Last night I watched Meet Me in St. Louis for the first time in at least a decade. Judy Garland singing "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" makes me ball every time. There is something about old movies that is just so much more uplifting and powerful than the airy teenage movies or romantic comedies we get today. Don't get me wrong, I love a good teen movie and am a sucker for The Notebook and Pride and Prejudice. However, I think the movies Hollywood churns out today are indicative of a very fascinating cultural shift we've undergone. Society today is scared senseless of emotions. Why? Because they are associated with all things feminine and irrational. They are not at deemed masculine or rational. I think this is why many (though not all) movies we get today are generally less emotionally charged than older films, or if they are, they are rarely the most popular movies. For instance, many more of my friends have seen the latest Harry Potter movie then have seen Winter's Bone, The King's Speech, or True Grit. Even The King's Speech, however, does not depict the depth and range of emotions that The Godfather Saga or Doctor Zhivago do. This is why I have much stronger reactions to older films and I can't help but wonder if it is the negative reputation emotions have suffered at the hands of their association with femininity that is to blame.
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