My 20-month-old grandson is hooked on the Blu-ray of the movie Frozen. He has to watch it at least four to five times a day or he gets cranky. When a movie is played on the same television that often and for that long, the adults are either going to love it or hate it. More often than not grandpa (a role played by me in this scenario) hates it. It doesn’t matter what movie it is, we grandfathers are wired to absolutely detest the sound of the movie after the fifth or sixth play. Forget the fact that we have movies that we could watch over and over again. That schmaltzy Disney movie drives us nuts.

The rest of the family could go to one side or the other, but there is no middle ground. You do not get exposed to something more than 20 times in a week and not have an opinion about it. That is why most people have stronger opinions about the 24-hour news networks than they do the actual news events. News comes and goes, but those networks are constantly there stirring up trouble.

So while I waggle my cane at whippersnappers telling them to get off my lawn, I wait to see what the rest of my crew will say about this movie. Much to my horror – they love it. So the extended video to the song “Let It Go” gets played in my house over and over and over and over … you get the picture.

When you are a grandfather and the same Disney movie is played in your house over and over again, you never sit down and watch the whole thing at once. I saw bits and pieces of it here and there before I finally decided to sit down and watch the last 30 minutes. Let me say that it is not a bad movie. It is no Emperor’s New Groove but, then again, I am no movie critic either.

After I pieced the whole thing together, I found an enjoyable Disney movie that, if it were put in the Blu-ray player again next week, then that would be fine. But I believe, at this point, the disc is lasered into the player and cannot be removed. Do we wanna buy a Blu-ray? Nope, let it sit in the tray and play over and over and over and over … you get the picture.

My refuge, as always, is the Internet. I go to YouTube and find all of the parodies of Frozen and feel like I am making fun of the movie in a dark and sinister way. The parodies are all terrible, of course, and watching them doesn’t really satisfy the rebellious spirit that is building up in my soul. I had to do something, but I didn’t know what to do. So, like all good grandfathers, I finally had to just let it go.

I love my family and I would do anything for them. That includes consuming the same Disney movie over and over again. The only real solace I have is that hockey season will be here in October and I get the television back at that point. I love that game! Where burly guys play on ice and the people sit in the stands and eat snow cones and  … sigh.

I try to indoctrinate my grandson on the things that I grew up with. Good stuff like Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd. How can you not like Wabbit Seasoning? How can a child not love the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote? But, alas, none of it sticks. All he wants to watch is that little snowman and the trolls that look like rocks. So, like a dutiful grandpa, I sit there and take it.

Lately, I have been able to turn the movie off when he is not paying attention because he inevitably forgets that it was on and goes off to break something else. So I do get to watch a little preseason football and more stories about those true American heroes from the American Hero Network – the Nazis and the Mafia. But it all comes crashing down when dinner time rolls around and the only activities the little guy has are eating and watching Frozen.

We have tried other Disney movies that I could actually tolerate like Hercules, The Emperor’s New Groove and Aladdin – but nothing works. It has to be Frozen, so I have to just let it go. Are the songs stuck in my head? Yes, very much so. Would I have it any other way? Probably not.

Nick Oliver is a Niagara County resident and just a regular guy trying to be the best grandfather he can be. His column appears every Wednesday despite the fact that his grandson can’t read it yet.

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