Feraud
Bartender
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lol lol Correct!Daisy Buchanan said:It is such a tough balance. I'd probably go to see so many more movies, if I'd stop reading into them so much.
lol lol Correct!Daisy Buchanan said:It is such a tough balance. I'd probably go to see so many more movies, if I'd stop reading into them so much.
The_Edge said:I pretty much agree with MK's take on the film. The liberal commentary through out is just too much for me to ignore.
Feraud said:Good points all around!
If one needs to se "color", spice, and excitement from the Golden Era Hollywood films, try reading a "behind the scenes" style book. There was plenty of action going on!
lol I know I've always been somewhat of a downer as far as that goes. I know many people who love songs for the instrumental qualities, but pay no attention to the lyrics being song to it. I've had many friends get mad at me for spoiling a once loved song when I sang some lyrics from it :eusa_doh:DanielJones said:Golly gee wiz.[huh] And here all I was doing was stating things about the visuals & the costumes and how the actors seemed to fit it, not trying to make a political, moral or ethical point.
Call me simple, but I guess I try not to read too much into a story. For me I didn't see an upheaval of the 50's morality and being taken over by the 60's and so on. I just saw a very, very simple story. "All things change." Be it for the good or not, change is unavoidable, and that is that movie in a nutshell. Nothing more, nothing less. But to each their own, as it should be.
Me, I still enjoy the eye candy this movie has to offer.
Cheers!
Dan
MK said:Agreed. For the most part Hollywood has never had high morals. It started out with theatre performers who had lived nomadic lifestyles with no real accountability. They just put a nice face on for the country....because most of the country had higher standards and would not accept their decadent lifestyle.
It is only through years of Hollywood projecting its values to the world that they have brought down our culture. You can trace the falling standards right along with the advance of electronic media. From a historical view that is a radical change....but that is another subject.
MudInYerEye said:With the greatest respect, I am dismayed by your assertation. A brief of study of nearly any major aspect of world history reveals that folks were as vicious, decadent, bloodthirsty, duplicitous, sex-obsessed, power-mad, and just plain awful back then as they are now. Man and women have been packing perfomances by traveling minstrel and theatrical troupes for THOUSANDS of years. Furthermore, to pass moral judgement on performers in general amounts to nothing more than casting a first stone.
Feraud said:I hope none of my comments are thought of as critical of anyone's opinion. That is certainly not my intention.
The conversation I am trying to facilitate is something beyond "I like it because..." or not.
My query on the film creators' intention is merely to explore an angle no one has yet brought up. I think it is information worth knowing as it may justify (or not) many expressed opinions. Directors, writers, editors, etc. frequently explain their motivations in interviews and journals.
fftopic: For example, when one discusses Kubrick's "Lolita". Is the film pro child molestation or not? I am sure most people detested the film when it came out. The question begs.. what was Kubrick's point of view towards the novel, etc., etc..
Also, the "swinging Californian" plot of the movie wasn't '60s at all, that was happening in California in 1958.
Senator Jack said:Well I really didn't want to bring up The Velvet Underground (the book, not the band) but, again, looking back from the future, it's easy to say that all this went on before the hippie movement. One must remember that this sort of behavior went on under the radar of mainstream America back then. B&C&T&A took its cue from the 66-69 era and not the underground of the 50s.
I had always thought Mazursky said a lot with that ending. I'm pretty put off by corn, and I didn't think it corny at all - perhaps just of its time. But then again I must reiterate that I think Forrest Gump is corny from frame one, though I know many disagree.
Regards,
Senator Jack
LizzieMaine said:There's a book by sociologist Stephanie Koontz entitled "The Way We Never Were," which makes an interesting companion piece to "Pleasantville" -- it goes into the whole 50s TV sitcom family trope and examines it against the reality of postwar family life. If you can force yourself to wade thru the annoyingly academic prose, it's a very eye-opening book.