I know it's the times, but still...

I like a lot of old movies. Silent, B&W, whatever. I just like a lot of the older films. Despite that, there are things that bug me. I get that it's a reflection of the times that either they were made or the period the film is set in. I think I had a mini rant about this a while back when I was talking about the opera, Madame Butterfly. Even knowing that, intellectually, there are things that bug me emotionally.

Like.... movies where the men make decisions for the women because the women have no say so of their own. Grrrrr.  I was just watching an old 1950 musical, Rose Marie, with Howard Keel. Ann Blythe is living in the woods and getting along fine, but because her dad asked a friend Canadian Mountie to look after her, said Mountie (Keel) just goes and snatches her up and takes her back to town to be taken care of. He doesn't care that she doesn't want to go, he's a man and there ya go. Then when she acclimates to living with the Mounties, the boss Mountie arrives and says she can't stay, but he has a woman friend who will take her in and make her into a lady instead of the tomboy she is. Again, none of the manly men care what she wants, they just dictate her life for her. Grrrrr.

Or what about the times when people were publicly hung or flogged or tortured or whatever as punishment for some crime. I don't really have problems with that so much as the fact that it's attended by everyone including the kids. Really? Kids need to see this? I'm sure there's some really great reason like it's a learning experience so they don't go into crime because this is their future if they do. But really? Little kids need to watch public torture and executions?

All I can say is, I'm glad I don't live in either of those times. So, let's celebrate the progress we've made even if there is always more to make. That's all.