It was fun last weekend getting people together to watch a viewing of Rocket Science. My NSA Chapter co-sponsored this with our local college. That was a good thing, because the college allowed us to use their facilities to watch the movie on the big screen.

I had worked with someone from HBO Pictures to get permission to screen a public viewing of the movie. In case you are not aware, you can’t just show a copyrighted movie publicly without first getting permission – in this case in writing – from the copyright holder. Its illegal. Studios make movies for two main reasons: to have a vehicle to express their story, and to make money.
It was a good lesson for me to find out how to track down the right people, explain what we wanted to do, ask questions over the phone – stutter and all – and ultimately get the HBO folks in Los Angeles and New York to agree that this was for a good cause.

My cause: to bring people who stutter together for an afternoon of fun. No therapy, no support group, no presentation, just socializing and fun. We watched a great movie, enjoyed popcorn and soft drinks, and enjoyed each other’s company. After the movie, I had some questions prepared to spur some discussion (I know, I’m anal like that. I was afraid if I didn’t have questions written up, no one would say anything). Everybody participated. We talked about whether the actor’s stuttering was realistic enough, we discussed the manipulative female character who was only looking out for herself, and we discussed the very dysfunctional family that claimed Hal.

A young man who stutters commented: “This movie was really just about life and and trying to make it everyday. Even people who don’t stutter can relate to the movie”. He was right of course, and that was indeed the method behind my madness. Its just nice every once in a while to get people together who share a common experience to just talk about life. We can all relate to weird parents, dorky siblings and high school snobs.

For me, the movie reminded me that we really do need to put life in perspective. People are always dealing with their own skeletons in the closet. Watching a movie about real people who aren’t perfect and not taking it too seriously reminds us that life shouldn’t be rocket science. We don’t have to over-complicate everything. We should appreciate our friends and family, however imperfect they may be.