As I opened HBO Max wanting to watch a couple of F.R.I.E.N.D.S episodes, the 20th anniversary of The O.C appeared as a suggestion. So, naturally, I clicked on the play button. As soon as the intro soundtrack started playing, I was twelve years old again.

As I closed my eyes and started singing so loud and off key my cat got scared, I could feel what I felt fifteen years ago: the thrill, the excitement and the sense of endless possibilities that watching a TV series about rich Californian kids could make a middle class Romanian girl feel. I could hear Seth Cohen’s sarcastic tone, Summer Roberts’ high pitch voice or Jeff Buckley playing Hallelujah and I could just see the view from Ryan’s pool house.

I realized then how each stage of my life is somehow connected to a TV show, to a movie or to a song. As a certain smell or taste takes us back to a moment or a special person, so do the visual or acoustical arts. So, let’s take a trip down memory lane.

As I mentioned in another post, my first ever memory is a scene from Forrest Gump. But I realized that only years after, while watching the movie for the second time (believing it was the first time). Then, we have Titanic. Oh, how I remember the scene where the cruise ship breaks in two and the passengers start sliding into the ice cold ocean water. I was around six or seven, but I remember it vividly.

From ages seven to ten, my universe was ruled by Cartoon Network. So, The Powerpuff Girls, Dexter’s Laboratory, Ed, Edd and Eddy, Courage the Cowardly Dog or The Cramp Twins would just take me back to those years. Moving on to secondary school, Fox Kids was the alternative, the way to go if I wanted to do a Cartoon Network cleanse. There, I met Louie Anderson and The Kids from Room 402. An honorary mention has to go to the TV series Ed, broadcasted by The Hallmark Channel. This show depicts the return home of Ed Stevens, a New York lawyer. After losing his job and finding out his wife is cheating on him, he moves back to his Ohio hometown to try to get his life back on track. The characters are lovable, the dialogues are witty and the love story is heart warming. All in all, I would like to watch it again.

High school was defined, TV series wise, by Gossip Girl (the OG, not the crap they did for Gen Z), How I Met Your Mother and, of course, F.R.I.E.N.D.S. I remember waiting for the next episodes from week to week and then debating them with my friends (for the first two series mentioned, as the adventures of the F.R.I.E.N.D.S characters were well over at that time).

My college years were under the spell of Game of Thrones and my postgraduate years were enhanced by The Office. Just listening to the theme song of any of these shows takes me back to those exact moments in my life: where I lived, what I did, how it related to my life and experiences and how, some of them, helped me get over certain sadnesses or difficulties I was facing.

For example, the day my grandmother died I spent the whole day in bed watching Tom and Jerry on Youtube. My favorite episodes are the ones with classical music, so the one where they freeze the kitchen, the one where Tom is a conductor and Jerry messes with him, the one where Tom is a pianist and Jerry, again, messes with him or the one where Jerry goes to New York. I figured out later that watching all those cartoons was an attempt to feel like a kid again, to bring my grandma back somehow.

As movies goes, I have fond memories of the first time I watched my now-still favorite movies. From all the romantic comedies of the 90’s to The Usual Suspects, from The Shawshank Redemption to the Harry Potter series, from all the Paul Newman movies (just go watch Cool Hand Luke, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof or The Long Hot Summer and thank me later) to all the Audrey Hepburn movies (How to Steal a Million, Roman Holiday, Breakfast at Tiffany’s or Wait Until Dark, you’re welcome!), they all have a special place in my heart and in my memory.

Roberto Benigni’s La Vita e Bella has a special place in my memory because, well, it’s a masterpiece. Just saying Buongiorno, principessa! makes my heart ache a little and my eyes tear up a bit. Another drawer of my heart is filled by Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel. I saw it at the cinema, in college. I remember we had a mid term test in the morning and the rest of the day was free. So two of my friends and I went to a bookshop afterwards. I bought Stefan Zweig’s The World of Yesterday, not knowing much about the author or the book, just fascinated by the front cover design and the back cover reviews. After lunch, we decided to go to a movie. Anderson’s movie was playing in cinema at that time, it appealed to us and we went. As well as being fascinated by the esthetics of the movie and how it was directed, I was amazed to discover, during the ending credits, that the stories were inspired by Zweig’s life long work. What were the chances?

There are many more cinematic memories to share, but let’s keep you on your toes, just waiting for my next posts (look at me, teasing my audience… who am I, an influencer teasing you with a future promo code?).

I realized I didn’t mention any songs that take me down memory lane. So, music wise, every time I listen to I Miss You or All the Small Things from Blink-182, I’m back in secondary school, sharing my iPod shuffle with my then and now best friend. Stole The Show from Kygo is another song worth mentioning and Vance Joy’s Riptide was the song I listened to on repeat for the four hours I wasn’t allowed to get out of bed after my lumbar puncture.

It’s a longer post than my usuals, I know. That’s just because I love talking about movies and TV shows and memories. I can’t end this post without talking about Reality Bites and how I saw fragments of it on TV1000 and, sensing it had the potential to become my all time favorite movie, I downloaded it and watched it beginning to end just to have the confirmation that it is, in fact, my favorite.

Movies and TV series have the magical power of leaving a mark on us. They can impress us, sadden us, cheer us up, make us laugh or just be the comfort we need on a floopy day. If I were to make a map of my life, every major moment would have a cinematic experience attached to it. How about yours?