Joel is having an existential crisis these days. Yes, I know he's 5, but the kid is deep.
He recently was told by Gabriel for the upteenth time that whatever movie they were watching wasn't real. These declarations had fallen on either deaf or uncomprehending ears before about a couple of months ago. For some reason it seems to have finally sunken in.
Now, every time he watches a movie on DVD or TV, this is how our conversation goes:
J: "Mommy is this real?"
Me: "What do you mean?"
J: "Is this movie real?"
Me: "Yes, it's a real movie."
J: "No I mean are the people real?"
Me: "Yes the people are real, but they are actors pretending. They are acting out a story that someone wrote."
He seems to accept this, although it kind of makes him sad to find out things he thought are real are actually not.
If we happen to be watching something animated, it changes up a little:
J: Mommy this isn't real is it?
Me: "That's right, these aren't real people, they are drawings. There are a bunch of drawings that get video taped to where it looks like the characters are moving."
I don't think he understand this at all so he doesn't comment further.
When we are listening to CD's he also is full of questions:
J: Mommy is this a real person making this music?
Me: Yes, but they aren't singing it right now. It was recorded some time ago and put onto a CD.
Then every so often I get one of these questions:
J: Mommy are they on this Earth?
Me: I'm not exactly sure what you are asking, but yes, they are on this Earth.
These are conversations that never came up with Gabriel. I know there must have been a time when we explained that movies and such aren't real, but I don't remember the conversation or how he reacted. I do know that he didn't ask questions like this. That I would remember.
It just proves to me that Joel is a) much more intelligent than people give him credit for, and b) he apparently is on another plane in the universe, one that I hope will translate into a career in quantum physics.
