Have you ever read Cormac McCarthy’s book, The Road?  How about watched its film adaptation directed by John Hillcoat?

If you’ve never experienced this movie or book about a father and his son surviving through post apocalyptic times, I suggest you suck up the courage to do so.  I remember when I was in high school, I thought I was really cool picking up this book at Costco because its syntax was different.  Boy, I was wrong. I couldn’t get through the book without getting really sad.  I mean, this father and his son are living through hell while seeking shelter.

It just so happened that today I was surfing through the channels because let’s face it, watching Jersey Shore is the equivalent of 60 minutes of wasted time that I’ll never get back.  This doesn’t mean I didn’t watch the latest episode because I totally did.  First I should mention to you that I have this bad habit of aimlessly flipping through channels and not looking at the channel or show it lands on.  Anyway, that happened today as it does every day and it was not a show I ever wanted to watch so I flipped through the channels again.  When I saw that The Road was playing, I told myself: “Ivania, grow a pair and at least watch the movie since you couldn’t even read the book.”

Telling myself that resulted in me frightened, scared and ridiculously sad.  I mean, they walk into a house that reminds me of the Holocaust museum with all of the shoes that are laying around and the accumulated empty houses.  It’s just frightening overall… but then the dad sees a lock on the floor and finds a secret basement where starving people are being kept captive by cannibalistic nomads.  Self explanatory or should I go on on and tell you about the bathtub full of blood or how when the dad went downstairs they saw these starving humans and one of them had his or her (I couldn’t tell) leg cut off and was dripping, yet still alive.  God, that father deserved a #1 DAD mug, too bad he couldn’t have one.  Honestly, what did that movie mean?  At the end when he dies and the child is left alone, a good man approaches him with his family and he finds good in the messed up world.  What does it all mean?  I guess I can think about it tomorrow when I’m wide awake but for now, I’m going to bed tremendously grateful for what I have.  My mother deserves a #1 MOM mug for all of the stuff she does for me and my siblings.  I mean, we ought to be grateful for the things we have.