The Mom Weekly Volume 50: July 23, 2024
This past weekend, several of us watched the “cult classic” Napoleon Dynamite. (It’s available on Disney +). If you, like me, are not familiar with the “plot” (see me put my hands up for air quotes, since there is not much plot), you’ve certainly seen the photos and Halloween costumes and “Vote for Pedro” t-shirts.
That was quite the experience!
The reason it was on my list is that I read this lengthy, but charming, article and oral history about the making of the movie, 20 years ago:
The awkward, inspiring, completely out-there inside story of ‘Napoleon Dynamite’—Washington Post (gift article)
The movie is unbelievably odd and weird, with touching moments. But if you had to choose either watching the movie or reading the article, pick the article. I’m kinda glad I did both.
But it brought up an interesting question—what ostensibly makes a cult classic? Is that even “a thing” any longer, when entertainment is so varied and fragmented? When people often consume content individually and rarely have a communal experience of a movie or show?
Our family has certainly had our own “cult classics”—movies that we like to watch repeatedly, or seasonally, such as Groundhog Day, or The Muppet Christmas Carol, or the 1995 Pride & Prejudice. I wish we had more of those traditions—for instance, I’ve known people who have Lord of the Rings movie marathons every Thanksgiving or Christmas. And it would be fun to have a regular rewatching of the Narnia movies.
Anyway, what would you put in the category of a “cult classic”? There are innumerable lists online of the “50 best” or “100 greatest” but I don’t find those particularly helpful. I would be very interested to know the movies or shows you would put on the “cult classic” list, whether you’ve seen the movie or show or not.
Remember how much I love you,
Mom
Interesting/notable and An Action Item: Check Beneficiaries on all of your accounts
Your Parents are Getting Old, Here’s What to Do–Shaan Puri
I thought this was lovely, and a great perspective on what parents might want from their kids.
I wrote a couple of weeks ago about overcoming inertia when it comes to money. Here are a few examples to help you see the importance of having a schedule for checking your accounts.
This is a gift link of a recent WSJ article about a former partner of a man who died recently, and had never changed his beneficiary on his company’s retirement account.
I find it fascinating, and spent way too much time in the comments, about what is the “moral” thing for the beneficiary to do—give back the money since she was such a long-ago person in their life, or not?
This episode of the Choose FI podcast shows a similar dilemma. The woman interviewed was recently married to her husband, and when he died in a freak accident, she inherited all of his retirement accounts. Unfortunately, state laws did not ensure the assets only in his name, and his divorced parents fought her for those accounts.
So your action item is: Check beneficiaries on all of your accounts (especially retirement accounts).
It’s a good practice to periodically (say, once a year) double check that the beneficiaries on all of your accounts are up-to-date. Take 5-10 minutes to do that this week!
What are you doing this weekend?
Now that it’s Tuesday, what are you planning for the weekend? I’m going to suggest trying to cover four “F”s to get ideas flowing:
*faith—when are you going to Mass?
*friends—what friends will you see or connect with?
*food—any fun recipes you plan to try, or restaurants you plan to visit?
*fun—anything interesting you are going to play, watch, or do this weekend? Now’s the time to think it through, and put it on the calendar (even informally).