Learning Things From A 13-Year Old

i don't know if it's just jennifer garner, but i absolutely loved 13 going on 30. i feel like hugging everyone i meet, just like that guy in the dave matthews band video, everyday. wow. giddy giddy. the last film which gave me similar levels of gid was love actually. mm. it was like like injecting lard into your bloodstream, and feeling it shoot up to your brain like little new year's eve rockets.

i particularly liked the scene where jennifer garner, as jenna rink, was already making her presentation for the redisigning of the magazine she was a co-editor of (i think). there were pictures of models behind her on three presentation boards, all spread out into a mosaic. she looked very nervous, but with the expression on her face of being sure of what she needed to say. she starts out with a clear voice.

"i know this is different, i mean, from anything we've ever done and i know you might hate it and think i'm completely crazy, but i won't care. even if i get fired, and i don't mean that disrespectfully, it's just that i've realized something..." and she looks at the pictures behind her. no, more exactly, she's trying to look through them.

"who are these women?" jenna asks, apparently confused, and probably more to herself. "does anyone know... i don't recognize any of 'em..."

then she smiled, like the smile before disclosing a secret, and began to take down the pictures of the models, revealing another group of pictures behind them. "... i wanna see... my best friend's big sister... and... the girls from the socccer team... my next door neighbor..." indeed she showed each image as she said it one by one. and her smile turned into one of victory. "real women who are smart and pretty and happy to be who they are -- these are the women to look up to..."

jenna brought up one more picture, larger than the ones before. this time, it was of a group of people, like a class picture. only everyone was all grown up, and it seemed like they were shouting, laughing loudly, hands thrown up in the air, balloons and confetti all over the place... "let's... let's put life back into the magazine... and fun... and laughter and silliness, and..." and she couldn't say any more because she looked into the eyes of each individual in the audience and she knew that they knew already.

"... i think we all... i think all of us wants to feel something that we've forgotten or turned our backs on... 'cause maybe we didn't realize how much we were leaving behind..." heartbeats.

"we need to remember what used to be good. if we don't, we won't recognize it even if it hits us between the eyes." because at that second, it hit them between the eyes. every one of them. and there was nothing else to do but applaud.