Dumbass Independent Award

Dumbass Independent Award

Monday, January 30, 2012

THE FALL OF GLAMOR



I am so sad I fear I shall not recover. In my life I have seen the

dawn of television, the genesis of

color television, the dubious move to nothing but

digital television, and the questionable direction our Hollywood enigma has taken.

I remember the glamor and awe of Clarke Gable, Cary Grant,

Barbara Stanwyk, Carole Lombard, Barbara Eden,

Elizabeth Montgomery, James Arness,

George Burns and his delightfully ditzy Gracie Allen.

Where oh where has the glamor gone? Where oh where does humor now hide? Where oh where has the mystery flown?

History is a double-edged sword because we no longer are hidden from the dirtier side the Movie Powerhouses kept from us.

Who among us knew Rock Hudson, that tall, dark, and deliciously comedic actor that co-starred with Doris Day in so many of those movies we all adored seeing, was gay? The powerhouses knew it, but not us.

Can you imagine an up and coming Marilyn Monroe achieving "stardom" because a home-made porn movie of her sexual antics was released for the masses to drool over? What would Mayer have done if such a film existed and

Norma Jean, hungering to become Marilyn, allowed such a film out?

Where has the aura of "special" gone? The Golden Globes...Kim Kardashian,

Paris Hilton...how did it come to pass our measuring stick has sunk so low, these people are now the "STARS" of today?

What, one wonders, could David Selznick think of the reality shows that raise someone to stardom because an old geezer like

Hugh Hefner pops Viagra and then boasts about his forays with children young enough to be his great-granddaughters?

I miss the mystery...the illusion of something special existing beyond the fantasy on the screens.

I miss the glamor...I miss the charm...the exclusivity of old Hollywood. Of course I also miss being able to turn on my TV and actually having my FREE stations without needing to invest in cable, dish, or

high priced antennas I cannot have here in my apartment. Thank you so much for that

Dubya! Couldn't leave well enough alone could you?

Ah...but then again, given what is on television mostly,

perhaps Dubya did me a favor depriving me of my access to free local stations.

Oh I can hear many of you saying, you get free stations with the new TVs and their embedded convertor boxes...and that's somewhat true...I guess...if you live in a house

and can buy a big antenna. Again, I live in an apartment. I get two stations ONLY that come through always without pixelation, signal breaking, or no signal at all. I can't even get

PBS. Do you have any idea how pathetic it is to not be able to get PUBLIC TV?

So again, Geeze thanks so much Dubya. You really IMPROVED my entertainment.

I must qualify some of what I've said...There is SOME glamor and from a surprising corner.

I am of course speaking of Angelina Jolie. Back in her Billie Bob days I despaired for this young woman, but since adopting

Maddox, she has matured, and given us the mystique, once more, that

Rita Hayworth,

Jane Russel, and a young

Betty Davis gave our mothers and fathers.

Despite Angelina's youth, we no longer see her strutting around in micro-mini's, bikinis, or other 'inis.

We see her spending time with her children and seeming to enjoy them. 

We see her looking decidely elegant, in the same way

Grace Kelly exuded elegance, when she steps out

with the father of her children, Brad Pitt.

Now I can hear some of you arguing...but they're not married! Many other stars have lived outside the boundaries of marriage without a tenth of the hassles

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie get trashed with.

Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russel have been happily unwed now for twenty-five years. Okay, they only had ONE son together, but between them they still had a total of FOUR children.

Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins only just slpit up after 23 unmarried years and two sons. Did they get trashed as much as the Jolie-Pitts?

Ironic that a couple exuding the elegance and mystery of old Hollywood gets hassled the most.

Back to my main topic, I really don't care about

Gene Simmons and his private life. I had no interest at all in

Anna Nicole Smith's private insanity that led to her untimely death.

I didn't want to know what Elvis did behind

the gates of Graceland. I loved his rendering of

Blue Hawaii, and that is what I hold dear to me. Yes, I enjoyed even some of his fluff movies...but I loved 
Belgian Flaming Star Movie Poster
Flaming Star where he played the convincing half breed.

I sooo miss the aura, the mystery, the panache...Hollywood...where have you gone?

Do you think we'll ever return to that time? Or are we stuck with a system that lets those who behave badly

and star on reality shows are the ones that stare back at us from the covers of so many magazines?

Bring back the Gene Tierneys, please!

4 comments:

M. L. Archer said...

Oh, my,Linn, my seventeen year old son would get along with you so well! He's so sick of pop culture. His FB photo is a Casablanca poster and his bog is titled '1940 Where are you?' Here 'tis: http://mikeolmsted.wordpress.com/2012/01/14/1940-where-are-you/

(He writes as Mike Olmsted, but it's Tim Archer)

But I have to think thst if the youngsters want the mystery back then maybe there's still hope.

Lin said...

That is so nice to hear. Kat and I rent all the old TV shows and movies from Netflix. We're so sicj of what passes for modern entertainment. She tells me even today's cartoons are filled with bathroom humor. Back in the earlier days, that was limited to Benny Hill.

Unknown said...

I have wondered about that myself. Not a fan of reality stars and could care less about what they do or don't do in their lives...both on and off the screen. I want to enjoy what I'm watching and not be reminded of high school. *smirk* That's the way I view those types of shows...high school teenage fodder...aka DRAMA.

I would be happy just to be able to watch actual television without all the ick factor. *grin*

Thank you for the reminder of my not being the odd one out. Although my teenagers look at Hollywood and reality shows as a waste of their time. Wonder where they got that from? *grin*

~Alix

Sara Durham Writer ~ Author said...

Amen sister, you speak the truth! I think we have to look for those not so public beauties, like Kate Winslet, Rachel Weitz, Kiera Knightly perhaps. Yep give me the class of Grace Kelly and Lauren Bacall any day over, Snookie, Paris, Kim K and any other fame monster:)

Sara