
- Mamma Mia!: I cannot get her to stop saying, “Is that ABBA?!”
- Billy Madison: “So cringe, but so good.”
I’m glad that I kept track of our movie-filled summer, because it’s been a blast talking through these with my teenager. She brings a different, and sometimes really unexpected, perspective to movies, whether I’m seeing them in the theater for the first time with her or I’ve watched them multiple times over the years. I’d fully recommend it to any parent.
