Gigi Looks Different when You've Lived Longer
My aunt's taste in movies is eclectic. She usually goes for independent/foreign/art house fare, and the occasional musical, so it surprised me that she loved E.T. when it first came out. I took her to see it at Bryant Park this Monday past, along with her aide, and a small picnic dinner of empanadas, merengues, and bottled water. My bud from college, Lea, also showed up, with some brownies, and goat cheese and basil sandwiches. It was good to see my aunt smiling and applauding during the "sky ride" sequences.
Yesterday it was just us and the aide, this time in the Seaport Plaza to watch Gigi. Ada had been a fan of both Louis Jourdan and Maurice Chevalier, and she likes musicals in general if they're written well. She will see anything by Sondheim, and damn the reviews if they are mixed. I'd seen Gigi before, when I was younger, but I can't help but wince a little, now. I know, I know, turn-of-the-previous-century Paris was a totally different world, and being a courtesan, a professional mistress (a western geisha, an artist of romance, if you like), was one of the few ways a woman could advance herself back then, but does it bother anyone else that Gaston Lachaille was just shy of being a pedophile? He had known this girl from childhood, and then takes a sudden interest in her the moment she matures into womanhood.
They do marry, granted. The large gap in their ages would tell as they got older. He would always hold more power in the relationship. Healthy relationships have a constant dynamic of give and take. Sometimes the "see-saw" gets stuck, however, with one person always on the top side. A good fight gets the see-saw moving again; breakups happen when the person on the bottom gets tired of being there, gets up and leaves, and the person on top comes crashing down. Sometimes the person on the top end is tired of always taking the initiative, and hops off. So for the sake of speculation, I can hope the fictional couple would somehow find a way to achieve an equitable, dynamic give and take.
Gigi and My Fair Lady. Liked them when I was younger, cringe when I see these two now.
Yesterday it was just us and the aide, this time in the Seaport Plaza to watch Gigi. Ada had been a fan of both Louis Jourdan and Maurice Chevalier, and she likes musicals in general if they're written well. She will see anything by Sondheim, and damn the reviews if they are mixed. I'd seen Gigi before, when I was younger, but I can't help but wince a little, now. I know, I know, turn-of-the-previous-century Paris was a totally different world, and being a courtesan, a professional mistress (a western geisha, an artist of romance, if you like), was one of the few ways a woman could advance herself back then, but does it bother anyone else that Gaston Lachaille was just shy of being a pedophile? He had known this girl from childhood, and then takes a sudden interest in her the moment she matures into womanhood.
They do marry, granted. The large gap in their ages would tell as they got older. He would always hold more power in the relationship. Healthy relationships have a constant dynamic of give and take. Sometimes the "see-saw" gets stuck, however, with one person always on the top side. A good fight gets the see-saw moving again; breakups happen when the person on the bottom gets tired of being there, gets up and leaves, and the person on top comes crashing down. Sometimes the person on the top end is tired of always taking the initiative, and hops off. So for the sake of speculation, I can hope the fictional couple would somehow find a way to achieve an equitable, dynamic give and take.
Gigi and My Fair Lady. Liked them when I was younger, cringe when I see these two now.