Being single, I have learned the joys of sitting at the counter in cafes and diners. Today, I was out running some errands and all I wanted was a bowl of soupsoupsoup. So I went to Cocos and joined all the fellas at the counter. I opened my Holiday notebook to make notatons, scratch off items on various lists and add chores to the ERRAND LIST. At the table behind me, two women, probably in their forties were having lunch and one woman was talking about a planned Mommy/Daughter Date she had scheduled for this weekend. She and her daughter were going to bake brownies and scarf them down while watching GREASE. Which made me want to grab her by the throat and scream, Nooooooooo! I have a real thing about GREASE. I hate that Sandy as Sandy isnt enough for the boy, and she feels compelled to ditch the ponytail and tart up in leather britches to be woman enough for him. The only way Id watch that flick with a girl of suseptible-age would be with pots and wooden spoons we could bang together every time a demoralizing bit about the value of girls and women came on. Now, GREASE is neither unique or the word in this matter. Way the hell back in 1954, Doris Day as Calamity Jane was urged to ditch her awesome buckskin duds and boots and bullwhip to put on a proper corset and frilly dress to try and catch Lieutenant Dannys eye. Blleeaccch... Of course, there are a few bright spots in cinematic love stories. For all its off-kilter hearkening back to an Old South that we really ought not to be hearkening back to, GONE WITH THE WIND does give us in Rhett Butler a man who loves a woman, Scarlett, with and FOR all her flaws. Rhett doesnt leave Scarlett for her Scarlett-ness. He leaves because hes tired of playing second fiddle to Ashley. I think if I was having a Mommy/Daughter Date that included brownies and a movie, Id show THE ELECTRIC HORSEMAN. Its not the greatest movie ever made, but it does have a wonderful love-ish story that ends as it must, with Hallie going back to the world she knows and flourishes in, and Sonny out thumbing on a Utah highway, both better for having known the other, but neither one expecting the other to change to fit in a world not meant for them. I like that it tells a girl, you can love and leave and be okay. Oh...and the soupsoupsoup was delicious!
Posted on: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 01:55:02 +0000