My first movie experience

I love this blik on your early movie and book life. These stories are so endearing especially your secret and joyful time with your big sister. Your telling is so fun and intimate. Shkoyach!

It was delightful to listen to your reflections on your first movie experiences, and they certainly brought to mind my own. What struck me in your conversation was how you began coming a storyteller yourself to your brothers and how much you appreciated the storytelling that both your elder sister and the first movies you saw. I would say you have developed a refined taste, and that being critical of the norm comes with that.
You also made me think of the movies I’ve seen concerning the Hasidic life. Even when they’re flawed, and I’m sure they inevitably are, I find much to admire in this tradition of faith. This is true, even in the movie unorthodox. I kept wanting the late lead character to have some connection that would enable her to stay and feel complete. A movie that I thoroughly enjoyed was titled, “A Stranger Among us.” Again, I’m sure you’d find it to be a very inadequate descriptionUs of Hasidic life, but her exposure to this way of life change the main character and a very positive way. Finally, I’ll mention a movie that was up for the Academy award couple years ago, namely “The Brutalist.” Much like “The Pianist,” it is a very painful movie to watch. However, it is so layered with many meanings and dimensions of the human experience that I had to see it twice, and would gladly see it again.

I just remembered another movie that was so meaningful to me that I watched it. I think at least four times. It is called, “Fill the Void” and was conceived and directed by an Israeli Hasidic woman. Perhaps you’ve already seen it, but if you haven’t, I’d be interested in what your thoughts are about it.

Wonderful hearing about your experiences with movies. What a thrill it must have been to watch Home Alone, and now to be able to pinpoint when you first had the pleasure of seeing a movie.
THE MAD ADVENTURES OF RABBI JACOB!!! I haven't thought about it in years. It was so stupid and funny! Thanks for reminding me.

I love story time! This sounds like my sister and I. I was definitely the older sister who corrupted the younger one who snored!

Hilarious 😅

Aww, what great memories, story telling, and discovery. I never liked Alfred Hitchcock's violent, scary movies and he was one strange man who ruined the careers of many actresses. We girls and the women of our family would start discussing what desserts were should make, when the movie was too tense, scary, and gruesome. We closed the doors to the kitchen and made chocolate cream pie, lemon meringue pie, chocolate cream puffs, eclairs, and Baked Alaska (ice cream with meringue on top). We only made one elaborate dessert at a time. Then Hitchcock's scary movie was over, we were in peace, sitting at the dining room table sharing a great dessert.

You, Freda, are a gifted storyteller, yourself! Thanks for sharing these experiences. (Slapstick saddens/offends me, too - most of the time.)

Fascinating. It's odd, our experiences are so vastly different, yet have parallels. My family (in small town NC) were very poor, I mean dirt poor (not complaining!). I don't think I actually ate in a restaurant until I was in college. We certainly did not go to movies. My first movie experience was when my aunt, who actually had a little money (I mean, a little), took me to the movies, to see "Captain Sinbad," a 1963 film. I would have been 6 or 7 (yes, I'm old). I had nighmares for months (still do, though probably unrelated :) ). I eventually came to love movies, and could talk about them all day long. I came to love the films of Vittorio De Sica, Tomás Gutiérrez and Ingmar Bergman (to mention a few). I don't go to movie theaters any more. They're full of people, and I don't like people (they make noise and smell bad). Last time I was in a movie theater was some years ago, when for some reason I went (alone, mid-day) to see "Fighting With My Family," a crazy film about a WWE fighter. Went back two more times (alone, mid-day). Great film. Please keep making these videos, Frieda, they are so enjoyable!

“Please show me the movie. I won’t snore anymore!” Now that’s funny. You are a delightful storyteller.

Such an amazing share -- thank you! A child of the '70's before there was as much mass marketed "kid entertainment" movies or tv as there is today, we just went with whatever the adults were watching. Sometimes our jaws dropped at the content, sometimes theirs did, most of the time it was just B - O -R-I -N -G! 🤣 But my first GREAT memory is of the movie "For the Love of Benji," the cutest dog ever, and loving it so much I convinced my Mom to take me a second time. This time, I already knew that there was a "bad guy" character who kicked the other dog (yes, Benji had a love interest!) Tiffany and seconds before he approached little Tiffany, with tears in my eyes I stood up and screamed, "Don't kick Tiffany!!!!" I remember my mom sort of pulling me back into the seat and people in the audience probably thinking "what a weirdo!" (wouldnt be the last time, I'm sure, haha). Sometimes I can't remember why I walked into the room, but this I remember like it was yesterday. Of Frieda, thank you for taking me back 50 years to this wonderful time of me and my Mommy!🥰

It is so amazing that such a simple thing brought you such pleasures. It is too bad that in the secular world we have mostly lost the ability to find pure joy in simple things. I am going to work on this personally .

Great post. Thanks for sharing. I think the film about the villa is Under the Tuscan Sun (2003), starring Diane Lane. —I think my first movie in the theater was seeing Snow White when I was very little. Probably around 4 or 5 years old. Films are so important to me. I think films (and TV) are the great art of our time combining much of human art, music, literature, philosophy, photography, etc. all into one dynamic experience.

This was so fun. It makes me think about my best friend and I watching the original Parent Trap with Hayley Mills as kids. My first movie was Bambi, which traumatized me...hunters, forest fires 🫣 My second was Snow White, and I loved the wicked queen. I always liked the villains... proto feminist that I was, they were more interesting to me. The one I remember loving was The Muppets Take Manhattan. My mom took me to the theater to see that 10 times. Miss Piggy was my childhood idol. My big "forbidden" fascination was soap operas. General Hospital and Days of Our Lives. I was obsessed with them and would record my shows every day. The romance and beautiful people 🤩

Laughter is such an important part of life but its always difficult to laugh at yourself.

In my early teens I loved the James Bond movies and remember coming out of the movie each time feeling like I was in a different world. Unfortunately that feel was shatter once I saw a show on how the movie was made using a lot of movie props. The energy was gone after that.

The insights you share about your life are so heartwarming and fascinating. I have learned so much from you and about you. I truly think you are a very special person. I absolutely adore you and appreciate the thoughtfulness and kindness you show to everyone. I’ve seen most of the movies you’ve shared, but what I loved most was the Three Stooges! I grew up watching them and still enjoy them to this day. They are my “heroes!” Seeing you include them brought a smile to my face. Thank you for continuing to share so much of yourself with all of us. As we welcome the New Year, I extend my warmest wishes to you and your loved ones for a joyous and meaningful Rosh Hashanah. May the coming year be filled with blessings, good health, happiness, and peace. Shanah Tovah!

Great journey. I was waiting for you to go full circle with your sister using other people’s stories isn’t really that different from all the movies taking ideas and tropes from their predecessors.

As someone who grew up with some but not a lot of secular entertainment, I find this incredibly funny and on-point.

Such a compelling, interesting comparison of your sense of humor then and your sense of humor now. Very fascinating psychologically.

Frieda you are such a beautiful person. And what a great story teller. Wow. I thoroughly enjoyed this video. Thankyou for sharing. Much love from South Africa 🌹 ❤🌟🥰

i always love your perspective, so precious, innocent.

I can relate to your movie experience. I remember my first movie. My dad and my mom picked me and my brother up at Hebrew Day school on Sunday at our Conservative Synagogue. We asked what are going to see. He said just wait and see. I had not see a television until later. I saw Star Wars and the very first movie that I saw. I was in awe on the spaceships on the screen. I saw Darth Vader breathing heavy. I remember R2 and C3PO running and escaping. I remember my parents controlling what we saw. I didn't have television until much later.

The Parent Trap is one of my favorites too.

You know, watching former members of high-demand religions talk about experiencing secular things for the first time makes me realize how much I've taken for granted in my life. I grew up on movies, TV shows, pop music, non-religious books etc. I even had my own room. I can't even imagine the alternative.

Interesting about stories and your childhood. The 3 Stooges disturbed me as a child.

Just fascinating! I started with tv when we got our first set, I was 4. My mother loved Disney and took us to see all those movies! I can’t imagine what it was like to see movies for the first time in your teens! You can learn a lot about the world from movies! Thanks for such an interesting discussion! PS. My Muslim Pakistani cousin sees movies very differently from her husband and I! Culture makes a huge difference. They do a lot of dancing in nature in Pakistani movies!😊❤🇨🇦

With the remote control car and the microchips? That's 'Home Alone 3', isn't it?

I was just poor so it's very different because we still had TV, but my first movie (in a movie theater, with school) was about a guy who went crazy in WWII and worked with pets or something. I was ten so it wasn't exactly the best experience. I don't know who thought of it. But then High School musical 3 came out (I'm a decade younger than you) and my friend asked me to go with her and I promised her I would go without knowing if we had any money. I spent a whole day collecting empty bottles (for the pant) and my mom found out and gave me the money anyway. Heh the movie was magic, though, at least at 13.

I grew up in the 70s, and TV was definitely rationed in my house. A series I was allowed to watch, for some reason, was a German-Austrian series about a dashing hero who was a courier to Empress Maria Theresia. He was my first crush!! I was 4 years old then, and I still love the 18th century! ❤

I so enjoyed this! Have a wonderful weekend Frieda!

I was 7 years old. Bambi was re-released and a neighbor took me. It was terribly traumatizing for me. I’m still not a fan of movies in general. I enjoy documentaries. I genuinely feel the entire industry is a gross waste of money. We’re all different.

The earliest movie I remember watching was The Sound of Music. This was in the 60’s. My Nanee took me and bought me the record album. I still have it.

Although I grew up with films and TV, I (and others of my generation) had the same feeling of awe when we first got to use a computer; this was in the 1970s. Looking back and comparing it to the present time, those PCs were little more than calculators, but we thought they were amazing.

I love the parent trap - it's based on a 1940's german novel. I like the the original 1961 movie and the 1998 version. I usually don't like remakes but this one is a major exception for me. Fun fact the gold digger girl (played by Joanna Barnes) in the 1961 movie play the mother of the gold digger girl in the 1998 movie (she was the right age for the role by then - and a great homage to a wonderful actress).

I wondered if you saw “A Stranger Among Us,” a crime drama where Melanie Griffiths plays a police detective who goes undercover in the Hasidic world. I thought it ended up being positive about Hasidim. The same with the movie from the book “The Chosen.”

Have you ever written a book? Have you ever considered making a movie? You are a very talented storyteller. My belief is that talent is a God-given gift. My first movie was Daddy Long Legs with Leslie Caron & Fred Astaire. I had not been allowed to go to the movies-not because of religious prohibition (we were Reform) but because of the danger of polio. The experience seemed totally magical. We didn't have a TV yet so sitting in a dark theater with a big screen, with larger than life images -- in color--& a sound track that was so much louder than anything I had ever heard, well it was extremely impressive & I was extremely impressionable. This movie was followed (not in quick succession) by Exodus (I fell in love with Sal Mineo) & then Davy Crockett (I fell in love wiht Fess Parker). I would play act each of these films at home & Imagine myself living in the era of the film. I am a visual artist & I have a very powerful imagination 🙂.

Hi Frieda.. For sure, you would have loved watching "The Little Rascals. " if you enjoyed "The Three Stooges" . Everyday innocent comedy about a group of kids growing up together , going to school and experiencing all types of adventures . Everyone loved Spanky, Buckwheat, Alfalfa and all the others. Musicals were very popular too, such as The Sound of Music, and Hello Dolly. .. There were some very nice elaborate theaters to attend, such as The Fox, The King and others in Brooklyn....but sadly, they are long gone..

My Dad and I bonded over The Three Stooges all throughout my childhood.

Ohhhhh, I used to love when Netflix had the mail order DVDs! It was so much fun getting your new movies in the mail.

❤

Love these memories!

what a wonderful sister story

Gangs of New York is an amazing movie. But i can see that being pretty brutal for a Hasidic person who has barely seen any movies lol. Thanks for sharing as always Freida!

my first ever movie was Pinocchio and I had nightmares for weeks after😂my mother loved old black and white horror films like Dracula and Frankenstein and would let me stay up and watch them with her only to send me to bed if she thought they were getting too scary x amazing really when you think of horror films these days, the old ones were so tame x I love hearing your life storiesxxx

Love your movie story. Your upbringing sounds wonderful. Wholesome in nieve way.

Loved this video ❤

It may not have been the first movie I actually saw, but the first one I remember is "The Sound of Music" on VHS at my grandmother's house. Our special movie snack was popcorn and hot cocoa, and she'd tell me stories of her childhood in a Paris convent and then stories of being in the Resistance during the war. Thinking back, that was pretty heavy stuff for a kindergartener... but she loved movies, especially Shirley Temple movies, and even today, just watching a movie on Hulu feels like a special event. And I still love to have a buttery snack with a cup of hot cocoa!

I was not violating any rules with movies I went to when I was young. But it is still true: that the things we experience with fresh, naive eyes are always more impactful than when our eyes become jaded through "experience." My issue was that I really watched movies with very naive eyes because I was usually accompanying my older sister who chose the movie so a delightful Audrey Hepburn movie like Charade (a romantic suspense story) was so impactful and much scarier than everyone around me seemed to feel (much like you in your first rom com experience) and I had nightmares after that. For years, I had fears of fire in an enclosed space.

Such a sweet story. Thanks for sharing Frieda

what a wonderful way to start the shabbes and yontiv, thank you. gut shabbes and gut tontiv!

Could you please make a video about your first impression of listening to commercial music records 💿 ? What did you think of jazz, pop, rap music?

My first movie in the theatre was The Wizard of Oz. I was very young. My grandma took me.

My first movie was at the Century Theater in Chicago, to see "Lady and the Tramp." I was all of 3 or 4 years old.

Your story is delightful.🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

they used to make really good movies once upon a time

I grew up in a very average American household in the 60s. We were catholic, and my parents pretty devout, so there was probably some censorship on their part. But the earliest movie I remember watching at home on TV was The Wizard of Oz and it actually terrified me. Probably the main thing that scared me was the tornado.

Regarding your reaction to the humor of bad things happening... Depending on the context I can find them funny, but I think as an empathetic person, cruelty (in a way) of characters towards each other continues to be very uncomfortable for me. I really don't care for comedy that pokes fun in a less than kind way. I don't think your responses were that unusual. As we become familiar with certain kinds of movie situations, maybe we become desensitized, which isn't necessarily a great thing.

This was a delightful video and I think you for sharing!

Hi Frieda: What a lovely treat this episode was! Reminiscing is always heartwarming. As a kid growing up in the tri-state area myself, the local TV stations in New York (primarily WPIX channel 11) would air the Three Stooges and the Little Rascals after school, along with Dennis the Menace and Hazel and the Donna Reid show. On the weekends they would show WC Fields and Marx brothers movies, and they were hysterical. Good times! Thanks for eliciting good thoughts and memories Frieda. Cheers!

Roy in San Francisco ❤️

Was the villa in Italy movie Under the Tuscan Sun?

My first movie was Disney’s Bambi at a drive-in with my parents and brother-I’m 64 and drive-ins were a thing It was both terrifying (the forest fire) and very sad (Bambi’s mother dying) For my 6 year-old mind it was very traumatic I was sad for days

My mother took me to see a movie when I was about 10 because she wanted to share with me the experience of going to a classic style cinema, sadly I don't remember it's name! I just recall the usherette showing us to our seats, the deep pile carpet, the intermission and ice cream!

I loved The Litttle Rascals, I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners and The Three Stooges

This is so cute

My kids LOVED The Parent Trap -- what a great movie. My first was Sound of Music -- we went as a family when I was about 7 or 8 (a few years after its 1965 release), and I remember thinking it was going to be about music.

That was so enjoyable and quite relatable in a lot of ways. You are a wonderful storyteller and I appreciate your sharing so much of yourself ❤❤

It's funny, Home Alone, Baby's Day Out, and the Parent Trap were favourites of mine and we lived very different lives. I just love those little moments when people who are completely different from you have the same experiences. I didn't sneak movies on a video camera, but when I was very young I wasn't allowed TV in the bedroom and I would sneak it on this portable black and white TV my father had.

Very interesting Frieda, and a reminder of how our social frames influence how we understand what we see.

With years of stories and movies, it’s hard to find an untold story.

Hello Frieda. Thanks for sharing! BTW, you have a lovely voice – I could listen to you all day. Cheers!

Under the Tuscan Sun

That story is actually the plot of the excellent film with Audrey Hepburn and Alan Arlin called Wait Until Dark. But that is a thriller!

You are the consummate storyteller. No doubt your early experiences with stories have shaped who you are today. And we (your viewers) are the lucky recipients of your craft. BTW, like many of the other commenters, my first movie was The Sound of Music. My parents let me go with a friend to a matinee. I thought I was so “grown up”.

I love Home Alone!

This was so sweet. TY for sharing more of yourself.

My first movie I can remember over and over was Wizard of Oz. It is still one of my favorites at 65 and I am going to see it in Las Vegas at the Sphere.

My first movie was a French film called The Red Balloon. That was in about the late 1950's.

That film is Under the Tuscan Sun, I believe. Love your videos!

The "Bees Knees? That's an expression from the 1920s. Where did you learn it"

Listening to stories that come from your personal experience are my absolute favourite. More please

Oh dear Frida- I believe that is the plot to Home Alone 3. If you haven’t seen the original with McCauley Culkin, make sure to watch. It’s one of my favorites. We used to watch it every Thanksgiving weekend with my kids and my parents. So fun!

That was Home Alone 3, and it was the worst of the Home Alone movies! 😂

When I was a girl I saw two or three movies with my family. No one had TV’s then. I remember one movie was about Marco Polo in China. I only remember now the part where he is in danger of being boiled in oil. I didn’t understand what was going on exactly but it frightened me a great deal. Another movie a Western my father made us all get up and leave. I didn’t understand what had happened that so upset my father. My mother told me a woman had had a baby without being married. I was very puzzled. I thought you had to be married to have a baby. Those are the only ones I remember right now. When I was 17 I went alone to New York City. Eventually I saw every movie that appealed to me. I bought the New Yorker magazine and read the blurbs about the movies currently showing. I went alone. I loved the experience. Maybe two or three times a week and I always bought popcorn.

Listening to you remember your excitement to learn more about 'Kevin' and your sister's enthusiastic storytelling is a wonderful story. I didn't grow up with any movie restrictions. Of course, when I was a young child, movies were either in theaters or on TV. I remember sweet TV reruns: I Dream of Jeannie, The Munsters, The Brady Bunch, and Happy Days. I also remember watching old movies (1930s-1950s) with my grandma. To this day, one of my favorite movies is "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir." Thanks for sharing this very sweet video. ❤❤
P.S. I saw "The Gangs of New York. I'm sure it was a good film, but not for me. Too dark.

I loved this memoir. It brought me way back to my childhood and how I felt about movies. I gew up in the fifties and my first movie, I think, was "Merry Andrew," a musical with Danny Kaye. My parents took me to the theater to see it. In those days we got dressed up, and the whole experience was new and special--the dark theater, the huge screen. As children, especially then, our world is very small and a movie shows a much bigger world. I remember also seeing the original "Parent Trap."

Wow. I didn't realize Uncle Moishy was too much for Satmar Hasids. I assumed that's who it was for! I remember as a kid attending an "Orthodox" Jewish Day school in Australia (very few people at school were particularly religious beyond stuff like not eating bacon, at least not at home. It was only Orthodox in that Reform or Conservative Judaism wasn't a thing in Australia when the school was founded in the 1940s) and even as a seven year old thinking it was so boring and preachy. I can still remember snippets of some songs and it has been like 35 years.

Thank goodness you like movies. The older I get the more people tell me they don't like movies, never did and some just fall asleep.

My favorite movie was Bambi

A lot of people don't appreciate the depth of the Three Stooges. They think it is only slapstick but there is a lot of wordplay and political satire that people miss.

I’ve been a movie fan since my teenage years. After watching something that was unfamiliar I would try to place myself in that situation. I wonder if you had similar feelings as you learned of things you couldn’t even imagine.

The Mad Adventuress of Rabbi Jacob played in second run cinemas in North America in the '70s (I don't suppose second run cinemas are a thing anymore). There was also a market niche for film libraries circulating 16mm prints of Jewish films for JCCs and shuls. It's the sort of film that you could see at NCSY film nights or at school holiday programming at the JCC.

A Stranger Among Us was a chassidic-interest film that I really found awful. I think it might have been the first online film review I ever wrote (I hope it's disappeared from the Internet). I won't prejudice you, but every bit of it was unrealistic to anyone who had any contact with chassidus. (I usually love Sidney Lumet films.)

I love the Israeli film called "fill the void". ❤ I can watch it a thousand times. My favorite line from that movie was when the main male character says to his then wife who was pregnant that she was his Torah. I almost choked up and teared up.

I've watched a few movies without sound in airplanes, since I wasn't going to pay money to rent headphones. Now planes have screens on the back of seats.

Some of my earliest memories are of watching black and white films with my mum. I actually believed that the world WAS black and white, completely without colour! I think it's so sad that you didn't get to experience those moments that I did.
BTW, with the movies from the forties, the first things we looked at were the shoes! June Allyson always had beautiful shoes!
You're a great storyteller, Freida!! ❤

It’s interesting to hear about this when I heard about most communities can’t see tv shows or movies

My first movie was Mary Poppins, in a movie theatre with my mother, my aunt, my cousin. We had popcorn and Cokes. I loved everything but the volume was too loud. My aunt crumbled up pieces of a tissue with a little spit, then put them in my ears. It was a big improvement. Of course, I’d seen tv at home on a small black and white screen, then only cartoons.

I am not Jewish, practice no religion, and watch this YouTube channel with interest and appreciation. A fan’s note: Ms. Visel is charming, lovely, and brilliant — and, appealingly, still a little naive about the secular world. A fast learner, she is.

I love this video so much! Please do more of these vlogs where you spend ~20min or so simply talking us through a memory or story. I find it so soothing to listen while I do the dishes or fold clothes, and I feel so enriched.

Movies have been a big part of my life. I was taken to the cinema to watch Gremlins when I was only 4. It scared me so much!

I know you say you don't want to revisit any of these films depicting Hassidic or orthodox life, but I find your takes so interesting. I read your blog and watched your video about Unorthodox, and I think you're spot on. I didn't like that series either!

There was a film a few years ago set in the London orthodox community featuring Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams... As a non-Jew, I didn't like and I imagine you'd have a lot to say about it (won't give any spoilers but yeah, there's some uncomfortable scenes!).

Oh Freida I love this! What most of us take for granted.... I love storytime with Freida.... The Parent Trap is one of my favorite.... I remember when Netflix started this way 😂. UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN is the movie about the woman in italy I think

May I recommend , "Peter Ibbetson".

Storytelling might be just the most underrated media of all time. Thank you for this wonderful piece of high quality culture!

I think the movie you’re talking about is “under the Tuscan sun” or something like that (she goes to Italy and buys a villa to start over)