:From Here to Eternity:
This movie was one of the many made about World War II in the years after the war, as the nation remembered and came to terms with our collective experience. I respect that, but the collective experience of World War II America is not my experience. I couldn’t relate to this movie. I’m a 40-something female Gen Xer who doesn’t even know what outranks what in the US military (yes, I am serious, yes, I know that level of ignorance is shameful). I deeply appreciate the sacrifices of American veterans but I’ve never had an inclination to serve myself. Military culture, per se, doesn’t intrigue me and I don’t seek out war movies of any era. This movie didn’t reach me.
:Shane:
Before this movie I can honestly say the only Western I’d ever watched was a bunch of VHS recordings of Have Gun Will Travel. Have Gun has become a staple of the summer vacation Hubby and I share every summer with my mom at a cabin on Lake Michigan. And honestly? I LOVE Have Gun Will Travel. I love the “simpler times” atmosphere and those campy silk blouses he wore and the awesome, iconic theme music. So wht did I think I wouldn’t like Westerns? I thought Shane would be drudgery to get through. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Shane is a simple good guys vs. bad guys tale of settling the American West. We have our honest, hardworking settlers beseiged by a bully landowner, complete with a wandering, nomadic gunfighter who comed to their rescue.
There were no Native American characters so white audiences don’t even have to do a mental song and dance around whose land it was in the first place. And Lord knows I never let that bother me during all the years I watched Little House on the Prarie coming up.
Westerns are an easy genre in which to get lost. The idea is that the good guy wins and I find them more patriotic than most army films. Certainly less complicated and messy.
Two thumbs up for Shane. You might even be able to convince me to watch some more of these!
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