gidget

via imdb.com

if i could be anyone else, i'd be ...

frances "gidget" lawrence, the sandra dee version. yes i do love sally field and feel she can do no wrong, i have only seen the movie version and fell so utterly in love, i refuse to watch any sequels or reboots. the only vhs copy video plaza in cary, nc had spent most of the summer of 1995 in my vcr. it may still be there, i should call mom and check.

gidget was my mirror as a teen. i was short, smaller "figured" than the rest of my friends and had little interest in dating. when i did like a boy, chances are i was on the loosing end of that crush. i did the typical girl things, read magazines and hung out at the mall, but it was mostly because that's where my friends were, i didn't enjoy it yet. to me, gidget was going thru everything i was, only she got to go thru it at the beach. note to self, find a way to live near the beach.

the movie opens with gidget being dragged by her friends to the beach for a man hunt, the idea of hunting men seems daunting and a dull all at once. the closest i've come was one spring break at disney when my 3 friends and i stalked some boys around the park. they stalked us too, we ended up pen pals, for like a minute. gidget ignores her friends and goes off on her own once they reach the beach, and that's when it happens. she meets that guy that's gonna wreck all the childhood left in her, but in a good way.

while swimming in the ocean, flippers and all, she gets tangled in some kelp and has to be rescued by a gorgeous surfer. it's entirely victorian of me to say that a woman wants to be rescued, i know, but let's be honest, who wouldn't enjoy being pulled from the ocean abyss by a good looking guy like james darren. ah, he became my ideal. a good looking guy from a hard working family who isn't afraid to relax at the beach for the summer before going back to hit the books. i must admit if a man started singing to me, right in my face, out of no where, i might be a tad weirded out. this hasn't happened so, who knows, might be awesome.

when it came time for college i drove east, stopped at the beach and never moved home again. i day dreamed of spending my free time riding the waves with a moon doggie of my own. sadly my dreams were dashed when i was pulled under by a strong rip tide, i quickly discovered i don't like being dragged under against my will. so now i spend my time just far enough in to get wet but far enough out to keep my head above water. i long to have gidgets' carefree, devil may care attitude again, my adult self could really use it. i have finally moved to gidgets' coast, who knows, maybe the tide will change.