autobots rule!

It was great to get another insight into the teen boy mindset today. Ed and a bunch of his friends went to see, and I quote, Oh my God, one of the three greatest movies of all time. It was, he told me, so good. Oh my God. So good. We were in the car at this point, bright sunshine and a highway unrolling in front of us, and he gestured mutely at the windshield, shaking his head, unable to express the depth of his feeling.
He was talking, of course, about Transformers 2. For those of you who are not teenaged boys, this movie (like its predecessor) pits one kind of gigantic transforming machine against another kind in a battle to save the world. There is human interaction as well -- a pleasant male actor and a luscious female actor. (What's her role? I asked Ed. She spends a lot of time running across the screen in slow motion, he replied.) The real point of the movie is not sex, but action -- lots of chasing, fights, explosions, and, well, and then more of the same. What I loved was listening to Ed tell me how great it was. His description of the plot was detailed and systematic, but when he went on to discuss the fight scenes his voice became supercharged. He was re-experiencing a kind of epiphany. I actually shouted at the screen! he said. When Optimus Prime is fighting the three Decepticons in the forest, I was, like, shouting. Oh, my God!
What about your friends? I said. They were doing it too, he said. A whole row of us, shouting at the screen! It was so intense. And when Optimus Prime

CAUTION ... SPOILER ALERT ... SKIP THIS NEXT BIT IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS
dies, the whole theater said, No!!! together.
OKAY. READ ON.

Wow, I said.
When we left the theater we were all so excited we were jumping around, he said. I was like, I have to watch that again! I was envying the people in line to see the next show.
I asked Ed is there were many girls in the theater.
A few, he said. But they were with their boyfriends. And they weren't screaming at the screen.
I smiled at the idea of these generous girls, very possibly bored out of their skulls after two hours of mechanized mayhem, but putting up with it for the sake of their men. (The shoe will be on the other foot later this year when the next Twilight movie comes out.)
I may have to see Transformers 2 myself. If I do, though, I want to watch it with Ed.