Conversational snippets

Having gone in search of diet coke, I returned to the study to find mum staring at my laptop (aka Torchwood Four, aka Sheldon) with a thoughtful expression on her face. I gave her a look which she understood by virtue of being my mother.
Mum: Who's that?
Me (following her gaze to my laptop): James McAvoy.
Mum: I know that. I meant the character, who is he?
Me: Here he's Charles Xavier, from X-Men.
Mum: Ah, right.
Me: You don't know him from that though, you haven't seen X-Men -
Mum (interrupting): Yes, I have. With Wolverine and the dam -
Me (interrupting, it's a family trait): That was X-Men 2, he's not in that.
Mum (haughtily): I know who Charles Xavier is.
Me: Yes, but he was Captain Picard! This is from the new film, the one I was trying to get you to see last week. You're remembering him as the naive doctor in Uganda.
Mum: Ooooooooh, of course!
Me: The Last King of Scotland. With his natural Scottish accent. Perfect human being.

We watched that about two weeks ago - actually we watched X2 right after cause it was just so depressing, I needed something a little less heavy to cheer me up. Funnily enough, the McAvoy desktop that led to this conversation replaced my Hephaestion-Jared-Leto desktop who starred in Lord of War, another depressing film sort of about Africa and violence that mum watched with me. That was more for mocking purposes as she walked by when the opening credits were rolling...

Mum: Nicholas Cage? You are watching a Nicholas Cage film? Out of your own free will?
Me: I know, I know. But it's supposed to be good.
Mum: Still, it's Nicholas Cage...oh hang on, never mind.
Me: That is not -
Mum: Please, you don't have to look past the third name to know why you're watching this.
Me: It's not about that, I've heard -
Mum (happily ignoring me): I must say I hadn't realised he'd gone up so much in your estimation that you'd even sit through a Nic Cage film for him. I mean, really.
Me: Look, Cage's character might die and that would give me some satisfaction at least.
Mum: Fickle.
Ten minutes later.
Mum: He's going to die.
Me: One of the brothers is going to die.
Mum: No, it's definitely the younger one.
Me: Why must you ruin this for me?

She was right of course. Bah. Overall, she didn't particularly like Lord of War - said it was far too predictable, and therefore boring. The Last King of Scotland went down better, that she found at least interesting. Me? I didn't mind the former - it was pretty decent for a Nic Cage film *shudder* As for the latter, well I spent the last half hour hiding under blankets (ugh, the torture. Why can't they just kill people and get it over with? But oh no, instead we must try and do it in the most horrifying way possible. My actual, blanket-muffled words at the discovery of Kay and the scene with Nicholas at the airport were "Fucking Africa!") but it was totally engrossing. Forest Whitaker deserved that Oscar. Both films are depressing as hell though. Sigh.

Final observations? My mum rocks. Even when she's mocking me (maybe especially when she's mocking me) and definitely when she patiently lets me regale her with tales of fandom, philosophy, theory and and societal observations. That is all.

Music: Checkmarks - The Academy Is...