The Good Old Days Are Looking Better -- Though Far From Perfect

When I was a kid presidents tried to advance Civil Right

The world should be a much better place to live in today than it is. In so many ways it's worse than I was a kid. Climate change is the best example. In days of yore you’d get blizzards, heat waves, hurricanes and occasionally an abnormally warm spell in winter and a cold one in summer. Back then it was news. Something different. Now we’re living with so many weather anomalies that they’ve become the norm. Especially the blistering heat of summer all across the globe (not so much here in the Bay Area — thankfully). It’s getting worse too. People are worried about the threat to the planet. The planet will be fine, it’s the people on the planet who are fucked. Indeed, people are dying because of the extreme weather — in large numbers. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be spending summers where it’s broiling hot all day everyday. Even London has had eighty degree weather most days for the past couple of months. That’s frickin’ crazy. 

Another thing we didn’t have to deal with when I was growing up was having a total moron as the leader of the free world. We had presidents who lied, cheated, ignored the needs of the people and started wars but nothing as bad as what Trumpy has been doing. No one who shattered the political norms. Presidents didn’t used to call reporters stupid or horrible people or accuse them of fabricating “fake news.” Nor did presidents shamelessly self-promote and weren’t so blatantly corrupt. They didn’t call into question the integrity of our elections. When I was a kid we were trying to guarantee civil rights not take them away. The lies weren’t so plentiful or obvious. The loyal opposition was shown respect. Even Nixon wouldn’t have dreamed of calling the people across the aisle, “dumbocrats.” The rich have been getting much, much, much richer these days while the social safety net for the less fortunate is being shredded. The imbalance in our country’s wealth distribution is ridiculous.

There were still small businesses when I was a kid. Mom & Pop grocery stores were ubiquitous. In fact there were all kinds of independent businesses. We had places that weren’t part of a multi-national chain where you could get a burger. You might even know the guy that ran the place. There was Johnny’s down the street and we knew who Johnny was. 

I don’t know if things were better because we had milkmen, but they weren’t worse for them.

People didn’t stare at their phones all the time nor for that matter leave the house with their phones — not that they could. Kids used to go outside an use their imaginations to play games or organize ball games and they didn’t have “play dates.” We roamed the streets and did fine. You didn’t have a phone to look at but you could pick up a stick and make a game with it. People were a couple of million times less paranoid.

True, we didn’t have all the safety features with cars, bikes, playgrounds and toys so today’s kids are safer. But they’re also more pampered and made the center of attention from birth. Children aren’t integrated into families in the same way, they are the center of the universe for their parents. 

(It just occurred to me that when I was a kid if someone wore a bicycle helmet they’d be teased mercilessly.)

We didn’t have streaming services or cable so if you wanted to see a movie you had to wait until it was on TV where it was butchered by commercials and sometimes edited (censored). If you wanted to hear a song and didn’t have the record then you had to wait for it to be played on the radio. 

There were no computers for googling so if you needed the answer to something you bugged your parents, or a teacher or you looked in an encyclopedia if you had one or went to the library. You had to be resourceful. 

People had record players, sometimes stereos. Not everyone had color TVs, I didn’t until my senior year of high school back when we had six channels on TV and I think that sixth had just been added.

There were a lot fewer sports events on TV. But I liked sports from that era a lot better. It was before there were a millions teams in each sport (although the fact that there were only six ice hockey teams was ridiculous). There weren’t dozens of rounds of playoffs in pro sports. College football had conferences that were regional and practically-sized. There were no stupid playoffs for a national championship. Bowl games were still a big deal. College basketball didn’t have half the schools in the post season tournament. There were no “wildcards” making the playoffs. Best of all a stupid kid like me could afford to go to a game. A family could have season tickets for an NFL team without taking out a second mortgage.

Concerts were also affordable back then. For ten bucks you could see the biggest names in rock n’ roll. No one was getting away with selling tickets for thousands of dollars.

We still had movie theaters. Lots of them and I’m not talking about heartless cineplexes but actual theaters. Ticket prices were not just reasonable but cheap.

But back then gay people had to remain very much in the closet and could be arrested and jailed for the act of love. There was nothing approaching Pride Month or a Pride Parade. Women were still way, way behind men in terms of equal pay and just generally being treated like something other than sex objects. It still ain’t great today but it’s far better. Progress for African-Americans and other people of color was being made. Today there are forces trying to reverse those advances.

One of the biggest differences between then and now was that there was a much greater sense of hope. Like I said, progress was being made and there was the belief that improvements in society and politics were going to be permanent and added to. Today there is one helluva lot more cynicism and one can see why. The powerful have become more powerful and infinitely more heartless. Pushing them out of the way seems a mammoth task. Global warming is draining people physically and emotionally. It feels like a big defeat — likely because it is.

I still hold out hope because not doing so seems such a final loss and violates the best of the human spirit. Gotta keep the faith, baby.

It is the Long-Awaited Return of Headlines!

Happy Pride Month Everybody!

It's been awhile (February '22) since I offered headline's from the day's news with my wise, snarky and pithy comments following. It used to be a regular feature on this blog but for the past few years there hasn't been much in the way of news so....Anyway it's back, at least for today. Enjoy!

From the New York Times:

Supreme Court Expands Trump’s Power Over Immigration

In other words xenophobia and hatred are to be codified into law. As a student of U.S. history I can tell you that this is nothing new. See, for but one example, the Chinese Exclusion Act. Is there a country that owes more to immigrants? Doubt it. But few countries vilify immigrants as much.

More Temperature Records Fall as Deadly Heat Stifles Europe

It used to be to that you could go to England in the summer and not worry about heat. No more. The temperature has hit 100 degrees in London. France has been baking. What’s at the root of it all? Don’t tell Trumpy this, but according to scientists (those weird-ohs) it’s human-made climate change.

California Will Vote on a Billionaire Tax. Billionaires Aren’t Happy

Guess what, billionaires? You’re outnumbered. And ya know what else billionaires? Fuck you. You’ve got more money than ten people would ever need and you’ve got the gall (unmitigated gall at that) to whine about a bigger tax bite? No sympathy for you, ya greedy bastards.

From CNN:

Texas is poised to require millions of students to study Bible stories

While you’re at it, Texas, why not require students to read about unicorns, Bigfoot and Star Wars? If you’re going to use fantasy stories in schools, don’t limit them to Christian ones. Of course this means that Americans (at least in places like Texas) are going to get even dumber. 

Why Seattle’s Pride match has caused outrage for the two teams playing in it

As part of Pride Month and the hosting of some World Cup matches in Seattle the contest between Iran and Egypt has been designated the pride match. Rainbow flags everywhere. The two participants aren’t happy about this because they’re fundamentalist Islamic states — in other words, raging homophobes. Don’t like it Egypt and Iran? Go the fuck home. Some of us embrace our LGBTQ brothers and sisters. Sorry you’re still back in the dark ages. (But its our culture, it's our religion. Then fuck your culture and your religion.)

From the BBC:

Could a Madison Square Garden wedding be the love story of Taylor Swift's wildest dreams?

Honestly. I don’t care. I know the woman has gazillion fans and that one of my daughters is one of them, but why would people obsess over a celebrity’s wedding? Obsess over a new album? Sure. But nuptials? Come on.

Why has Trump stayed away from the World Cup?

So he does’t have to endure more booing? Because like most Americans he doesn’t really like soccer? Because the damn president should be tending to other matters? 

From the Guardian:

Alarm over ‘extreme’ sentences for anti-ICE protesters convicted of terrorism

Harsh sentencing is a hallmark of repressive regimes, especially against dissent. This is another clear sign — like we needed one — that the U.S. is slipping into authoritarianism. 

Why did Tucker Carlson and Marjorie Taylor Greene leave the Republican party?

Better question: why aren’t more people leaving the Republican Party? 

From MSNBC:

FEMA official known for Waffle House teleportation claims steps down from role

Dude’s name is Gregg Phillips (what’s with the three ‘gs” in Greg?). Here’s a line from the article: “he claimed, more than once, that he was involuntarily teleported, including an incident in which he said he was sent to a Waffle House restaurant 50 miles away. In response to questions about his alleged experiences, the FEMA official continued to insist on the validity of his claims.” Trumpy, in his infinite wisdom, had appointed this election-denying nutcase as  head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Office of Response and Recovery. Folks, you can’t make this stuff up. I dare you to try,

Stephen Miller memo exposes plan to punish Americans with disabilities

You’ve always thought Stephen Miller was an evil bastard. Turns out you had no idea. Miller is behind a DOJ memo that lets states institutionalize Americans with disabilities instead of funding the community care that allows them to remain home—undoing decades of reform and precedent. Again, you can’t make this stuff up and again, I dare you to try.

As 'Fairyland' Proves, There's More Than One Way to Raise a Child

Question: How would I most like to be remembered?

Answer: As a good father. Everything else is cherry on top of the cake. It seems I’ve done all right considering how well the two young women I raised are doing. 

I never found parenting terribly difficult though admittedly this is in large part due to my wife who has always been  such an incredibly good mother. To me the first rule of parenting is: do no harm. This is a rule that — sadly — my mother violated in spades due to her mental illness. The second rule is to love your children unconditionally. That should be fairly simple. There are other rules but those first two are far and away the most important and all the others should fall into place if you practice one and two.

Parenting was very much on my mind when I saw the film, Fairyland on Sunday. The film begins in 1974. Steve Abbot finds out that his wife has died in a car crash. Left behind with him is their young daughter, Alysia. Steve and Alysia move from the Midwest to San Francisco into an apartment that they’ll share with others. It is a Bohemian atmosphere that is initially unsettling to the girl. But Steve thrives as he steps out of the closet and finds a lover among his flatmates.

There are trials and tribulations for a single father in the best of circumstances, when the father embraces an alternative lifestyle — midstream — and in doing so prioritizes his own needs, the child can feel left behind. Especially if at times she literally is.

Over the years the two clash over Steve’s unorthodox and lax parenting. Children like structure. But the pair love each other and Steve provides what his daughter needs. The proof is in what a fine young woman she grows up to be, eventually earning a scholarship to NYU and doing a year’s study in Paris.

This is director Andrew Durham’s feature debut and in it he shows great promise. The movie very much captures the feeling of San Francisco in the ‘70s and ‘80s as archival footage is seamlessly mixed in. We see scenes of the then burgeoning gay pride movement and the consequences of the AIDS crisis which devastated the Bay Area’s gay community. It would not be a spoiler to say that AIDS plays a significant role in the movie’s final third.

Alysia takes no issues with her father's sexuality (that she became aware of it at such a young age helps) but naturally has questions. Children questioning their parents' lifestyle is nothing new and practically became de rigueur in the Sixties.

But this is more a movie about the many ways two people can love each other. Their's is a love that requires patience, understanding and flexibility (I guess to an extent all love does). The word unconventional keeps coming up in thinking about their relationship. There’s naught wrong with that especially when one considers how badly a lot of conventional parenting goes.

Alysia is a strong, resilient girl who grows into a strong resilient woman. It’s her father who’s a free spirit, vulnerable and often flaky. You might at times wonder who’s raising whom. But, as they say, whatever works and through their love it all works in the end.

There are a lot of ways to raise a child but you can’t do it well without love.

What You're Telling Us If You Say You're a Republican (Hint: It's Not Good)

I frequent a forum about Cal athletics. Politics rarely comes up but when it does most people who comment reflect progressive or liberal views. Cal is in Berkeley, after all. However recently one commenter identified himself as a “conservative and a Republican.” I noted that I had a visceral reaction to reading these words. I can best sum it up thusly:

What you’re telling me when you tell me you’re a Republican or a conservative or both.

You support big businesses and corporate power over the working class. You don’t want to raise the minimum wage but you’re fine with people being multi billionaires.

You don’t support a woman’s right to choose. Indeed, you don’t support the right’s of women. You’re comfortable with men making choices for women about women’s bodies.

You don’t respect the rights and safety and autonomy of the LGBTQ+ community. You’re likely homophobic and certainly anti-trans.

You’re a xenophobe who participates in or accepts the fear-mongering around immigrants. 

You’re a racist. Anyone who supports Trumpy is identifying as a bigot. Plain and simple. You’re prejudices may not be overt but they certainly exist.

You care more about guns than children. You have totally misrepresented and misunderstood the second amendment which you view as sacrosanct. Unlike human lives.

You’re afraid of education and books. Just as slave masters didn’t want the enslaved to read and learn, you don’t want young people to learn the true history of this country, or about social issues or African American history. You know that a well-rounded education is a threat to your efforts to suppress dissent against the military-industrial complex.

You’re opposed to high voter turnout because you know it hurts your candidates' chances. You are so opposed that you work towards and support measures to suppress the vote.

You don’t give a damn about the plights of underprivileged people. 

You want to shrink the government, transferring their power to the rich and powerful. To that end you abhor government regulations no matter how much they help the common good.

Your idea of tax reform is less taxes not closing loopholes that benefit the richest Americans.

You extoll punishment over rehabilitation. Indeed you favor long prison terms for the poor but amnesty for the rich.

You see schools as a necessary evil and hate having to fund them or pay teachers a decent wage.

You don't trust our electoral system because someone told you not to. Facts don't enter into it.

You watch a "news" network that is right wing propaganda which perpetuates blatant lies that you believe.

You’ll let the planet roast to a cinder before admitting that human-made climate change is real and is the greatest threat facing humanity. 

You don’t honor or even trust either the scientific or medical community no matter what they’re overwhelming consensus is on any issue. You do, however, trust the business community. You also believe the myths from Christianity over facts empirically verified by science.

You could well be an anti-semite or an Islamophobe or both. 

You think that Alabama, South Dakota and Idaho are the “real America” but New York, San Francisco and Chicago aren’t because the second group has large populations of people of color and gay people who are out of the closet.

You blindly follow a leader who is a narcissistic, lying, twice impeached, convicted felon because you’re goddamned stupid. Period.

Note: Four of the last five Democratic nominees for president have either been a person of color or a woman, one is both. The Republicans have never nominated either a person of color or a woman as president. The last three times they've nominated Donald Trump, a serial philanderer and known bigot.

Yuletide Fun on Film, Another Edition of My Favorite Christmas Films

Fanny and Alexander

Welcome to the 1,000th iteration (he’s exaggerating) of my favorite Christmas films. If you go to the Christmas label on the side of the blog you can find hundreds (again, he’s exaggerating) of other such posts. I believe the exercise worth repeating as tastes change, new movies are seen and changing perspectives worth adding. 

We live in an age in which there is a proliferation of really lame Christmas movies. The Hallmark channel has been cranking them out for about ten years now and Netflix has gotten into the act. They feature sappy story lines, d list actors and shoot-the-script directors. I happily ignore those. Fortunately there are the tried and true with occasional new additions. Many of my favorite are older films, as you’ll note, from the time when story was king. In a lot of these pictures Christmas scenes are tangental. Most have big stars and some are from really good directors. Some try to capture something of whatever the Christmas spirit is. While for others Christmas provides an interesting backdrop or is like one of the characters. 

I’ll not be detailing plot points, instead focusing on the many great performances that highlight these films as well as the picture's relation to the holiday season.

(The following are offered in no particular order.)

Fanny Alexander (1982) Bergman. We start off with the question of what constitutes a Christmas movie. I’ve wrestled with this question before. Here is my latest answer: a movie that centers around Christmas, is set around Christmas or has a significant Christmas scene. Fanny begins with a very long scene on Christmas Eve and then ignores the holiday completely for the rest of its several hours running time (I only consider the extended TV version worth watching). But what a glorious Christmas scene it is with all the pageantry, fun, food, gifts and family (seen through the eyes of a child) that can make the holiday seem magical. It is some of the best stuff on celluloid. The great Ingmar Bergman directed.

It’s A Wonderful Life (1946) Capra. It’s a wonderful film. Like F&A one of the greats of all time. It begins and ends on Christmas Eve with the vast middle exploring other times of year. It is sentimental (but not overly) with a simple but profound message. The fact that many people such as myself never tire after repeat viewings is a clear indication of its power. Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore and Thomas Mitchell lead a fantastic cast featuring many of Hollywood’s Golden Age’s top supporting players (such as Ward Bond, H.B. Warner, Frank Faylen and Beluah Bondi).

Christmas in Connecticut (1945) Godfrey. Another picture I watch every year and never tire of. The first “pure Christmas” movie on the list it all takes place during the Christmas season, mostly on December 24 and 25. Barbara Stanwyck is radiant, Dennis Morgan is charming, Sidney Greenstreet, Una O’Connor, Reginald Gardner and S.Z. (Cuddles) Sakall round out a top notch cast. It’s a classic romantic comedy with a tight script more than ably directed by Peter Godfrey who, lamentably, never did anything nearly as good. 

Mon Oncle Antoine (1971) Jutra. A criminally underrated and under-appreciated movie (probably because it’s over 50 years old and French Canadian — you know how people are). The film is set entirely during Christmas in a rural Quebec mining town in 1949. It’s a coming of age story but a damn good one. Moving, beautifully shot. Realism tinged by the fantasy that is Christmas and being young. Thankfully TCM shows it every year.

The Shop Around the Corner

The Shop Around the Corner (1940) Lubitsch. It’s as close to perfect a film as has ever been made. Ernst Lubitsch directed. He was constitutionally incapable of making a bad picture. Jimmy Stewart is wonderful as are Frank Morgan and the rest of the cast — special shout out to Felix Bressart. Touching, warm, romantic and the story concludes most satisfactorily on a snowy Christmas Eve.

Rare Exports (2010) Helander. Finland’s (Hyvä Suomi!) contribution to the list. Most definitely a Christmas movie through and through centering as it does on the true story and secrets of Santa Claus. It’s an action/horror/fantasy comedy Christmas story all in 82 wild wonderful minutes. A different take on the typical holiday film, to be sure but one that is thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end.

The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1943) Sturges. Another film that begins and ends and ends at Christmas with a vast middle that has nothing to do with the holiday. Indeed there’s very little reference to Christmas at all but it’s still a holiday favorite for me and countless others. Plus it’s a Preston Sturges film so you know it manages to be wild, whacky AND intelligent fun. Those Sturges comedies of the early/mid forties never disappointed and all stand up after repeat viewings. The real miracle of the Miracle of Morgan’s Creek is that they got this story of pregnant young girl (who doesn’t know who the father is) past the censors. Eddie Bracken and Betty Hutton star but William Demarest steals every scene he’s in.

Happiest Season (2020) DuVall. A fairly new addition to the list. Just had my second ever viewing of it and consider it now to be worthy of regular viewings. One of two LGBTQ friendly Christmas stories on my list, this a more modern take about coming out. It is largely predictable but great fun in getting to the inevitable and somewhat sappy conclusion. Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis co-star but supporting players Daniel Levy and Aubrey Plaza are scene stealers.

Carol (2015) Haynes. Fully the first half is during the Christmas season and then we’re off into other times of the year. Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara co-star in my favorite movie of 2015. Our second LGBTQ friendly film, this one set in a time when “no one” came out (the fifties). It’s heart-wrenching, heart-warming and moving and has more than enough Christmas in it to justify inclusion on this list. Todd Haynes’ direction, the set designs and costuming are significant co-stars. 

The Bishop’s Wife (1947) Koster. It stars Cary Grant as an angel, what more could you want? That Loretta Young and David Niven co-star (and James Gleason and Monty Woolley are supporting players) clinches the deal. If you’re curious about the word charming just watch Grant in this picture. He manages to be an angel without being preachy about it and rattling on about Jesus and God (who needs that?). Set entirely within the Christmas season ending on the day itself.

Home Alone (1990) Columbus and Home Alone 2 (1992) Columbus. Two more films that I find it impossible to tire of. You know the stories, you know the stars. Macaulay Caulkin was the precious Kevin, Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern were the cartoonishly evil bandits, Catherine O’Hara (the brilliant comic actress) was the frazzled mother. A cameo by the late great John Candy was a highlight of the original and a cameo by the detestable DJ Trumpy is the blight on the second.

Elf (2003) Favreau. Pure Christmas. Pure fun. It’s unimaginable with anyone but Will Ferrell as the oversized titular character. Bob Newhart plays his dad and Ed Asner is Santa. James Caan features as well. It’s a silly movie but the good kind that makes you smile and delight in child-like hi-jinks. For the kind of movie it is it’s excellent. A seasonal staple.

Alistair Sim in A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol (1951) Hurst. Except no substitute. This is the best (my humble opinion) cinematic rendering of Charles Dickens’ classic tale of the redemption of Ebeneezer Scrooge. Alistair Sim stars in a remarkable performance. He’s on the verge of chomping on the scenery but has just enough restraint to make his performance perfect. 

The Holdovers (2023) Payne. Still in theaters. Obviously the latest addition to the list, I believe it will become a seasonal regular. The missus and I saw it last month and enjoyed it a lot and I wrote a little about it on this blog. Excepting the very end it is set entirely around the Christmas season. Paul Giamatti shines as do co-stars Dominic Sessa and Da’Vine Joy Randolph.

The Thin Man (1934) Van Dyke. Okay not a very Christmasy movie but it does have scenes on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Anyway it is the first of the delightful Thin Man series starring William Powell and Myrna Loy and if there’s a better regular screen pairing in cinema history I haven’t heard of it. Nick and Nora Charles (and their dog Asta) tipple their way through life wise-cracking all the way. They also solve murders. This is the best of the series.

Trading Places (1983) Landis. Somewhat of a hybrid Christmas and New Year’s Eve movie. SNL alums Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy co-star along with Jamie Lee Curtis in one of the few really good comedies to come out of the Eighties. It constantly edges towards poor taste but stops short enough for me and is damn funny fun along the way. Begins during the Christmas season and continues just past the new year.

Others to consider: Meet John Doe, It Happened on Fifth Avenue, Remember the Night, A Christmas Tale, Miracle on 34th Street, A Christmas Carol (1938), The Muppets Christmas Carol, The Man Who Came to Dinner, A Boy Named Christmas, Klaus.