Today I started one of my few artistic/pop-culture challenges for myself of the new year. I'm calling it the Best Picture A-Z Challenge: watch an Academy Award Best Picture Winner for each letter of the alphabet plus a numerical entry. Oh and add in one catch...it has to be a film that I have NOT yet seen. So I build my list and then if there's more than one choice I offer up a vote to suggest which one to watch. This first challenge is the letter A and so here were my choices:
AND after the votes were in, my "A" challenge became to watch:
Here are my quick thoughts.
The Value of Money: $96 (something) a week Salary is what Jack Lemmon's character was bringing home when he started the film. It is amazing if you consider how far that $4992 annual salary went when he has a decent place in New York City and is able to afford groceries as well. If one person could survive on that back then and we are barely eeking by on $30K annually it's astonishing how inflation or the value of a dollar or whatever has changed. It kinda makes me nauseated lol.
The "Buddy-Boy" Club...ah the men of the old fashioned high-rise office. Like the men in Mad Men. I think that this deterioration of the white male dominated boy's club is probably what Trump-ers and White Supremacist men are grieving. That sense of entitlement, the dominance and presence and the paleness of it all. Honestly, it needed to change and if you consider that this film was made before the civil rights push and equal rights and women's movement deep dive, I guess those men who saw their fathers in these "positions" of power hoped one day they could aspire to such (ahem) greatness. Sorry old chaps, you can't stop progress and frankly I am glad things pushed forward and continue to do so.
The "Class-y Age of Adultery" - As an added perk of the "Buddy Boy" Club it seems that a lot of these 50s/60s tableaus feature the added bonus of having a neat little bungalow or hideaway to get your freak on with your non-marital partner. I mean, don't get me wrong I know these shenanigans still go on. I know they have been going on since the dawn of man probably, but the way it was handled in movies like this and shows like Mad Men it's just part of the "what you do" mentality. No biggie, borrow my apartment. It seems so classy and seedy.
The Age Difference Thang - This film featured a 35 year old Jack Lemmon and a 26 year old Shirley McClain. Even though you wanted these two to end up together it always impresses me when the older man/younger woman trope is present even in a not-so-obvious way. I kind of think that's why men in general seek out younger women. In our 20s our physiques and appearances are just top notch while our heads are awash with worries and insecurities. Such fertile ground to plant a seed of "I should be your man". If, as women our head and confidence game we find in our 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond could be paired up with our 20s physiques I'm very sure NO MAN would stand a chance against us.
Just Curious - Jack Lemmon's boss was played by Fred McMurray in this film, is that where his 3 sons came from? I mean he talked about so many women he had been with perhaps we never realized that each son could have come from a different woman? He had to raise them alone...I am just saying.
The Tennis Racquet - Love the tennis racket technique as a pasta strainer at first I was dubious about that thinking it would slip through but watching him do it made me applaud! Brings a whole new meaning to Italian food being associated with "love".
Women Run It - I guess it was a bit of a kick when I knew his secretary would turn on him and schedule to spill all the beans to the big boss's wife which then resulted in the divorce that she pursues (and probably gets her a good hefty alimony payment). Women have always been the ones who could change the script at any time. We hold a lot of secrets and a lot of cards. Eventually we'd trade our lower cards for the higher ones as we started to demand equality. Bout time...oh and keep smashing those glass ceilings ladies.
The Beginning of AirBnB? - While I know that Jack Lemmon's character was using the apartment borrowing as a ladder climbing tool, think of how much money he could have banked if he did charge at least an hourly fee?! Perhaps this film was the first seed of someone who decided BNB sounded like a marketable idea. ;-)
IN THE END
I enjoyed it. I agree with one of my friends, the film doesn't age well in the sense that it's definitely built around 1950s-early 60s gender roles and stereotypes but still, I can appreciate films as somewhat time capsules. Don't get me started on the fact that I call the film White Christmas because there were no people of color in it. But I digress. ;-)
*** In Peace, Love and Hope - Anna ***
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