IOBK

"Incapable of being king."

A few months back, a group of us got to talking about movies and television shows from our childhoods that had nightmarish elements to them - programs that had carried over into our nightmares as adults.

My contribution to the discussion was The Wiz.

Now, let me be clear, I love love love the soundtrack for The Wiz. I had it on cassette and I've got it on CD. The song Brand New Day makes me happier than just about any other song out there.

But the movie itself?

Terrifying.

Especially the subway scene.

I hadn't seen it in years.

So Owen, being the kind of guy he is, bought the movie for me for my birthday and we made plans to watch it together...to revel in its scariness together over fried chicken.

Last night was the night.

It's not nearly so frightening as I remembered it. It's also funnier than I'd remembered it. And there are songs in there that should have been excluded...like pretty much every slow ballad written expressly for Diana Ross - with the exception of Home.

I still don't think it should have been rated G.

Best part of the movie? When Owen turned to me and said, "No one should know the soundtrack to this movie as well as you do."