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What Movie Transformed You From A Child Into An Adult?

By Ursula Scully | Miscellaneous | February 3, 2018 |

By Ursula Scully | Miscellaneous | February 3, 2018 |


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One of my favorite podcasts, Erin Gibson and Bryan Safi’s Throwing Shade, recently interviewed Kate Berlant and John Early, and the four of them talked about formative movies. For John Early it was Clockwatchers, for Kate Berlant it was Waiting for Guffman, and for Erin Gibson it was Raising Arizona (which she watched when she was five years old, poor sweet thing).

For me, that movie was Hidden in America. A made for TV movie about a poor family, living on food stamps, and struggling to get by. I randomly stumbled upon it one day and it immediately drew me in. I was 14 years old when I started watching it, and I was a full grown adult by the time the movie ended. Having grown up very poor myself, it was like watching a reflection of my own life on the screen. Living with a constant hunger in your belly, learning to get creative with the few ingredients in the cupboard (sugar sandwiches were a staple), seeing my Mum struggle, all of that was mirrored in this movie. Thankfully, my little brother did not suffer the same fate as the one portrayed on TV. Looking back at it all these years later, I still get choked up.

Did you ever find yourself alone at home, surfing the channels, only to find a movie or show that transformed you from a child into an adult?

Ursula lives in Chicago and likes potatoes very much. You can follow her here.