A break from my apparent bitch-fest this weekend.

[mamaslyth]

We were over at my parents' house yesterday, when someone (probably Mom) put the tv on TCM. There was an announcement about a feature called "You're the Producer" and this month's guest producer is Mia Farrow. Apparently, Ted Turner invites celebrities to pick four movies as if they were a programming director for the channel.

I like the idea and I've been thinking about what four classic movies would I pick, if I had the opportunity to do so.

Here's my list of four classic movies I would show if I was a guest producer/programming director on TCM:

1. Cyrano de Bergerac with José Ferrer.
   The life of the poet and soldier of the same name. Even after all this time, this movie makes me examine myself through its characters. When I was young, I wondered how often we miss the truth because we are blinded by shallow expectations. Now, I watch and wonder how often we, ourselves, are guilty of the very same prejudices that others afflict us with.
   
   
2. Brigadoon with Gene Kelley.
   Yes, it's a musical fairytale. But it's also science fiction/fantasy in nature. Two men find a village that only interfaces with the real world for one day every hundred years. It brings up a lot of questions about the good of the whole versus the good of the individual, the price people pay for security, and what people realy need versus what they think they do.
   
   
3. Death of a Salesman with Fredric March.
   I actually don't care for this movie, however, it also challenges people to examine the rules they live their lives by and the result thereof. As since I have a theme of moral re-evaluation going on here, this needs to be part of my list. It's a movie/play that everyone should watch once in their life.
   
   
4. My Fair Lady with Audrey Hepburn.
   After all that darkness, the audience is going to need something light-hearted with a happy ending. Still this movie does ask some questions, even if it does make it easy for us to push them aside. Like what does make a person worthwhile to society and the whole "who is taking advantage of who" in the scene between Professor Higgins and Mr. Dolittle. This version of Shaw's Pygmalion also brings up the issue of codependecy and control. Would the Professor have paid attention to even the sophisticated Eliza, if he hadn't had a hand in creating her new image? One could very well argue that he was more in love with his own handiwork.
   

Anyway, there's my list. What would yours be? Post it in your journal. Who knows? Maybe it would make a good meme.