Andrew!

It seems that I am determined to deprive all of you of a good read lately. This sunshine has encouraged continued time outdoors. Apologies all around. Today's post is about the movie Overboard but also about trust. I watched this film a couple weeks ago when my Dad and Rhana were in town, but recent events have caused me to change up this post a bit from the original. 

Overboard is a great film from 1987 that takes place in Elk Cove, OR. I have mentioned in a few other posts about the whole picture of a movie when you add the character development, music, sets, and camera angles to the plot and how I notice and appreciate that in films. This one was no different. I was not kidding when I mentioned that my movie collection is THE best one out there.

Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell star in this film, and yes for those of you who are curious, they started dating in 1983 so they were romantically involved during this film. Knowing that really does make the film so much better. Hawn stars as Joanna, a rich heiress who is living the life on a large yacht with her husband, Grant and her butler Andrew. The best example of her personality is when Joanna is getting a pedicure from Andrew while her manicure he recently finished was drying. She looks down at her fingernails and there were some tiny bugs that had landed to their doom on the surface. In the most haughty and condescending voice, Hawn declares that now she has "dead corpses" all over her fingers and Andrew must fix it. 

Kurt Russell stars as Dean Profitt, a carpenter, that suffers the wrath of a bored and too rich Joanna, when he remodels her closet in the yacht. As the title suggests, Joanna falls overboard and develops amnesia, forgetting her former life. Dean steps in and as payback convinces her that she is his wife, Annie. He then proceeds to torture her with chores, pig sty living, and rowdy children, in retaliation for her behavior earlier in the film. Joanna has no choice but to trust that Dean is telling the truth that he is her husband.

Another fun fact in this film is that Hector Alizondo is in it! I love him! He plays the skipper of the garbage crow that finds Joanna floating in the ocean and brings her to shore.

While Dean is deceiving Joanna, they start to enjoy each other's company. The four boys start to do better in school, the house is clean and respectable, and Annie/Joanna starts to fall in love with Dean. Towards the end of the film Joanna's husband Grant reluctantly comes to retrieve her from her life with Dean and once she lays eyes on him she remembers her former life on the yacht and the sweaty carpenter that pretended now to be her husband. Oh boy- you can imagine! Joanna is furious (rightfully so) and leaves to go back to her rich roots. While back on the yacht she realizes Grant left her there in Elk Cove with amnesia and he was no better than the lying Dean. But in classic Hollywood style-scripted design, true love prevails. Joanna goes back to her life with Dean that is filled with love.

Trust is an interesting thing. I mean when you think about it, we are all just trusting in trust until we are given reason to doubt it. Millions of people look the other way or unconsciously ignore the warning signs of  doubt in order to live the life that seems easiest. Living on a yacht having everything that you desire along with people to serve it to you seems like a great deal. For the purpose of this post, I liken that to trusting while ignoring the warning signs that something is wrong. Joanna had the unique opportunity through the wonders of modern movie amnesia to experience the other kind too. The blind trust that love and hard work engenders. In those situations when that trust is violated it changes EVERYTHING and nothing can return to the status quo. 

When Joanna realizes her trust in the ones she loved and her trust in herself was violated not only by her "warning sign ignoring" self but also by her "blind trusting" self, she has to decide what to do from that point on. That is the funny part about the trust that has been built by love and hard work- it can sometimes be rebuilt. Joanna decided to take the chance with Dean and the movie ends so we do not really know what happens. But I like to think that once her trust was violated it did change everything. Joanna and Dean were not going to return to the status quo in Elk Cove. But instead they decided it was worth fighting for a new trust in a new life together. 

Everyone you meet in life has their own stories and different paths that lead them to the spot where those paths crossed yours. Working in higher ed has given me a healthy exposure to honest and hard working people. I have seen lots of love between parents and children, so much care for a co worker in crisis, and people in a community connected only by the College itself trusting blindly in one another. Don't get me wrong, I have seen lots of deceit, trust violating, and pain too. But being exposed to both of those sides of the coin causes me to reevaluate what my trust in others looks like on a regular basis. I have come to rely on the inherent goodness humans possess and that love and compassion can take us a long way in relationship building and maintaining. Right or wrong, smart or stupid, I am second chance giver and overall strong supporter of trust rebuilding. I optimistically think that anything is possible. Now if only I could convey that to disgruntled roommate pairs :)