My husband coerced my 12 year old daughter to sit through this film which she felt mildly entertaining... until they rolled out that minstrel show finale, and then she was just amazed and appalled. I hadn't seen the film and was actually rather shocked, but it led to a very interesting discussion with our daughter about the accepted social conventions of the times, so off-putting to us now but the performers at the time seemed quite oblivious to the possibility is causing offense. I think my daughter, for the first time, 'got' the importance of Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement in a way that no text book could explain. To that extent, the film was a valuable time capsule. The rest of it was rather blah "let's do a show stuff," although my daughter said Andy Rooney reminded her of Leonardo Dicaprio and after awhile I saw what she meant.
We speculated that the sleaziness of movies these days would present a time capsule of its own for future audiences, who will probably be amazed at how crass and sex-obsessed our current culture is. At least I hope that's the case. I'm so maxed out on sleaze and the effect it's having on my daughter, I seriously consider moving to another country sometimes. Anway, this movie is harmless fluff with good hearted values on the one hand and mindlessly offensive racism on the other.
We speculated that the sleaziness of movies these days would present a time capsule of its own for future audiences, who will probably be amazed at how crass and sex-obsessed our current culture is. At least I hope that's the case. I'm so maxed out on sleaze and the effect it's having on my daughter, I seriously consider moving to another country sometimes. Anway, this movie is harmless fluff with good hearted values on the one hand and mindlessly offensive racism on the other.