Midlife Crisis
Midlife Crisis — Wearing Leather and Riding a Wild Hog
“Boys will be boys, and so will a lot of middle-aged men.” Kim Hubbard
Immediately after work on Friday evening, (3/2/07), my husband pleaded with me to take an evening away from the computer and accompany him to see the movie “Wild Hogs.” That the movie was a comedy about a group of middle-aged men who decide to take off on a 2000-mile cross-country adventure on their motorcycles is about all the information that was given. Not really enthused about the subject matter, I hesitantly accepted the invite.
Arriving at the theatre at 5ish on a Friday afternoon, expecting there to be plenty of seating for either the 5:20 or 5:40 showing, we were somewhat surprised to find only a few available seats for the early show, and the later showing had already sold out. Hmm, I thought, now becoming mildly curious, was it the movie’s all-star cast that drew the crowd or the subject matter — or both? Ever in a seniorhoodTM mindset, maybe this wasn’t a night off after all.
Walking into the crowded theater, immediately it occurred to me that everyone in the auditorium appeared to be at least middle aged. There didn’t seem to be any small children or teenagers in the house at all. And it felt kind of nice to be surrounded by so many people my own age. Difficult to explain, but there seemed to be a generational connection, sort of a “Boomers Night Out” ambiance. So this is what living in an active-adult community might be like, I thought. Nice.
The movie, I’ve got to admit, was somewhat predictably campy. Four middle-aged buddies, each in the midst of their own version of a mid-life identity crisis, decide to take their weekend recreational bikes cross-country for a taste of adventure and freedom that they somehow abandoned over the years.
“Take notes,” my husband whispered to me at some point during the movie. But it was too late, I already was. With very little attention paid to the also-aging female actors in the movie, there emerged, at least in my mind, a perspective of women whose characters met midlife with strength and independence.
Throughout the movie, rather than introducing clingy and dependent women, Allen’s wife, for example, embraced and even encouraged her husband’s need for harmless reaffirmation of his manhood. Similarly, Marisa Tomei, Macy’s love interest, portrayed a single, independent woman successfully running her own business in a small southwestern town.
All in all, while the movie provided a few good laughs, it appeared obvious that the bulk of the movie’s budget had been spent on actors’ salaries rather than on the script. Too bad, too. The subject matter, as it turns out, would have made for a really good movie. Like the movie’s storyline or not, there was probably not a person in the room that couldn’t in some way relate.
Leaving the theatre and listening intently to comments from others on the way out, it seemed the reactions to the movie weren’t as bad as the reviews that I have since read. In fact, many people exiting the theatre seemed to have enjoyed the movie and had positive things to say. Perhaps being partially biased due to a fairly recent midlife bike purchase, my husband seemed to rather enjoy the movie as well.
The cast of Wild Hogs, who all looked like “posers” in their new full-leather riding gear, actually had a few bike enthusiasts amongst the group. Tim Allen and John Travolta are not new to biking and have enjoyed the sport for years. Allen’s younger brother had been involved in a serious motorcycle accident years back, where his girlfriend was killed and he lost a leg. “My mom didn’t know for a long time I kept bikes,” he said. “But if it’s in your blood, it’s in your blood.”
Apparently, motorcycle cruising as a sport has regained popularity thoughout the United States in recent years. According to the Motorcycle Industry Council, new motorcycle sales hit 1.2 million last year, which was the highest figure in 14 years.
For those Boomers considering a road trip yet yearning for some modern comforts, there are now motorcycle campgrounds popping up all across the country. Bikercamps.com, for example, is a web site featuring motorcycle campgrounds perfect for such a biker road trip. Seems middle-aged Easy Rider wannabees may just need to care for those sore muscles and aching backs after a long day in the saddle and may opt for a cabin and running water rather than a sleeping bag and a tent.
