Last weekend, I watched Halloweentown for the first time in close to five years. It was interesting to watch a movie I enjoyed in my childhood in college. For one thing, I talk a lot more movies now than I did as a kid. I critiicized every characters choice of action. I ridiculed the costumes of the monsters. I also mockingly repeated the dialogue. However, as one of the girls I was watching the movie with beautifully stated, “When I make fun of a movie I am showing my love for it.”
That too, the experience of watching Halloweentown again, was different. Growing up as an only child, I often watched these movies alone in my room. Occassionally, I would watch Halloweentown at a cousin’s house or with friends, but for the most part, my childhood movies are an intimate experience. I often escaped into the world with the characters, and I, much like Marnie, loved Halloween and the thought of witchcraft. It was enjoyable to watch the movie with other college students who had the same sentiment. One of the people I watched the movie with was a first year who was also an only child. We made the same jokes and created a few inside jokes that I think will stick for a long time. Three other girls joined us to watch the movie. I don’t know their names, but we shared laughs in a way that you only could with an old friend. I realized that, while our first viewing experiences of the movie were different, the sentimental feeling of trudging through Halloweentown alongside Marnie and her siblings brought us closer together as well.
Many of the movies scenes were not as scary as I thougt they were as a kid. Many of them were funnier with a bit more maturity and a even a bit sadder with a lot more life experience. (For those of you who have seen the first movie, when you see Luke’s transformation and you realize that is societal beauty norms that made him become such a jerk, you can’t help but shed a tear).
Watching Halloweentown was actually reliving my childhood. I got the opportunity to actually see part of my childhood through the lense of a somewhat-adult. I often wonder how I would interpret past experiences if I had them now instead of then. I strongly encourage everyone to re-watch a childhood movie. Of course, I recommend Halloweentown for those who seen and those who haven’t, because its youthful charm and spooky nature can really get you into the Halloween spirit.