Weeping Over Dog Movies

Do you ever lay in bed sometimes and you get a random song stuck in your head? And honestly it keeps you up until the early hours of the morning and you are so bugged that you can’t get it out of your mind, and you get so angry that you have to get out of bed sing the whole song through to finally be done with it?

That happened to me last night and I didn’t get to sleep until 12:30 am. The song that was stuck in my head was “Dumb Dog” from the hit musical production of “Annie”. “Annie”, really? How did that song get in there? I don’t think I have even seen "Annie" for several years, OK, I watched it last week, but still, it isn’t even one of the songs that I like from that movie but it was just lodged in my brain.

The lyrics that kept going over and over in my head were these, (if you know the words feel free to see along)

Ain't got a scrap for you.
Need you?
Don't give me a rap for you.

That’s funny because I used to think Annie was singing, “Don’t give a crap for you” instead of “Don’t give me a rap for you” which I don’t know what that means, but as a kid I thought that Annie was so street, saying swears like that. I thought she was so hardcore.

And then my mind drifted to movies with dogs in it. Do you know that every time a dog passes away in a movie a part of me dies inside? I don’t know why, but I lose it when dogs die in movies.

Here are four movies that I usually have to watch alone because I usually start crying and have to rock and weep until the movie is over.

1-Ol’ Yeller- When Travis has to pull out the shot gun and shoot Yeller, it is so sad. I think this is hard for me see because our black lab, whose name was coincidentally Annie, was shot by a farmer in Heber. Sure, she was chasing sheep and killing them, but it was for sport not for an actual meal. Come on farmer John, lighten’ up.

2-Where the Red Fern Grows- When Old Dan dies as a result of protecting Billy from the cougar. And then Little Ann (which is another weird homage to “Annie”) dies because she misses Old Dan. Come on, that is good stuff.

3-I Am Legend- Remember that part when his German Shepard gets the “crazies” as a result of protecting Will Smith from being attacked by the hairless crazy dogs? And then when he gets him back home he realizes that his dog has the “crazies” and he has to kill him (Shout out to Ol’ Yeller, Halla.) So he pulls his dog on his lap, and the camera just focuses on Will Smith’s face as he is strangling his dog, and he is just a broken man. Which in turn broke me and I think all my brothers sitting in the theatre.

4-My Dog Skip- This movie didn’t get a lot of play time in the theatres, but it messed me up for days. It is about this kid who I think is a little disabled or backwards or something, and his parents buy him a dog who becomes his best friend. It is the last scene that breaks me up.

He goes away to college and his dog just lies on his bed until he dies. If you haven’t seen this movie don’t, because it is too much. While I am typing I am getting a little weepy myself, so, if you do watch it make sure that you are emotionally strong, because if you aren’t you will be a mess and embarrass yourself in front of whoever is watching it with you.

People keep telling me to go see "Marly and Me" but friends, as you can tell, I don’t think I am ready for that.