Here we go again!!

Unfortuantly, this is one of my favorite movies of all time. Is that embarising for a full grown man? Probably. Fight me.

I did not have high expectations watching the movie for the first time (in my highschool english class) but holy shit. Someone I looked up to at the time didn't like the movie at all, and a guy a hated loved it. But I guess you can't listen to everyones opinions.

Movie vs. Musical

Some background on this movie in case your a loser who doesn't watch rom-coms from 2008.

Mamma Mia! (the movie) is based on Mamma Mia! (the musical).

I haven't been able to find any recordings of the musical online, exept for school productions (lame).

The musical was written by Catherine Johnson in 1999 and made entirelly from ABBA songs. The plot is mostly the same, but here are some notable differences:

• Bill Anderson's name is instead Bill Austin, and he's from Australia
• When Sophie sings a song to convice the dads to stay (Thank you for the Music)
• There is a scene where Sky tell's Sophie that she doesn't need to know here real dad, and that he is the only mad she'll ever need.
• Sophie learns that Bill's aunt's name was Sophia, and think's that he's her dad for a while (The Name of the Game)
• Sophie has a nightmare about her dad's fighting to walk her down the aisle (Under Attack)
• Bill is much more reseptive to Rosie's advances.
• Sam tries to give Sophie marrige advice by talking about his failed marriage (Knowing Me, Knowing You)
• There is a very fun encore, where Donna and they Dynomos AND the dads all get dressed up in 70's outfits and sing Waterloo.

Mikey is thinking too hard

Now you may be asking yourself, why does this loser like Mammma Mia? Or maybe you don't care and you're only looking at the pictures on this page. Ohhh flashing lights.

I think a lot of it has to do with finding yourself. I dealt with the question of "who am I?" for such a long time, and everytime I thought I figured it out, I very quickly realized I didn't. Sophie has a very similar character development. She knows that she doesn't understand herself, she knowns that there is something missing from her life, but she doesn't really know what. She thinks that the solution to the problem is to understand who her dad is, she thinks that her issue is stemming from her lack of a complete family structure.

She thinks once that she understands who here father is "everything will fall into place," but it doesn't quite work out that way. She think's she will recognize her dad as soon as she sees him, but by her bachelorette party, she still has no idea.

However, all of the dads think that they are her dad, and she is so desperate for understanding that she doesn't hesitate to say yes to Bill when he says that he must be her father. She does the same thing to Sam, she doesn't consider that there may be consequences for her actions, she's too wrapped up in the idea that she may have found "herself." It's not until Harry says that he's her father that she starts to become really worried.

I think she's mostly worried because she has to tell two of her dads that they aren't her dads (which would be a crazy akward conversation) but I think that it also has to do with her realizing that discovering who she is might be more complicated than her parental figure.

She finally will have a father figure in her life, but she doesn't feel anymore complete. She still has lot's of conflicting feelings, she still doesn't truly understand what she wants or who she is, she just has the added burden of having three dads.

The voulez-vous dance is excellent symbolism for how Sophie feels about this discovery. The dance is chaotic and full of color, the people are swirling around her and she can't seem to find her footing. She's unsure and overwhelmed and the intense scenry reflect that. Her eventual fainting is similar to a panic attack, the pressure become's too much and she just can't deal. This is also when more people, especially Donna, become more aware of all of the pressure she is putting on to herself to understand.

There is a section in the middle I'm not sure about symbolism. Donna and Sophie have a fight, where Donna thinks that Sophie is stressed about the wedding. IDK, like how parents don't always say what you agree with, but it can still be to your benefit?

Whatever. Anyways, this all comes to the climax at her wedding. She finally has everything she wanted, she has her dads, she has her white wedding, and she has her mom supporting her. But having all of these things makes her realize that she doesn't understand herself anymore than when she started. Have all of the things that are sterotypical for girls her age still hasn't satisfied her. She has realized that these material items haven't improved her self understanding.

This leads her to decide to listen to the advice of her mother and Skye, and she goes travelling. She goes out to get real world experience. She understands that her self-understanding and her self worth does not come from how well she fits into a sterotypical box that society wants her too, but instead comes from within.

Mamma Mia and the Trans Agenda

In conclusion, the reason I like this movie is probably because I'm transgender. Because that's the reason for everything.

In all seriousness though, I went through a very similar situation (minus the three dads and the singing). I didn't quite understand myself or what I was feeling. I was naive and confused and I thought these feeling stemmed from the fact that I didn't fit into these boxes very well. So obviously the solution is to just try harder, to mould and force myself into these roles that were expected of me. I didn't understand my feelings of gender, so I just leaned harder into womenhood. I bought a whole bunch of dresses, I grew my hair out longer, the whole shabang.

This was kinda a big change for me, cause I had always been on the more tom-boy side. I think this change made my mom and my grandparents happier, although I don't remeber a whole lot about this time of my life. Turns out leaning into it was the worst thing I could do, I got really depressed. This point in my life was probably the worst I have ever been mentally, I was self-harming, I didn't really have any friends, I was lashing out at everyone I was close too. I was really terriblly depressed, but I didn't really know why. My mother had offered to find me help, but I didn't really know what for, this was just how it was.

Eventually, I discovered the glories of transgenderism, but by finding them, I realized the same thing as Sophie. Self understanding does not come from fitting into boxes laid out for you, it comes from critical self-reflection and thinking. No one can tell you which box if for you, or that you need a box at all. You get to make that decision. And chances are, your loved ones will support you more than you thought they would.

Other reasons I like this movie are probably ABBA, the 70s, romance, and the greek island vibe, but I think the message is what makes movies memorable.