Chapters five & six: Mamma Mia!

January third I watched Mamma Mia, and to this day it remains one of my favorite Meryl movies. It was the movie that I think improved the way that I think about life, as well as the way that I think about myself. The film is so happy, so cheery, so full of life, and I loved every minute of it. The story is about a free-spirited, strong-willed, woman named Donna Sheridan, whose twenty-year-old daughter Sophie's wedding is tomorrow. Sophie wants her father to give her away at the wedding, but there's a snag. Sophie has three possible fathers, because Donna was an adventurous young adult. To make matters worse, Donna doesn't know which of the three men is Sophie's actual dad. Sophie discovers all of this for herself while reading her mom's diary on the beach with her friends Ali and Lisa, and singing the ABBA song Honey, Honey.

Without the knowledge of her mother, Sophie has invited all three of her possible fathers to the wedding under Donna's name, not knowing if they will even respond, let alone show up. But, they all do thanks to Bill's sailboat. Donna's best friends, Tanya and Rosie, are a part of the wedding celebration as well. They arrive via ferry, and Donna meets them at the dock in a frenzy of excitement. Donna takes them back to the Villa she owns, where her friends cannot how she is living, because she works all night and day in a rundown Villa with no sexual action. They can't believe how Donna has changed from her younger self, but she doesn't seem to mind it. She loves the Villa, but Donna does wish she had more money though. That's when the song Money, Money, Money comes into play. While this is happening, Sophie has hid her three dads, Sam, Bill, and Harry, in her mother's old goat house, to keep her unaware of their presence.

The charade doesn't hold up for very long, because Donna hears commotion from the goat house. Next thing you know, she climbing up the stairs to the entrance, and when the music cues, she catches a glimpse of all three of her ex-lovers. Her eyes get real wide through the crack in the door as she whispers, "Harry?...Bill?..." She gasps, falls below, and sings Mamma Mia. During the duration of the song, she climbs on top of the goathouse, and tries to enter her way in, to see if what she is seeing is actually real. Her eyes dart to a flat turquoise door built into the roof, and she is hesitant, not knowing how to open it. When one of the villagers opens it for her, she falls through, landing on an air mattress, with her legs spread open in the air, and the song is over.

"You always knew how to make an entrance,"

Sam says to her.

With all of the men looking at her, Donna closes herself up and says with nervous laughter,

"I better be dreaming. You better not be here."

"You want me to pinch you, Donna?" Bill teases. "No! You keep-" She laughs. "keep your hands to yourself, Bill Anderson." Then Harry adds, "You probably don't recognize me." Her eyes soften, "Harry, it is you." "I've probably changed a bit," He continues, "but you certainly haven't."Sam nods in agreement, "Mm-mmm." Then reality sets in with Donna as she gets up.

"Why are you here? What are you doing here?"

Bill answers, "I'm writing a travel piece." Harry says he's "here on a spontaneous holiday." Sam tells her, "I-I just dropped in to say... hi." Donna sees right through the lie. "Okay, what- what- what is this?" Bill describes it as, "One of those serendipitous moments in life where three complete strangers share a common thought." This is new information to Donna. "Strangers? You don't know each other?""That's generally the definition," Sam answers.

"Okay, good. Okay. But, well who, um- Why are you here? Who said you could stay in my old goat house?" Bill, Sam, and Harry make up a lie about a Greek woman who told them they could stay there, but they weren't really sure because she spoke Greek, so maybe she said the couldn't stay there. "Yeah. That's it. That's it," Donna tells them.

"You can't stay here because I'm, uh, I'm closed. And I'm full. And I'm busy. I'm really- I have a wedding. My, um- Local girl's getting married."

Donna turns away and pulls the door open, but does it slowly enough so that Sam can say one last thing, "Donna, Donna. Don't worry about us. Bill here is used to roughing it, and um, Harry- spontaneous." Donna looks up, "Ah. What about you?" "I just wanted to see the island. You know what it meant to me," he says. She nods. "Okay, I'm gonna um- I'm gonna, uh, arrange for a boat to take you all back to the mainland." Bill reminds her that he has a boat, and she says eagerly, "You have a boat? Good. Get on it. And, uh, anchors aweigh. Away, away." Before the door shuts, the guys say, "Hey, Donna. It's good to see you." She sighs disgustfully.

She runs out of the goat house to her friends at the bar and asks, "Where's Sophie?" The bartender says, "I think she went down to the beach." Tanya's too busy drinking to notice that she is near tears, but Rosie turns to Donna and asks, "What's up?" She runs to the bathroom crying. Rosie follows close behind, and Tanya does too, but she stops to take sips from her glass.

To comfort her, they sing Chiquitita, put a flower in her hair, wipe her eyes, and give her wine and some breath spray before Donna finally spills the beans."It's her dad." "Whose dad?" Sophie's dad. Remember how I said it was Sam? Sam, the architect, who had to go home to get married? I'm not sure that it was him because their were two other- two other guys around the same time. And they were-" Tanya interrupts her, "Donna Sheridan you shady lady!" "Why didn't you tell us?" Rosie asks. "Well, I never knew that I would ever, every have to. I never imagined I see all three of 'em in my old goat house they day before my daughter's wedding." Tanya and Rosie look at each other and start running, "The old goat house?" Donna chases after them, "No! No, wait! Shoot! Wait, wait, wait. Don't let them hear you!" The three of them poke their heads inside, but no one is there."They must've gone back to their boat. I hope they run aground and drown. What are they doing here? It's like some hideous trick of fate." Donna rips the flower out of her hair, and walks into the Villa. Her friends follow.

"Do they know about Sophie?" Rosie asks. "What are they, physic? No, I've never told a soul." Oh, Donna, keeping it to yourself all of these years," Tanya sympathizes. "Oh, God. Doesn't matter. It doesn't matter about me. The only thing that matters is that Sophie never finds out." Well maybe she would be cool with it," Tanya idealizes. "Cool with it?" Donna laughs. "You don't know my daughter. This would be like a bombshell." "Donna, they've gone." Rosie says. "I don't know that," Donna denies. "I don't know where they are, I don't know why they're here, and I have brought this all on myself because I was a stupid, reckless little slut." She sits down at her vanity.

"Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh! Don't you sound like your mother!" Tanya tells her. "I do not!" Donna complains."Yes you do!!"They shout. "I do not not! I do not!" She repeats. "It's Catholic guilt! You've been living like a nun," Rosie pokes fun at. "Yeah," Tanya agrees. "Whatever happened to our Donna, life and soul of the party? El Rock Chick Supremo! Come on!" They place a hat on her head, and a feather boa around her neck. She looks at herself in the mirror and states, "I grew up." "Well, then grow back down again! Screw em' if they can't take a joke!"

Cue Dancing Queen. Her friends want to remind her of what it was like to be young, and Donna is reluctant to join in their shenanigans at the beginning of the song, but she relents and gives in to the music. She even does mid-air splits. Yes, Meryl does Mid. Air. Splits. It's hard to explain what I felt after watching this big dance number, but it made me very happy. It was lively, it was care-free, it was wonderful; at the end of the scene, everyone dives into the water fearlessly. It really showed me the value of a good time, and what it means to live your own life like no one is watching. I would be remiss if I didn't tell you that I try and recreate that scene in my trampoline on sunny days. I haven't quite gotten to doing the splits yet, but it is still great. fun.

The meat of the movie is more or less everyone trying to figure things out. Sophie bonds with Bill, Sam, and Harry out on Bill's boat while the singing Our Last Summer, the whole island has jitters because of the wedding, and Sophie is trying to figure out what she wants for herself. Meanwhile, Donna is still putting the pieces together to find out who her daughter's father is, because each of the men think that they are, and they each have their own plans to give her away. The pressure starts to eat away at everyone; Donna and Sophie even have a miniature argument over who Sophie's dad is. Donna has even started to gain feelings for Sam again. Yet, none of this chaos stops the wedding from happening.

Sophie is supposed to be getting dressed for her big day with her friends Ali and Lisa, but instead, she wants Donna to help her. They sing Slipping Through My Fingers, and Sophie asks her mother to give her away. I weeped. In the following scene, Sophie rides horseback up to the wedding venue. Donna follows, but Sam catches up with her. "Donna," he says. "I need to talk to you about who's giving Sophie away." "That would be me," she says and walks on. "But... What about her dad?" "Her dad isn't here," Donna says." "It's what she wants. She told me she wants her father here. What if her father wants that too," Sam interrogates. "What, Sam don't do this now. I can't... hear this now." "Donna, listen to me. This is about us," Sam pleas. Donna responds to him by singing The Winner Takes It All, a song that describes how Sam took everything from her. Beautiful. When she finished, she runs up to the venue at the top of the hill. Sam calls out to her, but she isn't coming back.

The wedding ceremony has begun, and once Donna gives Sophie away, she introduces her dad saying, "I have to tell you, he is here." Sophie removes her veil from her face and says, "I know, I invited him." Sam, Bill, and Harry all stand up at once.

"You couldn't have. I don't know which one it is."

The men all look at each other with puzzled expressions as Donna exclaims,

"Oh, my God! That's why they're all here!"

Sophie cries out,

"I'm sorry! Sorry! I just- Please, please, please forgive me. Please forgive me. Please."

The men all sit back down, uncomfortable.

Donna whimpers, "I don't know. Can you forgive me?" "What? I don't care if you slept with hundreds of men. You're my mom, and I love you so much." "Oh Soph." They hug, and Donna lets the guests know, "And I haven't slept with hundreds of men." Sam emerges from the crowd, Am I getting this right? Sophie may be mine, but she may be Bill's or Harry's?" Donna stands up, "Yeah. Yes. That's right. And don't get all self-righteous with me, because you have no now but yourself to blame." Sophie sides with her, "Yeah, if you hadn't just dumped my mother and gone off and married somebody else." Sam defends himself, "Hey, hey. Wait a minute. I had to go home. I was engaged. But I told Lorraine couldn't marry her and I came right back." Donna stands up again, "You- You- Why didn't you call me?""Because I was crazy enough to think that you would be waiting for me. Only when I arrived they told me you were back with some other guy. So Lorraine called me an idiot and married me to prove it."

Harry cuts in, "Sorry can I just- Might I butt in...

I just want to say it's great to have even a third of Sophie.

I never thought I'd get even that much of a child. Donna, you were the first girl I ever loved. Actually, you were the last girl I ever loved. (The camera points to his partner.) Now this gives me an excuse to come up here much more often." Sam declares, "We can find out if you want, but I'm with Harry. Being a third of your dad is great by me." Bill chimes in, "Uh, me too. I'll take a third "

Just before Sophie and her fiancé Sky are married, Sophie turns behind her and says, "You know, I have no clue which one of you is my dad, but I don't mind! Now I know what I really want. Sky, let's just not get married yet. You never wanted this anyway. I know that.Let's just get off this island and see the world. Okay? All right?" Sky sweeps her off her feet, and Donna says she's "not entirely sure what's happening right now" That's when Sam has the idea not to waste a perfectly good wedding, and he marries Donna like he has always wanted. At the reception, Bill and Rosie have a little flirtatious excursion of their own, while singing Take a chance on me. While everyone is dancing, the crack in the rock floor breaks, and water shoots out from under them. Donna is exhilarated.

"It's Aphrodite!"

She yells.

The movie ends as Sky and Sophie depart for their world traveling adventure as she sings I Have a Dream. The credits role as Donna, Tanya, and Rosie are singing Dancing Queen in their outfits from their band Donna and The Dynamos.

As always, thank you for the entertainment, Meryl.

Chapter six: Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

After watching Mamma Mia, I went to dinner, and watched Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again in the same day. And, well, Donna's dead so I'm not thrilled about that, because everything that the first movie taught me about living freely, felt like it was ripped from under me and replaced by a blanket of sorrow. She's killed off for two reasons. The first being that Meryl didn't wish to have a big role in the film, probably due to her age, and the physical work that the movie requires. The second being that she really doesn't do sequels if you think about it. Still, UGH!

The movie as a whole was good, and it tells the story of a young, college graduate Donna going to Greece in search of exploration and adventure outside of her friends Tanya and Rosie, her homeland, and her normal life. Along the way, she meets three guys; one named Bill, one named Sam, and another named Harry. She lives happily, and by the end of the movie, she ends up with a baby named Sophie. In present day time, Sophie is working hard to restore her mother's Villa like Donna always dreamed of doing herself. When the project is finished, Sophie is going to throw a party at the Villa, in celebration of Donna's life and memory. The party takes dedicated planning, due to a rainstorm fiasco, but when it finally commences, Sophie learns the news of her own pregnancy.

The movie then takes a nine month time lapse to the christening of Sophie's new baby. This is sort of the point where the two movies intertwine, because young Donna also has baby Sophie in her arms at her christening. Only, when Sophie enters the church, she sees the ghost of her mother, and they connect for one last time while singing My Love, My Life. I'm sure you know by now that I cry at almost every movie I watch, but that particular ending scene made me pretty, deeply sad. Death makes me uncomfortable; I don't like the thought of losing anyone in my family, and to see it happen to Sophie was a little more than I bargained for. I remember watching it thinking that this was the saddest Meryl movie to ever exist. Of course, I hadn't watched Sophie's Choice yet at that point in time.

As always, thank you for the entertainment, Meryl.