The main thrust (Deadpool puns!) of this post is not going to seem like a movie review to many people. It’s very personal in nature and still very, very raw. There is a movie review wrapped up in here, but in order for my personal thoughts regarding the movie to make sense, I think some context is going to be necessary. But it’s not fun. Keep that in mind going in.
“Home is where the heart is.”
You’ve heard that. It’s trite. Short. Said frequently enough that you probably haven’t ever sat down to give serious thought to the implications of that statement. It’s very suddenly taken on a whole new light for me, personally, rather recently. I’ll restate the cliche a little, to clarify.
“Home is where your family is.”
Family means so many different things to so many different people, but think about it. Whoever you consider to be your family, you feel “home” when you are with them. Houses give us shelter. Family gives us home.
I have been living in just a house for a few weeks.
It’s left a strange impression on me regarding what “home” means. It’s semantic of course but for nearly four years I have called this building my “home”. Now, with nothing beyond the absence of the people I shared it with and the lack of hope that they’ll return, the very nature of the location has changed drastically. In essence I’ve been trapped in the dying husk of everything I had hoped for my entire life, surrounded by memories of what I’ve lost and the decaying possibilities of what could have been. All that is left within these walls is sorrow, pain, and regret. This is not “home.” It is shelter, nothing more.
Okay, that's depressing. Now here's where the actual movie review comes in, because the sentiments I just expressed line up almost exactly with where the movie's titular Deadpool starts out. I should clarify, because those of you who have seen Deadpool 2 are now probably worried that my family died. Calm down, they're all still alive, and I won't say “it feels like they’re dead” because I don’t have a frame of reference and my gut tells me that would be rude and insensitive to people who actually have lost loved ones. No, what’s happened is my wife wants a divorce, and a few weeks ago she took the kids and left. They've been living elsewhere since, and the net result is that portion of my family is effectively just gone.
But here's the thing. Since this all began I’ve been leaning on my siblings, extended family, and some close friends in a pretty big way, and it’s reassuring to note that I do still feel at home with them. That my family was not restricted to the people I shared a house with. And hilariously, the thing that helped throw a lot of this into stark relief, the thing that helped me recognize the contributions of the rest of my "family" to my sanity and well-being, was watching Deadpool 2. The movie makes some serious points about family and the concept of “home” that I really needed to hear last week. It… well, it was moving. And reassuring.
Yes, I suppose this post is an “announcement” of that divorce, for anyone who’s going to be wondering when my Facebook relationship status suddenly changes (or just vanishes). But it’s also a look at Deadpool 2 from a very different perspective than you’ll probably find elsewhere. There are a lot of reasons to like this movie, but I figure this is probably a viewpoint that's not super common and demonstrates that this film really does operate on several different levels. The movie has a lot to say about the nature of family. Sometimes the family you want isn't the one you need. Losing someone doesn't mean losing everyone. The people you can count on sometimes come from somewhere you wouldn't expect. And I feel like it’s a very important message. If nothing else, it helped me. I suspect I'm not the only one who could benefit from that perspective.
And yes, that message was carried in a vessel packed with irreverence, absolutely bonkers levels of absurd violence, and a sense of humor firmly rooted in the pop-culture I surround myself with much of the time. Turns out that was the perfect delivery mechanism for a touching reassurance that things will get better. I don’t have a lot of hope to offer to others going through pain like this beyond simply noting the moral I took away from my viewing of Deadpool 2; when the world falls out from under you, there’s a chance that you’re surrounded by people willing to grab you if you'll just reach out.
So there you go. Deadpool 2. Hilarious, brutally violent, packed full of f-bombs, and possibly the most meaningful movie I’ll watch this summer. If that’s not range… well, I don’t know what is.
 |
| I swear, I will be giving you my thoughts on this movie. Just bear with me for a sec. |
“Home is where the heart is.”
You’ve heard that. It’s trite. Short. Said frequently enough that you probably haven’t ever sat down to give serious thought to the implications of that statement. It’s very suddenly taken on a whole new light for me, personally, rather recently. I’ll restate the cliche a little, to clarify.
“Home is where your family is.”
Family means so many different things to so many different people, but think about it. Whoever you consider to be your family, you feel “home” when you are with them. Houses give us shelter. Family gives us home.
I have been living in just a house for a few weeks.
It’s left a strange impression on me regarding what “home” means. It’s semantic of course but for nearly four years I have called this building my “home”. Now, with nothing beyond the absence of the people I shared it with and the lack of hope that they’ll return, the very nature of the location has changed drastically. In essence I’ve been trapped in the dying husk of everything I had hoped for my entire life, surrounded by memories of what I’ve lost and the decaying possibilities of what could have been. All that is left within these walls is sorrow, pain, and regret. This is not “home.” It is shelter, nothing more.
Okay, that's depressing. Now here's where the actual movie review comes in, because the sentiments I just expressed line up almost exactly with where the movie's titular Deadpool starts out. I should clarify, because those of you who have seen Deadpool 2 are now probably worried that my family died. Calm down, they're all still alive, and I won't say “it feels like they’re dead” because I don’t have a frame of reference and my gut tells me that would be rude and insensitive to people who actually have lost loved ones. No, what’s happened is my wife wants a divorce, and a few weeks ago she took the kids and left. They've been living elsewhere since, and the net result is that portion of my family is effectively just gone.
But here's the thing. Since this all began I’ve been leaning on my siblings, extended family, and some close friends in a pretty big way, and it’s reassuring to note that I do still feel at home with them. That my family was not restricted to the people I shared a house with. And hilariously, the thing that helped throw a lot of this into stark relief, the thing that helped me recognize the contributions of the rest of my "family" to my sanity and well-being, was watching Deadpool 2. The movie makes some serious points about family and the concept of “home” that I really needed to hear last week. It… well, it was moving. And reassuring.
 |
| Shut up, Pool. |
Yes, I suppose this post is an “announcement” of that divorce, for anyone who’s going to be wondering when my Facebook relationship status suddenly changes (or just vanishes). But it’s also a look at Deadpool 2 from a very different perspective than you’ll probably find elsewhere. There are a lot of reasons to like this movie, but I figure this is probably a viewpoint that's not super common and demonstrates that this film really does operate on several different levels. The movie has a lot to say about the nature of family. Sometimes the family you want isn't the one you need. Losing someone doesn't mean losing everyone. The people you can count on sometimes come from somewhere you wouldn't expect. And I feel like it’s a very important message. If nothing else, it helped me. I suspect I'm not the only one who could benefit from that perspective.
And yes, that message was carried in a vessel packed with irreverence, absolutely bonkers levels of absurd violence, and a sense of humor firmly rooted in the pop-culture I surround myself with much of the time. Turns out that was the perfect delivery mechanism for a touching reassurance that things will get better. I don’t have a lot of hope to offer to others going through pain like this beyond simply noting the moral I took away from my viewing of Deadpool 2; when the world falls out from under you, there’s a chance that you’re surrounded by people willing to grab you if you'll just reach out.
So there you go. Deadpool 2. Hilarious, brutally violent, packed full of f-bombs, and possibly the most meaningful movie I’ll watch this summer. If that’s not range… well, I don’t know what is.
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