Everyone Should Get A Do-Over
Flipping through the free movie channels tonight, I came across one of my favorite movies of all time, "Peggy Sue Got Married." For those of you not familiar with this hidden gem of cinema, it stars Kathleen Turner, Nicholas Cage and is directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Its the story of a middle-aged woman who faints at her 25th year high school reunion and returns to her past.
Peggy Sue (Turner) wakes up in 1960 where she's forced to spend several days as a high school senior, still dating her high school sweetheart Charlie (Cage). The title of the movie, based off the original song by Buddy Holly, belies what happened to Peggy Sue. She got married to Charlie, they had kids and then he ran off with a younger woman. After a few jarring experiences in her now present-past, like talking to her dead grandmother on the phone, Peggy Sue quickly realizes she's been given a second chance to make things right. While the storyline is hardly original, the idea of being granted a do-over in life is appealing.
Every time I watch this movie (which I still own on VHS), I think what would I do if I were in Peggy Sue's saddle shoes? How would I change things about my life if I were given the chance to travel back in time? I think everyone has looked back on a decision they made at a turning point in their life and wishes they could go back and change it.
For a while, I regretted the choice I made when it came to college. I had a rough time as an undergrad and ultimately went to three schools before I graduated. I used to think back to that pivotal moment, when I was sitting in my parents' kitchen with two acceptance letters in front of me and I decided to pick one school over the other. I thought many times about pulling a Peggy Sue and fainting - hoping to wake up in the past. But as we all know, you can't mess with the time-space continuum. If you do, you start to erase all the good things that branch out from your one "bad" decision. If I went back and changed my mind, I would be erasing some of the great people, places and things associated with that one decision.
At the end of the movie, Peggy Sue chooses Charlie all over again because she can't bare erasing a lifetime of memories even though some of them were heartbreaking. Oh, Hollywood!
Peggy Sue (Turner) wakes up in 1960 where she's forced to spend several days as a high school senior, still dating her high school sweetheart Charlie (Cage). The title of the movie, based off the original song by Buddy Holly, belies what happened to Peggy Sue. She got married to Charlie, they had kids and then he ran off with a younger woman. After a few jarring experiences in her now present-past, like talking to her dead grandmother on the phone, Peggy Sue quickly realizes she's been given a second chance to make things right. While the storyline is hardly original, the idea of being granted a do-over in life is appealing.
Every time I watch this movie (which I still own on VHS), I think what would I do if I were in Peggy Sue's saddle shoes? How would I change things about my life if I were given the chance to travel back in time? I think everyone has looked back on a decision they made at a turning point in their life and wishes they could go back and change it.
For a while, I regretted the choice I made when it came to college. I had a rough time as an undergrad and ultimately went to three schools before I graduated. I used to think back to that pivotal moment, when I was sitting in my parents' kitchen with two acceptance letters in front of me and I decided to pick one school over the other. I thought many times about pulling a Peggy Sue and fainting - hoping to wake up in the past. But as we all know, you can't mess with the time-space continuum. If you do, you start to erase all the good things that branch out from your one "bad" decision. If I went back and changed my mind, I would be erasing some of the great people, places and things associated with that one decision.
At the end of the movie, Peggy Sue chooses Charlie all over again because she can't bare erasing a lifetime of memories even though some of them were heartbreaking. Oh, Hollywood!
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