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Okay, here's a quick quiz; What do the following words have in common with contemporary culture? Glamour, Class, Sophistication, Manners, Elegance, Refinement, and Grace. If you answered, “nothing at all," bingo! You got it right! Here's another pop quiz; How many adults under the age of 40 actually know the meaning of these words? My guess is probably not too many, if any at all. If you're honest with yourself, you know that this is a fact.
So why should this matter? As we know, everything changes in life. That is true enough, but when things change must it be a change for the worst? Some things do change for the better. Advances in medical treatments for many diseases have been improvements. Sanitary conditions in our everyday lives have definitely improved from what our grandparents had. Science and technology have undergone vast changes, much of it for the good.
But those things are not subjective, as culture and art certainly are. When it comes to personal deportment, manners, demeanor, behavior, proper dress, and what we once called “class" that's when today's culture falls apart. Yes, we have changed and it isn't for the better. Not by a long shot.
This all came to mind recently as the annual announcement of Oscar nominated movies were made. The Academy Award show will be in March. I haven't watched that show in many years. Understand, this is from a guy who grew up watching it and looking forward to it each and every year. Not only that, I worked in the industry, at the Walt Disney Company for almost 30 years. There are three reasons why I haven't been interested in viewing the awards anymore. (You might be able to guess those reasons, but I'll lay them out for you anyway.)
Reason number one: I don't know the movies that are up for awards because I haven't seen them. I haven't seen them because most of the pictures being made are not being made for me. They are by and large sophomoric and coarse. Aimed for the teenage/young adult audience, they tend to be young girl stories or young boy comic book stories. Not for me.
The films also take pleasure in pushing a leftist mind set, working it into the plot even when it isn't apropos. I tend to go along with the quote (attributed to both Moss Hart and Frank Capra) “If you want to send a message, call Western Union." Movies should be entertainment not political indoctrination.
Reason number two: I don't know the actors who attend the ceremony nor do I know the actors who are up for the awards. To my old eyes they all look alike. To my old ears they all sound alike. In short, I don't find these people interesting and in no way worthy of spending an entire evening with. And just like in the films they are giving awards to; they cannot help injecting their leftwing ideology to millions of viewers worldwide. They know perfectly well that at least half of the viewers don't agree with their opinions and they just don't give a damn whether they insult them or not. I don't need to hear hate-filled rhetoric from selfish, disrespectful, millionaire celebrities, thank you very much.
Reason number three: And this goes back to my opening statement. The people who attend and present at the Academy show are mostly nasty, unglamorous, inelegant, unrefined, classless and ugly people. They have little or no manners and know nothing of the proper way of comforting themselves. They may think of themselves as glamorous movie stars, but they don't have a clue as to what real stars were like.
Compare the top ten movie stars of today with the majority of actors from the classic era. Do I need to name a few? How about Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Ida Lupino, Barbara Stanwick, Rosalind Russell, James Stewart, William Powell, Cary Grant, Gregory Peck, and David Niven just to name the first 10 who came to mind. I could name a hundred more.
The difference is more than the looks and the clothes and the poise, although that contributes to the whole package. The real difference is the class, sophistication, and the attitude that went along with the glamour of the stars of yesterday. And they were interesting.
In private life the old movie stars had their share of bad habits, bad behavior and unglamorous times, but they still put on a show for us. They were acting classy and the world loved it. They were actors in the true sense. They acted glamorous. Today's actors just act up.
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