Me: Are you ready for the Hannah Montana movie?
Her: Yes! I'm wearing my Hannah Montana underwear!
I had an awesome evening yesterday. Only a stone's throw from where the Jays were putting up big numbers on opening night, my daughter and I were having a Hannah Montana experience. Disney Canada doesn't want me to review this film until Friday, but I'm allowed to write about the experience, and an experience is the perfect descriptor for what I enjoyed for three hours at the Scotiabank Theatre.
I was anticipating traffic, with the home opener and that snowy rain, but it was probably only 15 minutes from my driveway to Queen and John Streets. As a result, we assumed our media-only seats shortly after 6pm for a 7pm flick. Michelle was buzzing. She loves the Hannah Montana television show and has been talking about this movie for weeks. She gave me the run down on the characters during our drive downtown, as I have never seen an episode. I heard enough to know it was safe for the kids, but I didn't know about Miley's brother and granny and best friend.
During the hour before the film, it was surreal. The target demo seemed to be girls aged 4 - 10, and I don't think I saw a single boy. They played a video for "Hoedown Throwdown", a song from the movie we were about to watch, and a "How to do the Hoedown Throwdown" tutorial, featuring Miley Cyrus herself. They aired these two clips on a continuous loop, and Michelle got up and danced along every time.
I don't think I've ever ventured as far from my comfort zone. She was literally glowing as she "countrified it" and "hip-hopped it". Here's that video I saw about ten times last night.
Michelle had a plan. She was going to squeeze my hand during the funny parts. This lasted about 30 minutes until she asked to sit in my lap. Then, I half watched a surprisingly entertaining movie and half watched Michelle's intense focus on the screen. She laughed, she cried, she cheered, and, when the actors danced during the closing credits, she got up and danced once more.
On the drive home, we chatted about the movie. She told me about the father-daughter scene that put tears in her eyes, and how her eyes still teared up when she thought about it. She loved the Taylor Swift cameo, the songs and the overall story. Well past her bedtime when we got home, she was still buzzing.
I've got almost 7.5 years of parenting under my belt, and I try my best, but I'll inevitably screw up at one point or another. Only 4.75 of those years have been parenting a little girl, but when I mess up, I'm going to reference this awesome night it all went right.
Fathers of girls aged 4-10, you might want to plan a daddy-daughter day around this one. Movies like this don't need a review, as reviews don't matter. It's all about the experience.
