W is For Watching "BirdBox"

My sister came over the house and told me about Sandra Bullock’s new movie "Birdbox" and after she showed me the trailer off her phone, I decided I would sit and watch the new Netflix film because the previews of it looked pretty interesting.  

I think I had an instant emotional response to the fact that it was Sandra Bullock as the leading actress since I learned to love her from watching "Miss Congeniality." Since then I can't help but enjoy her acting. I appreciated the fact that the trailer showed that she was leading kids on a journey by water with a blindfold on which seemed pretty interesting. 

Hope usually springs eternal when I decide to watch any movie because motion pictures are not like short sitcoms. You can't simply breeze through a movie in a few minutes. They take a few hours of time to be propped in front of a television to watch. But I went full throttle with the idea and on Christmas Eve, we sat and watched "Birdbox" together.

The movie had its good moments and its bad moments, but overall, I enjoyed the flick.

It would probably be advised that this movie is suitable for people beyond the age bracket of 17 because of the suggested violence but for this film, I’d say, is not suitable for anyone with the dynamic disorder of taking what is meant to be a mere cinematic delight and trying to recreate the madness in real time. Or maybe it should be rated MM for the mentally mature.

I didn’t think that people would be brave enough to decide to try grocery shopping, walking or doing other things blindfold with their kids based on scenes in a movie. I never considered that it would become a thing where people were out there trying to see if they can drive blindfolded even with bicyclist, motorists and pedestrians who at the same time are not adhering to the rules of the road. Sometimes we need a moment to pause and reassess when we see things like “hashtag birdbox challenge” “hashtag tide pod challenge” “hashtag Drake In My Feelings Challenge” all over the different social media platforms you use.

Should I now be quaked with fear that the driver in front of me might be blindfolded? We already have all these sizeable issues all around us and now this silly one that is becoming quite dangerous if you ask me. Don’t jump on the band wagon just because you think it might be fun. The fact that the end of the movie concludes in a home for blind people might be something to consider. The things we see, we die to see. People are dying to see if they can accomplish things with a blindfold on because they saw it in a movie. Is this your suicide attempt? Each character who saw died to their vision.

But if you do not see something, you cannot be moved by the image. You are in the box of being controlled by what you hear, feel, taste or smell. A blind person can’t glorify the image of the sun or be ruled by it in the morning, but they might know it is time to wake up because of the crowing of the roosters and the smell of the morning dew. 

If I didn’t see the news report of the guy driving with a blindfold that got into a terrible accident because of this crazy challenge, I would have been less likely to have gotten distracted by it. And to think, I’m clumsy with vision. I can’t see how someone would expect that driving with a blindfold on, would have been a good idea.

Let’s not all jump to living without one of the working senses we were blessed to have, all at once. Why are we so eager to pretend to be blind? There needs to be a sense of balance. 

I guess failing is often the best way to learn but I don’t think causing vehicular death because of a “hashtag challenge” is the best way to learn. So let’s stop doing these ridiculous things.

Even still, “BirdBox” is a good movie. Sandra Bullock did some incredible acting in this film as she is known to  and I give it to her. If you are interested in taking a glance at a good Netflix original movie, I’d say check it out.

It is action-packed. It is suspenseful. It is one of those movies that if you miss one moment, you miss a lot. It has intense moments and you will find yourself getting lost in the magic of this movie that might make you smile at moments and at other points of it, sad, scared and it might even make you cry. 

All I can say is, it is packed with flavor. See it for yourself and if you are someone who steps to your own beat of the drum, makes your own plans, and doesn’t get pressured by all these social media challenges to not keep up with your own ambition to accomplish your own goals, and have about two hours to watch a good old energetic horror picture, then “Birdbox” is for you.