Film is such a huge part of our culture. Having TV’s in almost every room is the norm with those little boxes that record everything you could possibly want to watch while you are gone! Almost no one really remembers the time when even getting one TV for your house was a big deal. (Perhaps this is one of many reasons why I like the idea surrounding the 50’s, it wasn’t as bombarded by media!) A time where the shows and films were clean and wholesome and family friendly. Todays prime time could include innuendo, swearing and who knows what else.
This last weekend I was contemplating different films I had recently watched and surprised at the things that I hadn’t caught before. It made me wonder how much we really miss when we blankly sit down to “veg” out in front of the TV turn it on and let it feed into our minds. I’m not saying I always pick out the greatest movies and I’m sure that my tastes will not match up to many people’s, but it is a good question around the board to ask if we are paying attention to what we are watching.
Movie 1 – Thoroughly Modern Millie. Ok now this is an old musical with Julie Andrews and I doubt many people have ever even heard of it anymore. It had been a few years since I had seen it and watched it this last week with my mom. While I still think it is a great movie I was so surprised watching this now that the film contains a huge undercurrent relating to female sex trafficking. It shows on the front of papers that were dropped at newsstands, even has a character rescued out of an opium den at the end where they had been kidnapped to. But the movie overall is so lighthearted, sing-along good times that it just fades into the background. Yet it was then and still is a HUGE issue! The message was in the film, but it is so easy to not even see the deeper meaning or issues.
Movie 2 – You’ve Got Mail. If you are a huge fan of the film, I might suggest you skip this one. My husband ruined it for me this weekend. I’d always loved that movie and again hadn’t seen it in years. A fellow blogger brought up that movie and I thought that I wanted to watch it again. Hubby being amazing actually watched it with me. When I asked what he thought he states that the current of the movie IF we are actually watching is that it almost is encouraging people to go onto chat rooms or online to look for the possibility of something better than what they currently have. While neither character’s necessarily went looking for love online. They both continued to indulge in the relationship, even planning to meet while they were still with their current girl/boyfriends. Not only was the online relationship indulged in, but it was kept secret. The beginning sequence Meg Ryan’s character carefully waits for her boyfriend to leave her apartment and then immediately gets online to see if she has mail. They even turn to each other in email with questions rather than their current girl/boyfriend when they have questions. How can that possibly be healthy?
I suppose that if you break down any movie, we can always find something about it. Something that was a possible underlying agenda, or a storyline that encourages unmoral living. I’m not going to say to stop watching films, but sometimes it is healthy to stop and look at what we are watching. Are we making an active choice in saying, well I do know what this about but just want to have the entertainment today? Or are we saying that we really don’t care what messages seep into the inner recesses or our minds?
You know the proverbial saying garbage in….garbage out? Perhaps sometimes we need to watch what we are actually watching!
Have you ever watched a movie years land then years later re-watched it and discovered something you didn’t remember being in the movie. Do you ever really look at the content of the movie and go that isn’t as funny as I originally thought? What is your families takes on movies? I want to hear your opinions!
Fabulous 50's Housewife 