Theater Abused

So today, as I was looking at all the movies we own, I began to think about old movies. Not just old movies, the good old movies. Ones like The Philadelphia Story which has gotten a bad name since Tom Hanks decided to star in Philadelphia story which includes gays and aids. There’s also An American in Paris and Singin’ in the Rain which many say are the worst movie musicals ever. That they were flimsy story wise and that the characters were too stereotypical. The ballet at the end of an American would bore today’s audiences, sure, but I don’t think that’s the movie's fault.

Movies ‘back then’ were not about blowing people up, shooting people down. They didn’t have to have special effects, and if they did, they were done in such a way that you knew that they were there, but you didn’t pay any attention. It didn’t matter. It drove the story. Ah yes, the story. You see, the major difference between movies of the ‘now’s and movies of the ‘then’s is story, how today’s movies lack it, and how years ago, when people cared and wanted to think during films, they were loaded with it.

Tora! Tora! Tora! could be a better 3 hours spent then Troy if you only would take the time to care. West Side Story, with it’s strangely designed camera angles and more street-wise style shows Ernest Lehman in a better light then Baz Luhrmann who produced his modern day take on Romeo+Juliet. Both, in their own right, showed a unique fines about them, but one tends to pull you in more. That’s because they didn’t make movies for entertainment then.

Movies then were not meant to flash before audiences eyes and then be talked about or mocked as they are today. Kids who show up at LotR openings and even , dare I say, Star Wars box office blasts dressed as their favorite characters. I love these movies, but that’ s all they are: Movies.

Films born from the reels of yesteryear are not entertainment. At the time of their release, that’s what they were. They were releases for the public in order to get away from their ‘hum drum lives’. The news could be shown on the same screen after the movie. Telephones were new and only just becoming popular. These reels were shown in small towns and even large cities, but they drew the nation together under one theatrical roof. Everyone wanted to be a movie star. Everyone wanted to be like Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, and James Stewart. The women were taking their cues from either Katherine Hepburn for a stronger feel, or Audrey for the perfectly feminine look.

Through the screen, they learned of different cultures, cultures we could reach by airplane quite cheap and quite quickly today. In Gigi, we see a glimpse of Paris, in My Fair Lady, England itself is characterized by Rex Harrison and his reaction to why no one recognizes English as their language anymore [“In America, they haven't used it for years!”]

Ideas that had not yet reached them also flooded in through that 5th sense. They learned morals and character through the things said on the screen. Citizen Kane showed how Orson Welles felt about the power one could hold and how to wield it. Mary Poppins, one of the most famous movies of all times, still teaches families that the only real importance to life is to cherish the family while you can.

Don’t misinterpret, though. Some good films have been made. My earlier bashing of Baz was only justified on that movie alone. I believe he out forth the effort on Moulin Rouge to make the audience want to be part of the story. Chicago, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renee Zellweger and Richard Gere held the classic Fosse story above the names that were in the spotlight. Down With Love, A Knight’s Tale, Big Fish, all can be placed with movies that are worthy of being seen at least once.

Some such as Are We There Yet?, Saw, and White Noise, though seem to be cheap ploys to make money. They were created merely to take the cash out of the easily amused pockets of under cultured ‘movie enthusiasts’. Shrek, Stewart Little, and Spongebob are just eye candy to distract children that should be learning, not how to make crude inside jokes, but morals and values that can help them later on in life. God knows their parents aren’t teaching them.

So, your homework? Turn on an old movie. Watch The Maltese Falcon, or Casablanca once. Check out My Fair Lady or Mary Poppins with your family. Put up with seeing one musical number from An American in Paris or West Side Story……

And tell me, with a straight face, that you’re not hooked for life…