Coolidge Corner Theatre Science on Screen: Big

Before Tom Hanks was sharing his mama’s wisdom with strangers in Forrest Gump and struggling to survive with only a volleyball as a companion in Castaway, he was performing “Chopsticks” and “Heart and Soul” with his feet on a giant floor keyboard alongside Robert Loggia in Big. Their impromptu duet at FAO Schwarz memorably captures the spirit of play and childlike enthusiasm so central to Penny Marshall’s beloved comedy.

When 12-year-old Josh Baskin (David Moscow) asks a carnival wishing machine to make him big, he awakens to find himself in a 30-year-old body. The suddenly adult Josh (now played by Hanks) winds up in New York City, where he lands a job at a major toy company. There his love and knowledge of toys and his ability to predict what kids will like is swiftly noticed by the company’s top executive (Loggia). It isn’t long before he rises in rank and attracts the romantic attention of a sophisticated executive (Elizabeth Perkins). But the more Josh experiences being an adult the more he longs for the simple joys of childhood. Hanks earned his first Best Actor Oscar nomination for a performance called “flawless”, “funny”, “wonderfully guileless” and an “absolute delight” by The New York Times.

Guest speaker Eric Rosenbaum thinks we should never stop playing. The MIT PhD candidate believes we should continue to play right into adulthood. Not only can this improve our learning, he says, but it can also significantly enhance our creativity. Join us before the film as he discusses, and demos, some of his interactive creations designed to amplify your imagination.

About the Speaker

Eric Rosenbaum is currently a doctoral student at MIT Media Lab, where he spends his days in the Lego Learning Lab as a member of the Lifelong Kindergarten group. He combines his love for music, improvisation, making, and learning to invent new technologies for playful creation. He is the co-inventor with Jay Silver of the MaKey MaKey invention kit. His other projects have included Singing Fingers, an iPad app for finger painting with sound; Glowdoodle software for painting with light and sharing your creation; and MelodyMorph, an iPad app for creating your own musical instruments and playable compositions. Eric holds a Master's degree in Technology in Education from Harvard University and a Bachelor's degree in Psychology. In his spare time he plays the trombone in an Afrobeat band and a jazz ensemble.

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