K-Pop Demon Hunters

MJ and I spent a "Friendsgiving" of sorts with my friend's family who was having their Thanksgiving, so it was like dropping in on their family reunion with us being added as extended family. MJ, as expected, was the star of the show, or more accurately, the baby in her belly was the star in waiting, the baby on her way to joining us. We're really going to miss this pregnancy time, not because MJ has trouble walking around (she has to waddle around) or because she had nauseau all throughout the hot summer months in the first trimester and weird cravings for pizza, cheese, beef, watermelon, all kinds of different items at sporadic times, no the thing we will likely miss the most is all the attention that people give us, either in the elevators, or at Costco, or going into a concert, or flying business class like MJ did: people pay more attention to moms with babies, or at least they pretend not to notice in case mom's actually not pregnant and just.....looks pregnant. Once it's been established MJ is pregnant, though, people are quick to offer congratulations, ask when we're due, if we know if it's a boy or girl, all the standard questions: it must be what it's like to have a dog and walking around it: a great conversation starter and makes everyone pay attention. The Friendsgiving we attended, though, was also remarkable because of the decided pasttime after dinner: the collective watching of Kpop Demon Hunters (which just happened to be a clue on Jeopardy that very night, perhaps the Jeopardy writers sensed the collective nature of the movie and its unparalleled power to bring people together in a united activity? I just never have much time to do anything together with people anymore, and the few parties I attend people are usually separated into different groups talking into each other; this Friendsgiving was the only time people actually sat and watched TV together where everyone was watching the same screen at the same time, especially after the football game came to a conclusion, a rather exiciting affair between the Cowboys and Chiefs. Other years it might have been the hot new movie of the year (Minecraft movie was the highest grossing movie next to Lilo and Stitch, if you don't count the Chinese movie Ne Zha 2) or maybe a recent Saturday Night special.....we were even close to putting on the most recent episode of Jeopardy together with Harrison Whitaker going for his 13th victory....it was discussed at dinner but a consensus didn't materialize. Nope, this year, as I'm sure it was in most living rooms, it was KPop Demon Hunters taking center stage, a movie that we learned Netflix bought after Sony Studios passed on it in probably one of the biggest mistakes in entertainment history; there will likely be several movies of this franchise after the epic success of the first one. It's also the epitome of KPop emerging from the Hallyu Wave victorious in capturing the hearts and minds of America, understanding what Americans want (great songs and a movie version that allows for kids and family members alike to sing along) and a message about being alienated and keeping something a secret and battling one's demons. I think personally the story line wasn't what did it, it was the songs. I'm humming it in my head now. A Friendsgiving, though, reminded me that as important as it's been for me to work as hard as possible, and work by myself to achieve my goals, life is not about just the relentless pursuit of those goals, it's sharing those goals with good company; camaraderie and companionship is a great drug (the word "companionship" has the same root "pan" in Latin as the bread you're breaking with those companions- everything I've learned recently I've learned from Jeopardy). For someone who's been starved for attention and human contact for awhile now living in my own little bubble of remote work and little interaction with the outside world, Friendsgiving was a Thanksgiving feast of communication and companionship, and I ate heartily. (I actually regret a little bit that I didn't eat more actual food heartily, I came home actually a little hungry sadly for a holiday where it's actually socially acceptable to splurge and eat as much as you can). Here's hoping the hard work that's keeping me from companionship will also pay off too though, and that one day I'll be going Up up up and it's my moment, together we're glowin, gonna be gonna be golden.