As a Navy veteran, I'm quite familiar with the concept of "fathom" as a measure of depth when out at sea. (For those who are curious, 1 fathom = 6 feet.)
As a voracious reader, "fathom" is a word related to understanding of content or grasping of meaning.
In its archaic sense, "fathom" means "to encircle with outstretched arms, especially to take a measurement; to embrace".
That one was news to me.
I wonder if it was ever used in the place of "hug"?
Certainly not during the three generations that I've lived.
Perhaps Grandpa would have known the answer, or Uncle Jimmy, or my stepdad Frank, as they were all poets and wordsmiths.
As they are not available, I will have to seek that answer some other time.
For now, I'm wanting to write of two Fathom events at the cinema, one last night and the other tonight, both with post-film interviews with the makers of the two movies.
The first movie was "Earwig And The Witch", from Studio Ghibli last year.
I had first thought it was anime, then, from the preview, I'd wondered if it were a play.
Wrong on both counts, but closer on the first than the second.
The movie marked the first use of a new technique, 3-D CG (three-dimensional computer graphics), which made the characters - and backgrounds - more real than drawings could allow.
Perhaps that's why I had mistakenly thought people were in it when I'd watched the snippet earlier.
The little girl at the center of the story certainly seemed real to me.
The entire time that I watched her, I was continually reminded of my twin great-nieces.
No, that was not a good thing.
The child did whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted to, and was quite adept at manipulating adults to do as she wanted.
Wow.
Wow.
The movie was in English, but the post-movie interview was Japanese and had subtitles, prompting the three younger folks in the audience with me to leave.
I'm literate, so I stayed... and I'm glad I did.
The director, Gorô Miyazaki (born in 1967, like my youngest brother), had some keen insights into the girl's character as representative of children of her generation.
As he expressed it, there once were many children in a family, so no one child came too much under the scrutiny of the adults; it isn't that the children were ignored, but they were not micromanaged so they had time to play and be children.
Now, he said, a family typically has one child, maybe two, and there are many adults watching and having a say in how the child is raised, making sure every moment of the child's day is planned with an eye toward the future.
He's absolutely correct.
Children today are the center of their parents' universe... and their grandparents' universe... and the center of the universes of the aunts and uncles.
The children are the stars... and they know it.
They pipe the tune and all the grown-ups dance!
That's a rather scary thought, isn't it?
Children don't have the knowledge of the experience to lead the parade.
Wow.
The movie tonight was a 2019 documentary, "Woman In Motion: Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek, and the Reshaping of NASA".
I came for several reasons, not the least of which was seeing this as part of my personal addition to the line-up for the SBHF32.
(It's all virtual this year, unlike last year.)
My interest in NASA's space programs was also a reason that this movie piqued my curiosity; whatever did Lieutenant Uhura have to do with real space travel?
As I found out, the actress who played the communications officer was able to parlay her fame into an instrument for moving NASA toward the future by helping women and minorities see that space was not just for Caucasian, post-military, test pilots.
Wow.
In her mid-40's, Nichelle Nichols was approached by NASA to help put the face of diversity on the next group of astronauts to be groomed, those to go into the Space Shuttle program.
After four months of her campaigning to encourage others to join the space programs, NASA had applications from eight thousand qualified persons; of those, 35 were chosen in 1978 to be part of NASA Astronaut Group 8.
That led to the first American woman in space in 1983, the first African-American to command a space vehicle, the first Asian-American in space - all of whom were recruited in direct response to her call to action.
Wow.
As I watched the documentary, I was struck with a realization.
She had never believed that her gender was a limitation.
Anything that she had wanted to do, she had known she could.
She and I had that in common.
I had never believed that any career was off limits to me as a woman.
I had an interest in electronics, so I volunteered at the Savannah Science Museum during my senior year of high school, learning of that trade.
I joined the Navy to become a Cryptologic Maintenance Technician, having to delay active duty for nine months to assure one of the few seats for women in the school would be available for me.
While I waited for boot camp to begin, I bagged groceries at the M&M store down the road from home, close enough to walk to work.
This was all in 1976.
I had found the path I wanted to walk after high school and I had Mama's support in my choice, even though it was not a traditional path for a Georgia peach.
I was blessed and fortunate to have had that support.
Even Grandma and Grandpa gave their support to my decision.
Now, I have to wonder: was I like Earwig?
Had I, as a child, done whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted?
My answer is a resounding "NO!"
It was not until I was in high school that I was allowed to choose a path toward adulthood, to make decisions that would have lasting impact...
and I was allowed to choose the right path for me, regardless of my being a woman.
I hope my great-nieces will learn that lesson.
Now, while they are so very young, is the time for education, both at school and at home, from books and from experiences.
The time for setting a path will come when they are older.
I hope they will have the knowledge they will need for that choice.
What a good pair of movies...
and what good timing to have them in such proximity to each other...
and how fortuitous that I was there.
i thank You, God.
