I don’t remember the exact day I first watched Matilda. It’s probably due to the fact that I was very young and I’ve seen it a million and one times after that. I do remember that I was around 6 years old and it was my dad who introduced it to me. Being daddy’s little girl, I watched the movie just to spend time with him. I never knew that this movie would still hold a special place in my heart at 19 years old. This movie has taught me so much more than just how to spell the word “difficulty”. Here are the reasons why Matilda changed my life as a child.
1. Matilda made reading look so enjoyable and that’s part of the reason why I read as much as I do now!
2. She also taught me to always have my best friend’s back. Matilda and Lavender were friendship goals before the term friendship goals was even a thing.
3. It’s important to always cheer on for your friends. Even if it is finishing a gigantic chocolate cake. You can do it Bruce!
4. I wanted to be like Matilda so much that I begged my dad to teach me how to make pancakes. That scene was everything I wanted to be, an independent 6-year-old.
5. I have always known I had the best parents in the world, but this movie made me appreciate them even more. I was only 6 years old, but that didn’t stop me from vowing that I’d be less of a Harry Wormwood and more of a Miss Honey as a parent.
6. Knowledge is power! I was too young to understand what that exactly meant. I just thought having the power to move things would be awesome. What I did grasp from the movie at 6 years old was that if you go to school and learn as much as you possibly could something great will come out of it. That has been proven true to me over the years.
7. I learned to appreciate my intelligence. Not to sound arrogant, but I was pretty smart for a 6-year-old and I learned to embrace it because of this movie. I was able to play around and have fun without worrying so much about school. I was acing my spelling tests with flying colors!
Overall, this is just a good movie because it’s funny, cute, and it has a lot of good messages. It teaches you to appreciate intelligence. It teaches you to embrace differences. It teaches you that no matter how old you are you should always stand up for yourself. It teaches you that no matter how dark or sad things might seem now, there’s always hope for something better. I know that when I have children of my own I will definitely introduce this movie to them like my dad introduced it to me. Afterall, this movie unknowingly became one of the factors of why I am the strong young woman I am today!
Photo credit: Cover photo, All gifs courtesy of Giphy