Expectations

Last Friday night I went to see the Broadway play Mary Poppins at the Capital Theater in Salt Lake.  I have seen the movie several times, thanks to my children who loved watching it.  It did not follow the movie as I expected it.  The feeling that arose in me as I watched unfamiliar parts was disturbing.  The performers were wonderful overall.  The singing was great and the dancing fantastic!  Then, why would these uncomfortable feelings surface?  As we, my daughter and I, were talking about the play, I remembered last weeks reading from our text, Writing and Rhetoric.  Chapter 7 talks about "the power and pleasure of form", which explains how we like to receive what we expect.  For example, we watch the same old movies over and over again, listen to certain songs, and read interesting books more than once.  Have you ever read a favorite book to a child and read something wrong?  They will be sure to correct you.  It's that expectation of the familiar, the "form", that we feel comfortable with.  Some of us are comfortable with the old, yet, it's good to try or experience the new once in a while.  You never know, you might like it and it could become a new favorite!  In this case however, I still like the old Mary Poppins better.