Kathy Buchanan - Candid Conversations with Connie, Volume 3: A Girls Guide to Entertainment, Body Image, and Social Media

Candid Conversations with Connie, Vol. 3:

A Girls Guide to Entertainment, Body Image, and Social Media

2015 Focus on the Family

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For my daughter Bella.

When God gave you to me, He gave me pure joy wrapped up in a little girl. I love your enthusiasm, your always grateful heart, and the wonder you have for every day of life. You spread encouragement to everyone around you. What a gift you have! And what a gift you are to us.

Introduction

H ow about Digging for Destruction ? Camilla asks. It got great reviews.

Seriously? Tamika says, rolling her eyes. The movies about giant moles out for revenge against mankind.

Penny slurps her milkshake. I thought it was possums out for payback.

Whatever, Olivia replies. Who would want to watch rodents taking over the world? Cant we see something more romanticlike Moonlight over Paris ? My Facebase friends have raved about it!

Emily scans a webpage on her tablet. But the critics reviews have been awful. I mean, its about a man who falls in love with a dog washer because she trimmed his poodle so well. Boring.

And a poodle isnt even that hard to trim, Penny pipes up. Have you ever tried grooming a llama? Now I could fall in love with someone who could do that.

Well, sounds like its between a well-trimmed poodle and a malicious mole, Katrina says.

Or possum, Emily adds.

Im Connie Kendall, and Im listening to a typical Saturday-night discussion. The conversation might not always be about revenge-filled rodents or romance spurred on by clipping shears, but its usually about deciding which movie were going to watch on our Girls Movie Night. We always meet at Whits End to have a snack and discuss which movie to see. After all, a girl cant live on popcorn and Milk Duds alone... although that is a pretty good start.

Were crammed into a booth with our smartphones and tablets, checking movie times and reviews. Emilys shooting a selfie. Pennys texting Wooton. Katrinas on some webpage. Camilla and Olivia are looking for recommendations on social-media sites. Tamikas listening to music. And Im trying to make sure my milkshake doesnt spill all over their devices.

Cant we just decide on a movie ourselves, instead of going online? I ask, interrupting the chatter.

The girls look at me blankly.

I mean, it feels like it should be simpler than all this. I just want to spend time with you guys. I dont need all this... noise.

Sorry, Ill turn down my ringer, Penny says, adjusting her phone.

Not that kind of noise, I say. I mean the noise of all this information. Media everywhere giving us news and opinionslike what to wear, watch, and listen to.

But were going to a movie, Olivia says. Thats media too.

I know, I say. We cant escape it.

Kinda like the mole thats taking over the world, Camilla says. I mean possum.

Well, I think its convenient, Emily says. I like having reviews and movie times on my phone.

I like that too, I say. But not when it becomes so consuming. There has to be some kind of balance.

Uh, Miss Kendall? Eugene interrupts as he approaches our booth. Isnt your show starting soon?

I spin around to look at the clock. My talk show Candid Conversations with Connie is supposed to start in five minutes!

But... I dont even know what my topic is, I blurt.

I think you might, Katrina says, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. You could talk about the media and its influence on us.

We could touch on technology, too. Emily says.

The other girls nod in agreement.

But Im not prepared, I say. Youre all going to have to help me.

The girls quickly jump up and parade behind me into the studio.

I think its going to be a pretty interesting show. Maybe youd like to join us!

T he movie the girls and I ended up seeing last week was intense. You know the kind... You get so drawn in that you reach for a soda and drink half of it before you realize its not even yours. Then the guy in the next seat glares at you because you just finished off his Dr Pepper. Oops. Anyway, the movie starred one of my favorite actresses: the stunning Elsie Briggs.

Elsie is beautiful and talented. In the movie, she played a karate expert and brilliant scientist who marches into the White House to fight off thirty-seven aliens who have taken over the United States. Her only weapons are her wits and her martial-arts expertise. And you wouldnt believe how she uses a metal spatula to defend herself against the nine-armed monsters.