It’s funny – I wrote another blog about my Top 5 Rejuvenating Movies and…there’s a lot of overlap with my Top 5 Reconnection Movies. For me, the best reconnection movies are the ones that remind me of people, and memories, and that I quote all the time. League of Their Own from the other list is an all-timer, and The Princess Bride is very special to me since Erin and I quote it to each other all the time, but here’s five more.
Barbie (2023)
I have a few indelible memories of watching movies in theaters – like the moment Cap caught Thor’s hammer in Avengers:Endgame – but one of the strongest is Barbie. I laughed, I cried, and I felt seen. When Erin and I watched it together, we held hands for long parts of it. My husband loved it and we made sure to take selfies in the props in the lobby because he wanted to be public about his love for it. It wasn’t a movie, it was a moment, and I felt deeply connected to two of my people through it.
The American President (1995)
This is easily my favorite movie of all time. I saw it in theaters and have it basically memorized. I quote it frequently and it makes me sound smarter since people don’t know some of my pithy sayings are from there and not my own brain, haha! But what it represents to me is two-fold: that the best vision of America is a communal one where everyone is allowed to belong how they want, as long as it doesn’t violate someone else’s rights to; and two, that my parents and I got to do something together. That was rare when I was growing up – my father worked exceptionally long hours and my brother was often with us. But that night, he stayed at a friends house. It should also tell you something that I was eleven and picked this movie for that night. Eleven.
Inside Out (2015)
Another one where I cried in the theater because my story was on screen in some way – hold tight, there’s one more of those coming – and this time it was because someone took the time to show the complicated way that teenage brains work. We know more now than we did when I was growing up and I often wonder if my parents had known what science has since taught us about brain development, would some pieces be different? Probably. Plus, we all got the phrase ‘core memory’ from it, so it belongs on this list.
Hairspray (2007)
The first time in my life where I saw the hot guy fall in love with the fat girl. Ever.
It spurred me to talk about my body and my weight and my understandings of those things with some of my friends for the first time ever. With some of those people, I learned that I couldn’t trust them with that part of my heart, and with others I could. Tracy Turnblad taught me to be brave with people I love and I’m so grateful for that lesson.
How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
It must be the Jim Carrey version, and it must be on Christmas Day, and it must be with my family, and then this movie is part of how I understand family Christmas traditions. The ultimate reconnection movie for me in some ways because it’s the one that represents so much of the connection with my family.
Read more about The 4 R’s of Burnout Recovery HERE.
That does it for my Top 5 Reconnection movies! Do you have any movies that remind you that you’re connected to people who love you? I’d love to hear them! Let me know in the comments or by emailing info@abbey-research.com. Maybe something that brings you joy needs to be on my radar!
