Wishing on the Cleveland Browns
Over the Christmas break, we took our girls, ages 5 and 3, to go see their first movie in the theaters. We have a cheap theater here, torn seats and all, and it still had the newest Disney movie "Wish", so we loaded up on popcorn and candy and tried to keep them in at least an aisle while hoping they stay in their seats. They did well enough that we promised to go see more movies in the future, and the girls have been asking for the soundtrack hourly.If you are not up to date on your Disney lore, this was a celebration movie of Disney's 100 years and there were tons of Easter eggs in it. As for the plot, ((And why I'm bringing up a Disney movie on a post about the Browns.)) a magical sorcerer discovered the ability to grant wishes, and after witnessing the sadness of wishes not being fulfilled, promises to protect them from people and grant them on occasion. He builds a town and allows those who pledge their wish to him once they turn 18 ((Because even magic needs legal consent.)) to live there freely. Upon giving your wish to Magnifico, you forget what the wish was and live happily under his kind and gentle rule, awaiting the next. Asha, the main character, is attempting to become Magnifico's young apprentice and picks up on the idea that Magnifico is not as benevolent as he seems; he's hoarding the beautiful wishes and the power they give him and only allows the "harmless" ones to be granted. She is heartbroken that he will not grant her 100-year-old grandfather's wish to be able to spread stories among the people, and goes off to wish upon a star ((Easter eggs galore.)) for the town to "have something better than this."As Browns fans, that's always our wish: something better than this. This feeling of displacement after a loss. Yes, this season has been magical, with an attacking defense that gave us new personalities to love and treasure. ((I've only known JOK for three years but if anything happens to him, I'll hurt everyone and myself.)) We got a new folk hero in Joe Flacco that gave us memes galore and some unfortunate merch that, like the tuxes in "Step Brothers", seemed a little effed up now. But we wish for something better than this feeling. Something better than the coaching turnover that occurred this morning, uncertainty about how well our quarterback is gonna play, something better than watching the playoffs rooting for whatever NFC team has the most former Browns on it.Spoilers here, but Asha's wish came true: Star, a non-vocal but loveable scamp who is one of the cutest things Disney has made, comes and shows us all that wishes are meant to be remembered and kept close to the heart. They work together to overcome the king who went deeeeep into the dark magics, and everyone's wishes return to them. So like the residents of Rosas, we must keep our wishes and hope for the best. The heartbreak of wishes not coming true can be quelled by the work put in to make them happen, like watching Amari Cooper be as crisp as possible running routes and catching passes and David Njoku barreling into defenders with reckless abandon. Like "Wish", every season is a classic when you're a Cleveland fan.