When my kids were in their teens, they became followers of The Princess Bride cult! They discovered the movie and watched it over and over and over again. We bought the VHS tape then the DVD. My daughter now owns it on Blu Ray. It got to the point where they could recite the dialog as the movie played. When they had friends over, they watched the movie. In the hundreds of times they watched it, I never sat down to watch it with them. I would me in ear shot and most of the time I could see them, especially when it was a mixed gender group of friends watching it, but I always gave them room and never sat down to watch it. Every time they watched it, I would remind myself to sit down and watch it some day when they were out of the house but it never happened.
Then this weekend linkup was announced and I figured it was my chance to watch, at least I would have an excuse, and it is on Netflix so no money involved. Yay. So I watched it last week. Did I like it? Well, I kept meaning to watch it again so I could write a good post about it but I guess I didn’t like it enough to watch it a second time. Why? Well, something you don’t know about me is that I don’t find a lot of “humor” funny. I don’t like slapstick. I don’t like the ridiculous being passed as humor. I don’t like “jokes” about bodily functions. Yeah, I’m kind of a dud that way. So I didn’t find a lot of humor in it. Yes, there was some humor that I thought was truly funny. And even though I grew up in the times of the women’s liberation movement and hated it, having been brought up in a very traditional hispanic family and believing that the woman’s place is indeed in the home and all that. Somehow along the way, from the 1970’s to now, I grew up and realized that I was wrong. So it kind of bothered me that it was all men made out to be the heroes and it also bothered me that Buttercup expected everything to be done for her as if she were a fragile flower. I didn’t like the “As you wish” attitude.
What did I like? I loved that it was a grandparent reading to a grandson. The family aspect of it was wonderful. The reading being passed on from one generation to another was very authentic to me. It showed the value of generations of a family interacting with one another and it showed how storytelling and reading are valuable. And even though the grandson was at the age where he did not at first value the reading or the grandfather, by then end, he valued both and looked forward to more visits from the grandfather and, presumably, more storytelling. I love storytelling and I have a lot of stories that I’ve told my kids and students. I love how at first they aren’t too interested but as soon as the story gets going, they are hooked! That part was very real to me. I’ve had it happen.
If I were rewriting it (and I will admit that I have not read the book) I would write it as the grandfather telling/reading the story to both a grandson and a granddaughter. I would write in some kind of dialog about the gender roles and maybe, by the end of the story, each of the grandchildren might see some valid points in the other one’s views. Oh, and I would clean up the language so it would be more understandable, a little more modern. I think that would add to the story.
Will I watch it again? Yeah. I will. Not sure when but maybe the next time we have a cold, rainy weekend and I don’t have grandchild duty, I’ll put it on and give it another look. Then maybe I will write about it once again.
Do I recommend it? Yup! I hear the book is absolutely wonderful, too. Maybe I’ll pick up the book one day.
If you’d like to read more blog posts about The Princess Bride (book and movie), check out the linkup!
Wasted Days And Wasted Nights 
I was interested to hear your thoughts after you mentioned you were going to do a post on it. I adored the movie as a kid. I still do now as an adult, though you have pointed out some very good reasons why you are not a huge fan. Thanks for sharing your thoughts! 🙂
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It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen this movie and I don’t think I’ve ever seen it from beginning to end in one sitting.
I find that what I consider funny is a bit of a moving target based on how I feel. Movies that I thought were hilarious the first time I saw them, I was later surprised to discover how sad they were (eg UP) when I watched them again.
The one constant though is that if my husband or sons start laughing at something, I CANNOT keep a straight face. Sometimes I think I’m laughing more at them laughing 🙂
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I agree with you about the grandfather reading to the grandchild being a wonderful aspect. I also like your idea about adding a second grandchild, having one of each sex, to listen to the story because that really could be an interesting way to add to and heighten the story. Nice ideas.
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Humour definitely comes down to personal taste! Slapstick isn’t everyone’s thing, but most kids love it and that’s probably why this movie was such a hit with them. I hear that the frame story (reading to the child) is more detailed in the book, and now I too wonder what else is discussed between the reader and listener.
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I’ve never actually seen the “Princess Bride” although I have heard many people talk about how much they love it. I do understand what you mean about not finding certain things funny-I’m not a big fan of slap stick or gross humor either but kids usually do love it. My husband is a huge Monty Python fan and will laugh nonstop at their movies. Me, not so much. I did think “A Fish Called Wanda” was a pretty funny movie, though and that was some of the same actors. My favorite comedies are usually older films. Cary Grant especially. Have you ever seen “Arsenic and Old Lace?”
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