Mikkel Snyder
The Six Year Old Me Explains Classic Cinema
I haven't really seen that many movies, but I do know which ones I like and which ones I don't
And I don't really like the Titanic, and I'm not sure why that girl wasn't wearing any clothes, and
the guy had to die at the end, or why my mom seems to like the movie so much, and my dad tells
me we'll watch a real movie later next and he says sorry to me and my brother for bringing us
along, but my younger brother is just learning to talk and I don't mind too much because of the
popcorn and the soda because we never have popcorn at home and I never get to drink soda after
it gets dark except for movie night.
Besides, whenever I got bored I just started thinking about Apollo 13 and I start thinking if they
can fix a ship crashing in space, you'd think they'd be able to stop a ship sinking in the water and
maybe I don't know too much about science, but I know that fixing things is a good thing and
that both my mom and dad fix things, although my mom fixes people and my dad fixes ships,
and my mom talks about the Titanic, she says words like 'broken hearts' and I ask her if she can
fix them, and she smiles and says yes and when my dad talks about Apollo 13, he says words
like differential equations and fluid dynamics, and I'm not really sure what any of that means, but
dad says that one day, if I want to, I might learn.
So next week, we're going to see Jurassic Park with our new video tape player and dad says it's a
pain in a word mom won't let him say to install, but we can watch movies on our little tv and I
think that's really cool that we don't have to go out to see movies and that our tv doesn't just play
cartoons. And when I see the dinosaurs on the screen and people getting hurt, I ask mom if she
can fix them and I ask dad if he could stop the dinosaurs, but there's also this part of me that
doesn't want to stop the dinosaur because they're really cool.
And when mom and dad realize this, they go on a computer and they use something called the
internet and find a place that has real dinosaurs, except they’re not real, just moving models, but
it's still the coolest thing and they take my picture with all of the cool dinosaurs.
And the week after that, my dad's away on a ship and he will be for a while, but he gives us a gift
and says it was one of his favorite movies and it's called Star Wars and I'm hoping that there's
more space, and more dinosaurs, and my mom works in the morning while we're in school, but
the weekend is coming up and I show her my good grades in math and science and reading and
she smiles and says okay, we'll watch one more.
And dad's going to be back soon. He has to fix things with science, like mom does only different.
And I can't wait till I fix things.
Mikkel Snyder is a performance poet currently based in Madison, WI area. He has ties to the spoken word scene in DC and St. Louis. An engineer by trade and a writer by passion, Mikkel can be often found combing comic book shops and catching up on the latest episodes of prime time television.
The Six Year Old Me Explains Classic Cinema
I haven't really seen that many movies, but I do know which ones I like and which ones I don't
And I don't really like the Titanic, and I'm not sure why that girl wasn't wearing any clothes, and
the guy had to die at the end, or why my mom seems to like the movie so much, and my dad tells
me we'll watch a real movie later next and he says sorry to me and my brother for bringing us
along, but my younger brother is just learning to talk and I don't mind too much because of the
popcorn and the soda because we never have popcorn at home and I never get to drink soda after
it gets dark except for movie night.
Besides, whenever I got bored I just started thinking about Apollo 13 and I start thinking if they
can fix a ship crashing in space, you'd think they'd be able to stop a ship sinking in the water and
maybe I don't know too much about science, but I know that fixing things is a good thing and
that both my mom and dad fix things, although my mom fixes people and my dad fixes ships,
and my mom talks about the Titanic, she says words like 'broken hearts' and I ask her if she can
fix them, and she smiles and says yes and when my dad talks about Apollo 13, he says words
like differential equations and fluid dynamics, and I'm not really sure what any of that means, but
dad says that one day, if I want to, I might learn.
So next week, we're going to see Jurassic Park with our new video tape player and dad says it's a
pain in a word mom won't let him say to install, but we can watch movies on our little tv and I
think that's really cool that we don't have to go out to see movies and that our tv doesn't just play
cartoons. And when I see the dinosaurs on the screen and people getting hurt, I ask mom if she
can fix them and I ask dad if he could stop the dinosaurs, but there's also this part of me that
doesn't want to stop the dinosaur because they're really cool.
And when mom and dad realize this, they go on a computer and they use something called the
internet and find a place that has real dinosaurs, except they’re not real, just moving models, but
it's still the coolest thing and they take my picture with all of the cool dinosaurs.
And the week after that, my dad's away on a ship and he will be for a while, but he gives us a gift
and says it was one of his favorite movies and it's called Star Wars and I'm hoping that there's
more space, and more dinosaurs, and my mom works in the morning while we're in school, but
the weekend is coming up and I show her my good grades in math and science and reading and
she smiles and says okay, we'll watch one more.
And dad's going to be back soon. He has to fix things with science, like mom does only different.
And I can't wait till I fix things.
Mikkel Snyder is a performance poet currently based in Madison, WI area. He has ties to the spoken word scene in DC and St. Louis. An engineer by trade and a writer by passion, Mikkel can be often found combing comic book shops and catching up on the latest episodes of prime time television.
