Quick-Seat Chair Goes To Hollywood Series – Amelia 2009
By Khadi Madama Wellness Coordinator for Quick-Seat Chair
I loved this movie. I thought that Amelia, played by Hilary Swank and her husband George Putnam, played by Richard Gere, was so well done. Hilary nailed Amelia’s character and Gere, such an amazing ‘character actor’ nailed Putnam to a “T.” Directed by the very talented Mira Nair, was a real treat for us Amelia Earhart fans. But, like someone walking through a long sterile corridor to a destination far away, as they sometimes are in medical, industrial and massive corporate buildings, Amelia is a metaphor for those in need of a place to land. For on the last and fateful night of her long voyage she struggled painful and failed to find that safe respite. I was afraid of how they would end the film. We all know that Amelia was lost and died. But how would they portray the ending? Personally, I like happy endings, ones that don’t leave me emotionally stranded. And, I didn’t want to see scenes of Amelia crashing and being lost. I want to find a place to sit before my own fuel runs out, like Amelia trying to find a place to land before her tanks are empty. I’m an eternal optimist.
Fortunately, this movie is done so tastefully that the ending is just beautiful, with Amelia sharing her thoughts about flying and adventure and fulfilling ones dreams as she soared off into the sky and the scene faded out. Cinematographic excellence. I was so happy. I know she dies and is lost in real life already, but the ending took some of the sting out of it. It’s such a good watch for the fans. However, that doesn’t solve the fact that in reality, Amelia Earhart had some layovers in some truly less than accommodating air fields. Some less than comfortable, less amenable. Remember, her last flight was in 1937, and her last take-off was in Lae, New Guinea. A bit of an outpost back then. And, the layover was not a short one. How much better that layover would have been if Amelia could have sat outside in a breeze on a Quick-Seat Chair, while doing some of her famed needlework, which she took with her everywhere.
Even more so, what of the film set and the lack of seating there, as well. Growing up with a father in the Civil Air Patrol, I spent almost every weekend at the small airfield and in the hangars with planes at Hadley Field in Piscataway, NJ. In fact, Amelia Earhart once made a stop at Hadley Field but it was way before my time. Extra seating was almost non-existent. I can tell you that there is a real need for Quick-Seat Chairs in real private airport small hangars. The plane needs all the space it can get for small repairs, storage, and tools. I know because I belonged to an aviation group, for a while, and if there was a meeting, we had to bring our own chairs to the hangars.
It is evident on the film set for Amelia, that a seating shortage is just as real as real life. Everyone is waiting on cue for their scene and the retakes and extra retakes, while standing, so that their costumes don’t get wrinkled. We’ve never had a complaint at Quick-Seat Chair from anyone after happily finding a place to sit, that we caused clothes to wrinkle! Everyone is always just happy that that they’ve found us, right there when they need us. Someday, Quick-Seat Chair is going to be a star in its own movie. That’s our story and we’re sticking with it.
Quick-Seat Chair. Temporary Seating That Closes Itself