Ryan McNeil
This generation is spoiled.
Where our parents and grandparents in North America were brought up with the belief that the point of life was to find a good partner and start a family of your own, this generation has its eye on other things. We are hitting the snooze button of life for longer and longer windows, and using that precious time to do the things we want to do. Now sometimes, “what we want to do” has great value. It might be dedicating ourselves to a career that will give back greatly to our world, or it might be dedicated to creating something revolutionary.
Other times though, “what we want to do” is frivolous. Often times, actually.
LET’S RUIN IT WITH BABIES is the story of Channing (played by the film’s director Kestrin Pantera). As the film begins, she and her husband Chaz have launched a Kickstarter campaign to get their project off the ground. Their project is “The RVIP” – a karaoke lounge house inside an RV. It is equal parts transportation and entertainment – transportainment. With the success of the Kickstarter campaign, the couple get ready to launch the vessel on its maiden voyage. On the sidelines though, there is another project being discussed.
Chaz and Channing tell their friends that they are ready to have a baby. Well actually, they tell them that they are ready “to try not trying to have a baby”. The reactions from their friends and family are mixed – some are overjoyed, some are worried. Channing herself doesn’t seem completely sold on the idea, but when Chaz is given a job offer right before the RVIP’s launch, she is handed a lot of time to think it through without him.
LET’S RUIN IT WITH BABIES is a rock & roll tour movie, without the rock & roll. There are no scenes of the band restless in the dressing room, or triumphantly playing on-stage…but all of those other bits are there. “The best bits” from many rock & roll tour movie. Our heroes encounter all of the kooky characters that one would encounter in a cross-country trip, get into many of the same situations, and learn many of the same lessons.
Like any first film, LET’S RUIN IT WITH BABIES is a little rough around the edges – most notably in the karaoke songs it couldn’t afford. Still the film is honest, handsome, novel, and deeply in-tune with the generation it represents. It wants to express the nerves and indecision of every North American twenty-and-thirty-something, and how we seem so terrified to do what our parents and grandparents did at a much younger age. The film wants us to wallow in this moment of indecision for a while before it takes our hand and shows us that everything is going to be okay. It’s not saying that we shouldn’t postpone relationships and families in lieu of career and personal projects. Instead it wants us to remember that we shouldn’t look at it as an either/or situation.
This generation is spoiled: Even in a time of great economic strain and worldwide uncertainty, we still find ways to get into our thirties and dedicate our lives to the frivolous things. In a way, it’s an amazing thing that this generation has that luxury – perhaps the ultimate message of this film is that we shouldn’t take the luxury for granted.
LET’S RUIN IT WITH BABIES plays NXNE 2014 tomorrow evening, Sunday June 15th – 630pm at The Bloor Hot Docs Cinema. (official website)