Death and Life on June 4, 1982

More often than not, I read Ain't It Cool News for movie and TV geek gossip the likes of which I can't find elsewhere. Entertainment Weekly or TV Guide, for example, both love Lost and faithfully report its cast changes and smoke monster attacks, but only Ain't It Cool News writes about upcoming episode with the shameless fanboy frothing — and complementary diehard expertise — that I crave. Yesterday, however, I happened upon an entirely different sort of article that initially caught my eye only by virtue of the headline:

"Death and Life on June 4, 1982"

For those sitting at the back of class, that's my birthday, in the literal sense of the word.

The post details one film lover's viewing of two films that opened in my birthday: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Poltergeist. I've seen the latter many times, but never the former, so I will just take the writer's words assurance of thematic overlap between the two films' notions of life and death and loss and suffering do indeed share some similarities. The author then discusses his own experience with Poltergeist-like explained phenomena, but not in a way that makes him seem like the kind of loony, superstitious spiritualist who usually posts such stories online.

In all, a beautiful piece brimming with unabashed geekiness and honesty about the authors marvel at how pop culture intersected with his life in a meaningful way.

That's what I've been shooting for here, though I fear I've often missed my mark.