Movie Triggers Best Memories

By any measure, Avengers is a smashing success making over $200 million on opening weekend. This is the biggest movie opening ever by more than $30 million with more than $600 million spent worldwide. What is it that has attracted such a turn out across all ages and countries? I can't speak for anyone else, but for me it is a return to the excitement and fantasy of my childhood. I was 10 when Hulk and Thor came on the scene and 12 when Captain America was brought back.

Money was tight for a farm kid in early 1960s and there wasn’t much do to for organized activities. Somehow I managed to scrape up a dime every now and then and buy a Marvel Comic Book. Rarely D.C. Comics. My brother was a fan of Iron Man and the X-men. He had freaky feet and they worked almost like hands. His favorite was the beast. 

My favorites were Spiderman and Thor. We had many Thor vs Beast battles on the haystacks, snow banks, and fields on our farm. I remember "borrowing” my dad’s 8-pound mini sledge hammer. With a well-placed throw it destroyed a lot of snow giants and other imaginary creatures and villains without ever actually returning to me like Thor’s Uru Hammer Mjolnir.  Oh well, it did in my imagination. 

Those comics were a great escape. They reinforced that the good guys get up when knocked down, they persevere and they win. The Avengers has rekindled my imagination and triggered great memories. It’s already a winner in my book and I can’t wait to see it. All the weekend show times I had available were sold out.