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I am a 44 year old single mother of two beautiful children; Brian 20, and Nicole 17. Being a mom is the thing I am most proud of; I could sit and ta...
 
 
 
 

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Can The Movie "Mamma Mia" Relieve Stress, and Make You Smile?

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Can a good movie reduce stress? I've always believed that smiling and laughing is healing in some way. And, there is a lot of evidence that supports that theory. I also know that for me, music can deeply affect my mood. Some songs are sad reminders of the past, and others are happy reminders of experiences I never want to forget. Seeing the movie Mamma Mia with my daughter, and listening to all the music, is definitely going to be a lasting and happy memory for me.

This is what happened. My daughter has been wanting to see the movie Journey To The Center Of The Earth in 3-D, and we also both wanted to see Mamma Mia. So, on Thursday, we decided to see Journey To The Center Of The Earth. But, when we got to the theater we found out it was only in 3-D at "selected" theaters, and we weren't at one of those. Mamma Mia was showing in the same theater about 15 minutes later, so we decided to see that instead.

To tell you the truth, I really didn't think that either one of the movies was going to have much of an impact on me. I was feeling quite depressed, and was only taking my daughter to the movies because I thought that was what a good mother would do. [Without getting into too many details...I went right from Post BlogHer Blues and BlogHer Bolla, into one of the top mothering nightmares that parents can have with their teen sons. And, I've been going out of my mind ever since.] So, since I was feeling like a failure as a mother when it came to my son, I thought I shouldn't allow my anxiety to affect my daughter. However, I didn't think anything, much less a movie, would be able to take my mind off of my troubles.

Thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised.

For me, this was one of the best movies I have ever seen. I laughed, I cried, I tapped my feet, and I even sung along a little. I really thought I was going to the movies for my daughter, but in retrospect, it was the best thing I could have ever done for myself.

So...My independent study, shows conclusively, that the movie Mamma Mia can relieve stress and make you smile. If you don't believe me, go check it out for yourself. I enjoyed it so much, that I hope to take my mother and my daughter to see it again tomorrow. Mamma Mia therapy may not be the solution to my problems, but it sure is a nice temporary diversion.

Here is some of what other bloggers are saying...

From Sarah Seltzer at Reproductive Health - Finding Feminism Where You Least Expect It...

Mamma Mia! might not be about feminism, or seek to advance feminism, but it takes many of feminism's principles as a given, and works (or works it, if you will) from there.

Mamma Mia Feminist Creative Power Film

Mamma Mia! Here I go again! Okay it's still running through my head and I have the urge to dance and twirl and sing through the house! haha!

Last night my daughter19 and I went to the movies to see Mamma Mia! It was so fun! Originally a broadway stage show based on songs by ABBA and now made into a movie starring Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnon.

From My Little Black Book...

Ok, so I went to see MAMMA MiA with my mom and feel madly in love. It was the most amazing movie I have seen in a long time, and I know exactly why. It’s the love story! They play it off as it revolves around Sophie, HA! What a lie! It’s about the mom being with the man she loves! I have seen the play 3 times, and the movie 2 times, and I was adicted to the sound track for a long time.

Jane Becker from The Dame Domain, compares the Sex and the City movie, to the Mamma Mia movie, in Deconstructing The Female Blockbuster.

This is not even a contest.

The women in “SATC” are a good 20 years younger than their counterparts in “Mama”, but they seem infinitely less happy. They sit around coffee shops and trendy restaurants discussing their

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mineaux 5 pts

Amazing, amazing, amazing! What capped it off for me was seeing the TV show "The View" that had Merryl Streep interviewing on how she enjoyed filming the movie. It was fantastic! She was made to play that role. I did not grow up with the ABBA music, but really like it now! When  my daughter Chelsea now 6 years old, grows up, I may be singing the tunes to Mamma Mia for her!

Debbie Raymond-Pinet

www.debbieraymondpinet.com ( http://www.debbieraymondpinet.com/ )

author and teacher of the Law of Attraction

Megan Smith 5 pts

Hi Catherine,

"Mamma Mia" can definitely beat the blues.  It's a fun movie that doesn't pretend to be anything other than what it is:  an all out good time.

I saw it just last week and wrote about it here. ( http://www.megansminute.com/2008/08/mamma-mia-how-... )

Megan Smith ( http://www.blogher.com/haystackprofile/viewprofile... )
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/YouTube ( http://www.blogher.com/blog/msmith )
Megan's Minute: Quirky Commentary Around The Clock ( http://www.megansminute.com/ )

Creatively Belle 5 pts

I went along with my musical nephew to it and ended up laughing and singing along. I really enjoyed it.

I must admit, I really didn't get into it until the scene with all the dancing and singing Greek ladies. Then I thought if they can get an entire island of Greek women of all ages dancing and singing like then there's something wonderful this movie has done.

The closing captions were hiliarious and it was a great film to see with my nephew.

Lots of Smiles,

Belinda

Great Earring Holders - no more messy jewelry tangles! ( http://www.creativelybelle.com/stands )

Nordette Adams 6 pts

Totally relieve stress that is, and make you smile too. I was singing by the end of the movie when I saw it tonight with my daughter, 27. We both laughed and had an all out good time. Talked about it on the way home. Mama Mia is great soul refresher.

The Mummy 3, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor ( http://bigsole.blogspot.com/2008/08/i-deleted-mumm... ), had the opposite effect. 

Nordette ( http://blogher.org/blog/nordette ) is a Contributing Editor with BlogHer.com whose personal blog is hosted on another site at this link ( http://bigsole.blogspot.com ). Most recent Blogher post at the time of this comment: SAHM to WAHM Takes More Than Moxie ( http://www.blogher.com/sahm-wahm-takes-more-moxie ).

( http://blogher.org/blog/nordette )

Debra Roby 5 pts

I'm dealing with some persistent anxiety issues, and seeing that movie (mainly because of this post) was a perfect anti-dote for a few hours.

I think if I had the DVD it would be on constant rerun at the moment.

Debra
A Stitch In Time ( http://astitchintime.blogspot.com )
Weight for Deb ( http://weightfordeb.wordpress.com )

Jody DeVere -- Ask Patty 5 pts

Last weekend I took my 83 year ofl Mom and 85 year old Dad to see Mama Mia ...we all loved the movie. We all saw it on stage a few years back and thought the movie with Merrill Streep and cast did a great job, although Pierce Brosnan needs a few more singing lessons LOL!

Grew up going to musicals with Mom and Dad and this was a wonderful treat for us all !

Jody DeVere
President
www.askpatty.com ( http://www.askpatty.com )
www.carblabber.com ( http://www.carblabber.com )

CreativeJunkie 5 pts

I saw it with my fourteen year old daughter and we both loved it, although she could not believe that I cried during that scene when Meryl has Sophie on her lap and is singing to her.

I absolutely LOVE ABBA. I saw it on stage and knew I would want to see the movie. Both my daughter and I were dancing out of the theatre. I'm going to get her the soundtrack for Christmas.

Meryl was great ... Pierce Brosnan should stick with looking pretty on screen and not singing. That was a little startling.

(Peace_anlove ... I'm sorry for what you're going through ... I hope everything works out)

Andrea

The Creative Junkie

http://www.thecreativejunkie.com

JanMBSC 5 pts

Stay strong Peace_anlove and keep us posted on your progress.

Peace_anlove 5 pts

I saw it on Opening Day and loved it. I had only been out of the hospital for less than 2 weeks after having surgery for Ovarian Cancer and waiting for the outcome of biopsies to know how many chemo treatments I would be having, what the stage was for the cancer, what my survival rate might be, so yea, I went in to it a little down.  I totally forgot all my troubles.  Which is amazing because my husband wanted to see the show, I wasn't too thrilled about going.  You see, he has been gone for the past six months on tour with the Broadway production of Mama Mia.  I didn't want him to take the gig cause I knew I wouldn't see him for a long time.  He took the job, I have seen him twice until I got the cancer news and he came home for my surgery and recovery.  So, I really didn't want nothing to do with Mama Mia.  But we went, and I loved it.  I have seen the play several times and I usually don't like movie remakes of plays.  But they nailed it, Meryl Streep was excellent, I was totally amazed by her performance.

 And it totally, made me smile and feel happy inside something I hadn't felt sense finding out a month ago I had cancer.  So, yes it certainly reliieved my stress.

JanMBSC 5 pts

THE VERY BEST movie I have seen in ages! I have seen it twice (so far) and plan to purchase the movie when it becomes available. I loved the Broadway show and was just a trifle snooty when two of my friends wanted to go see the movie. As wonderful as the Broadway play is the movie is twice as good primarily due to the scenery and of course Meryl Streep. Don't miss this one!

www.http://www.jannysplace.blogspot.com ( http://www.http://www.jannysplace.blogspot.com

Kalyn Denny 5 pts

Back to report that Abba Greatest Hits is now blasting on my CD player!

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen ( http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com )

Kalyn Denny 5 pts

Just saw this last night and loved it. You'd have to know my strong preference for dark, serious dramas to realize how amazing this is. I thought SATC was just fair (even though I was a fan of the TV show) but this movie made me smile, laugh, and sing along.

I did see the play in Washington D.C. years ago, which may have made me like the movie even more. And I did think some performers were a lot better than others, (Meryl Streep is so amazingly multi-talented!) but somehow the fact that even the ones who weren't great singers were performing with gusto and seemingly having a great time made me like it even more.

My one complaint: The music was not turned up nearly loud enough when I saw it! Would love to see it again if I could find a venue where they would really blast the music. Or maybe I will settle for buying the CD and blasting it at home! (Hmm, I think I may even have an ABBA CD already!)

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen ( http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com )