We watched "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town", a Frank Capra film with Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur, for the umpteenth time last night. I love the extras Capra has in his films: real faces of real people. He is populist in a great way that was possible in the 1930's, because millions of people were questioning capitalism and how it had hurt so many innocent people. Now those sentiments are lonely in the tide of greed and me-ism. Longfellow Deeds was torn apart seeing his fellow Americans hungry and desperate for meaningful work. He was soon put on trial for insanity, because he wanted to give his millions to give farms to the poor, but acquitted, because in that era generosity was still something people believed in and expected. Today there are billionaires giving away money, but still with all their toys and lifestyle intact. Tax write-offs and awards for humanitarianism. You can buy those now.
I just saw Oceans 8, where everyone is botoxed and airbrushed and frozen in stiff little smiles. These gals are stealing from the rich because they want to be rich, and wear designer clothes and live the celebrity life. And the actresses are all celebrities, so the movie goers can dream of being thieves too. What a noble aspiration. I was super depressed when I got out of the movie. Nobody mentioned donating or sharing any of their new found loot. They wanted to live out the only goal in our culture today: celebrity and fame. How sad.
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