Posted on 10/12/2013 2:05:14 AM PDT by Kaslin
On Saturday nights at my house, I often trot out classic movies and force the urchins to watch them. There is much wailing and gnashing of teeth, but I think it's important to teach kids about American culture, and films certainly are a big part of it. Actors like John Wayne, Cary Grant, Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn are worth seeing and remembering.
So the other night I trotted out "American Graffiti," a film released 40 years ago. The movie was directed by "Star Wars" creator George Lucas and chronicles one night in the lives of some California teenagers in the year 1962.
The first thing the kids noticed was Harrison Ford playing a young hood driving a hot rod. That got their attention. The movie features other great actors such as Richard Dreyfuss and Charles Martin Smith, along with Ron Howard and Cindy Williams, who turned the "Graffiti" success into the television hits "Happy Days" and "Laverne and Shirley."
About 20 minutes into the movie, which is heavy on dialogue and light on explosions, the urchins pulled out their iPads and began typing away. Dismay enveloped me.
"So you don't like this?" I asked the 14-year-old.
"It's OK. I'm listening."
"But you're playing with that machine!"
"I can multitask!"
A few minutes later, the 10-year-old demanded popcorn. I told him we'd get some halfway through the flick.
"Do they ever get out of the cars?" the urchin wailed.
"That's the culture in California. They cruise around in cars listening to the radio."
"But there are so many cars!"
I was losing them.
So I paused the movie and brought in snacks. I demanded they shut off the machines while eating.
"Why?" the 14-year-old asked.
"Because you can't text, eat and watch a movie at the same time."
"Yes, I can. I always do that."
"They're still in cars," the 8-year-old said.
We got through the movie, but just barely. Their interest peaked when The Pharaohs, a gang of juvenile delinquents, forced Dreyfuss to vandalize a police car. Finally, some destruction!
After "American Graffiti" concluded, I asked for their reviews. I got them while their heads were down looking at their iPads.
The consensus: It was OK. Too many cars.
These days, the machines and awful films that blow things up every 10 seconds are delivering heavy blows to American culture. The graffiti is on the wall. The attention spans of young people average about 30 seconds. Baseball? Forget it. Chess? Are you kidding me?
We live in a time where machines that deliver instant gratification rule. But I will continue to fight the cyberspace power. Coming attraction: Hitchcock's "The Birds."
Let the texting begin.
I first saw her when I was about seven in “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” Such a beautiful woman. I must have seen every film she made there after. Got to see her play “Major Barbara” in London when she was about fifty. Still beautiful.
Take the REAL LIFE trash can reality show known as "Serf'n USA"...derived from the disturbed minds of hollywood deviants partnered with global bankster gangsters who together infiltrate every aspect of American life by way of social conscience...one robs America's innocence, while the other robs it's security...together both are hell-bent on destroying this pesky obstacle known as "a republic" by enslaving it too by way of a dumbed-down, voluntary compliant citizenry.
Will America too join other surrendered nations in global serfdom?
Stay tuned...
(Damn exciting...can't wait to see the series finale!)
Spoiler Alert!...(the bad guys win!)
The good thing, intact families, outweighed the bad (segregation). which means that intact families were a priceless benefit to society. Even blacks still aspired to keep the family together, and even absent a lot of fathers, a black neighborhood was still a peaceful place.
pffffffffffft
Yeah, but do we like their music?
Yeah, but do we like their music?
The older cars were simpler to work on and modify. Ignition systems were simple, straight line rear drives, no electronics, and many middle class and below males actually were able to do their own repairs and maintenance.
Today's vehicles one of a dozen or more sensors located who knows where can cause a complete engine failure and takes a $200 trip to the shop where they can run computer diagnostics. I really miss the older cars.
I inherited a 95 F-150 from my dad a couple years ago. I decided to tune it up. First thing I noticed was you had to stand on your head just to get to the plugs. My old 76 F-100 I could climb up in the engine compartment, sit down, and work on the engine with lots of room. Both were 302 CI engines BTW. Fuel Pumps used to be a 30 minute job. Now you have to drop the gas tank and pay out $300-$400 for a pump you put in. It's just not the same. In high school and up till the mid 90's models I did my own repair work. Now to even change a tire you have to call a tow truck because some Dork at the tire store torqued the lug nuts down to the hilt. I've broken many a socket and even twisted lug wrenches trying to break them free.
It was redeemed by the housekeeper.
like “In the Heat of the Night”
Yet, ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner’ is a case study of when liberal hypocracy must be faced on the home front.
They are oh so very progressive and modern in their attitudes regarding negroes - untill their daughter says she wants to marry one.
Over 200,000 members from all over the world. Nothing newer than 1964 allowed....
BTW, I got my license in 1963. I'm well aware of the 60's car culture, it was a lot like today. A new stereo, some nice wheels and tires, maybe a lift kit for a truck or a lowering kit for a sedan, LED lights.
I learned to drive in a 55 Plymouth Wagon. First car I had though was a 65 Fairlane.
It’s funny because I see many younger folks on you tube music threads praising the music from the 80s and prior. Some of them actually do appreciate older things and that is nice to see,
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