A page out of my diary: A fifteen year old's perspective on "The Skulls" and Paul Walker

Photo by Universal Studios

Back when I was in middle school and high school, I wrote in a paper diary religiously. Not necessarily every day, but often enough that I could be counted on to chronicle every major cultural happening in those days.

After Paul Walker passed away last week, I reflected on how I remembered him, as you do. I'd seen him in "Pleasantville" and as a jerk in "She's All That" at the movie theatre ... then again at the theatre for "The Skulls." The other movies of his I saw were "The Fast and The Furious" (I think), "Eight Below" and "Noel" (again, I think). I never thought of him as a particularly accomplished actor, just extremely beautiful. Looking back now, in my teens (when he was in his mid-to-late twenties), he should have been an obvious crush for me -- I was all about the blonde hair and blue eyes. But like some others who should have been obvious crushes (Hayden Christensen, for one), it just never happened. Now I see that he was rather harsh-looking in his twenties, and had really started "softening" and growing into his looks in the past 10 years.

So anyway, I couldn't remember who I'd gone to see "The Skulls" with, or for what reason. I've never been a movie buff or anything close to it. So I pulled out my (now huge) bag of diaries and, referencing the release date of "The Skulls," found the very entry I needed to find to quench my curiosity. Here it is ... enjoy my mortification:

April 14, 2000

Dear Nick [I named my diary after Nick Carter, duh],

I have SO much to tell you about. First of all, I'M FIFTEEN!!! I'M FIFTEEN!!! I got the Nobody's Angel CD, which is quite good. I got it for $8.99.

Me, Cat, Justine and Jenn saw "The Skulls." Okay, that's a SCARY THRILLER, but I CRIED. I'm SO STRANGE. I cried for Josh Jackson's character at the police station cuz no one would believe him. I cried at 2 other points too. One of them being when Lucas and Caleb were gonna duel. I was thoroughly afraid for Lucas. And the part when Caleb (PAUL WALKER!!) was gonna kill himself. I leaned forward [presumably where my friends were sitting] and said, "He's too hot to kill himself." And then I leaned back to see that he really was gonna kill himself. I also remember crying when the father lied to Caleb. If it can make me cry, it's a good [enough] movie.

Very distinguished tastes I had at 15, I know. I saw that "The Skulls" was on Netflix over the weekend and decided to give it another go. I didn't cry, but maybe if I hadn't been cleaning the house while watching it, I would have. Maybe.

I love that Paul Walker went on to establish himself as a guy's guy type of actor, and not just a heartthrob in a string of teen movies. I'd imagine it's pretty tough to gain the respect of a male moviegoer, especially when you're a pretty boy. Or beautiful man. Time flies.

Rest in peace, Paul Walker.