Never Seen It! Sunday: Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

You know when someone asks if you’ve seen their favourite movie and say you seen “parts of it” because you don’t want to seem like a total pop culture pariah? Yeah, we do too—and we hate ourselves for it! That’s why every other week, we’ve vowed to watch at least one movie we’ve put off, ignored, rejected or just plain-out forgotten about. Join us as recount the popping of our cinematic cherries, complete with awkward, over-analytical details!

DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA-YA SISTERHOOD

DATE RELEASED: June 7, 2002


DATE WATCHED: March 31, 2012


WHY NOW? For a night in, there's not much releasing on DVD now that I haven't already seen or that I have any interest in watching, so I've been going through older movies that I've always wanted to watch but haven't had the chance to. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood is always on TV but I never catch it in time.


WHY NOT THEN? As a young teen, I had no interest at all in a movie about a club of older women. What did I know about their issues? Their lives? Their experiences? Better yet, what did I care?


EXPECTATIONS:

• Older women gossiping about womanly things
• A movie reminiscent of Now and Then
• Some humour that I still might not get

WHAT I ACTUALLY GOT...

• A movie that was a lot more serious than I thought it would be, though in a good way. It was more than just women gossiping about funny things that had happened to them, but also about really significant moments in their lives, but still a light enough watch.
• A story about friendship as much as about family, and a perfect choice to watch with your mom and sister (as I did).
• Sandra Bullock in one of the better serious(ish) roles I've seen in her. I feel like I've been wrong about her all along.
• Reminiscence of Now and Then, with beautifully styled flashbacks to the past of cherished memories. But Now and Then is still better.
• Not so much about the actual sisterhood as I had hoped, but more about the relationship between one woman and her daughter. With a great opening scene about the foundations of their friendship, more would have been nicer.
• It's not as deep as I think it intends to be, but there are only so many directions it can go. Maybe reading the book will fill in the gaps.

ONE NIGHT-IN STAND OR SECOND DATE POTENTIAL?
If it's on TV, as I'm sure it will be, I might stay for a while. But I'm not going to track it down. Except maybe one day in the distant future when I have a movie night with daughters of my own.