With Netflix, it's easy to check out a lot of classic movies we haven't seen. This weekend we watched "It Happened One Night," a blockbuster from 1934 that swept five major Oscar categories including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Screenplay.
What's interesting to watch is not only how far movie-making has come in the last 71 years, but how gender relations have evolved. Clark Gable is overbearing and condescending to Claudette Colbert, yet she swoons to his machismo and melts in his presence.
This would never happen today. After the two meet on a bus from Miami to New York, Gable degrades her, slaps her, spanks her, tells her what she can and can't eat, and puts her on a budget as the two travel from Miami to New York. Can you imagine Ethan Hawke treating Julie Delpy this way in "Before Sunrise," a modern-day romance similarly inspired by a chance meeting on public transportation?
No way. No one would believe it.
Yet, in 1934, men ruled the world, made the rules and "knew best for the fairer gender."
The fact that this swept five Oscars is a window into 1934 Americana.
What a difference 71 years make.
What a difference 71 years make.
No kidding!
I'm kinda hoping that we make similar strides in the next 71! :)
Posted by: Cyn | February 27, 2005 at 07:13 PM