This Milennial TiKToker Wonders: What Were Your “Grandma’s House Movies”?
And why was it Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?
Growing up, there was nothing quite like getting to spend time at Grandma’s house. (Sidebar: why is it always “Grandma’s House” even though, more often than not, Grandpa also lives there?)
In the summer especially, my parents would drop off my brother and me, and we’d enjoy a few days of treats, swimming in the pool, and way too much TV.
Recently, TikTok user Zach Tod (@theogzach) unlocked a Grandma’s house core memory I hadn’t thought about in a long time. “If you’re a Millennial, you’ll probably be able to answer this question,” he begins. “What were your grandma’s house movies?”
There’s a very good chance you don’t need anyone to explain to you what that is — you have such visceral memories of yours that you instantly know what he’s talking about. But for those who might be less clear, he goes on.
“So, movies that you watched at your grandma’s house exclusively because those were the only movies that they had so you watched them at their house and you watched them a billion times. For me: Jumanji, Jurassic Park, Balto, and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. All VHS.”
Tod isn’t a huge creator; he has a few hundred followers. No shade! It’s way more than I have. I bring that up because it makes the reach of this video — nearly 18,000 likes and even more replies as of press time — all the more impressive. Clearly, this is a subject that resonates. Chalk that up to millennials’ propensity for nostalgia or just simply the fact that, over the course of a few dozen watches, we can immediately call to mind the movies that entertained us back in the day.
While there were a wide variety of responses, it is sort of fascinating that some titles kept coming up. A Little Princess, The Secret Garden, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, as well as classic musicals and Shirley Temple movies were apparently popular with our grandmas and poppies. Other commenters went beyond simply listing titles and painted a clear picture of what “grandma’s house movies” really means...
“Sound of Music,” said one commenter, “And oh my god I didn’t know I remembered that until you asked. I can picture the wood-paneled TV room, big old tube TV, ice-cold Coke, and Little Debbie Swiss Rolls. I miss it.”
Can’t you just feel the weight of the afghan blanket your grandma made in 1974 reading that?
Others had a somewhat different experience, however.
“Someone was spoiled!” another commenter declared. “Elder Millennial: None. Grandparents on both sides were farmers ... We felt lucky to be able to watch The Lawrence Welk Show with them if there was reception. No VHS.”
“Dang, this just made me realize I came from a different tax bracket,” another laughed. “We had only straight to video movies.”
Others were less inclined to pop in a VHS and evoked another all-too-familiar experience.
“Movies? We watched Matlock, Murder She Wrote, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy,” reads the most popular comment in the thread. (For me, it was Golden Girls, a show I’m still obsessed with.)
Hopefully, this little trip down memory lane has filled you with the same warm fuzzy feeling it’s inspired over here!
