We Are An ADD Nation

Shh. Don’t tell anyone, but I love previews as much as a movie. This weekend I saw Labor Day. . . more on that later. Some of the previews, however, were a tad disappointing. I was worried I might have a seizure because of the flashy-flashy, bam-bam-bam-bam scenes that blasted on and off screen like tiles on a spinning disco ball.

What’s up with that? Can people not focus on a storyline long enough to digest a plot in an audibly and visually coherent manner? Is our society reduced to thriving on nothing but sound bytes and Pinnable pix?

I do detect a flicker of hope, though, in the young adult market. Yeah. I know. Go figure. But I sense a new generation of readers is emerging. From Harry Potter fans and vampire lovers, to the most recent dystopian enthusiasts, fat books are flying off the shelves in the young adult section of bookstores. That’s a good thing, and hopefully will retrain minds that currently hop from one thing to the next without processing.

As for the movie Labor Day, thumbs up. Hollywood really could’ve taken this flick to the bad place with sex and swearing, but they didn’t, which is rare indeed. The story is a mom who’s afraid to leave her house because she’s uber depressed and messed up from one too many miscarriages. She’s compelled to go to the store with her adolescent son because he’s outgrown his pants. While there, an escaped convict crosses their path and forces them to take him home and hide him. Turns out he’s really a pretty good fella, even though he accidentally did kill his former wife. I won’t give away the ending, but it is very satisfying.

So, if you’re looking for a relatively safe movie to go see, give Labor Day a whirl.