The murder rate in 1941, interestingly, was a bit higher than it is today. So much for movie values.
As a kid watching the old movies on the afternoon theater or late-shows, a lot of my initial interest came from the visuals, like the old cars, fashions, etc. But as I grew older, I began to appreciate the values, and how, through the protagonists, they taught the concepts of character and moral decency. Yet the films weren’t even particularly self-conscious about doing so. It was just a reflection of an American culture that aspired to higher levels, and actually knew the differences between right and wrong. The mirror opposite of what exists nowadays.
But on the topic of the “Andy Hardy” films, I frankly tended to find them a bit too cloying and tinselly... but that was more a symptom of MGM’s studio production style. I much preferred Paramount’s competing “Henry Aldrich” film series, which I found more breezy and amusing.
Wise words, except i wouldn’t blame later generations for rejecting them. Teenagers didn’t invent the pill or infiltrate the schools, courts and media. Teenagers where conditioned under the noses of those who watched Andy Hardy.
Ok, let's!
Movies in '41, before and up to the early 70s told a story and maintained a measure of morality, largely due to the government censors of the day.
In contrast, today's movies engage in a lot of gratuitous sex, nudity, foul language and explosions in lieu of telling a story. What movies today are not outright propaganda are outright crap!! I have a lot of movies from the 30s through the early 70s because of this and a highly select set of movies that came after the early 70s.
I don't waste either my time or money going to an overpriced movie multiplex to watch a bad movie surrounded by rude people attached to their cell phones and misbehaving children. I'd rather watch an old movie in the comfort of my home than put up with the crap that Hollyweird produces today.
"Logic is an Enemy and Truth is a Menace."
In the episode, the character who is sentence to death tells the state they cannot outlaw God ("There IS a God! You cannot erase God with an edict!"), and reads the Bible aloud during his last minutes on earth. All of this was done on national television.
My wife and I both said: "This episode would NEVER be made today; how far we have fallen."
Very good advice.
Most people who are comfortable with their sexually liberated attitudes consider themselves enlightened, and people like me as old-fashioned and backward. But I’d rather point to the Bible as the ultimate source for my values, than to what amounts to a drug-induced frenzy. I’d rather respect previous generations for the wisdom they handed down, than to hold them in contempt for not being fresh or “new”. I’d rather watch an old Andy Hardy movie any day than a show like Family Guy, which mocks anything traditional, has characters devoid of genuine concern for others and is set in a world without shared meaning.
A quote:
We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive. ~ C.S. Lewis