Golden Oldies

I’ll report some good news for a change. Perhaps the most important event this year outside the presidential election is the imminent collapse of the so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion con, the poisonous hokum that is finally being exposed as such. Just think of it: $8 billion a year of your taxes is spent telling Americans in training sessions, workshops, and educational material that they are, depending on their race and gender, victims or oppressors, and that America is a nation of white supremacy. 8 billion smackers per annum to spread this bull, and then there are some who say that Musk’s new department for government efficiency is not needed. The DEI mindset is dominant in human resources departments and on college campuses. No wonder people finally got together and voted for the Donald—anything to get away from the scourge of DEI. But as the great Yogi Berra said, nothing’s over till it’s over, so let’s not count our blessings yet. It is telling that the ghastly New York Times chose to spike its reporters’ work on the study of DEI. Academy and the media will continue to embrace DEI and will not give up easily. Well, defunding the police and allowing open borders led to a Trump victory, hence DEI will only improve matters for conservatives.

And there is more good news. Turner Classic Movies, which has recently gone too woke for my taste, had a whole afternoon of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musicals, and I set aside everything I was doing and watched nonstop. What can I say or write without using superlatives? The deep sophistication of the music in these films is no accident, just look at who wrote it: George and Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, all giants. We have committed cultural suicide these past 25 years, what with rap noise now listened to even by white folk who are able to read and write—barely, that is.

“I wish I could do justice to the music and the dancing of a Fred and Ginger film, but words fail me.”

I wish I could do justice to the music and the dancing of a Fred and Ginger film, but words fail me. Here’s Fred dreaming about and missing Ginger: “The way you wear your hat, the way you sip your tea, the memory of all that, oh, no, they can’t take that away from me.” It’s all just great words and music, even a soaring happy song about “that laugh that wrinkles your nose.” Ginger Rogers danced as well as the greatest of them all that was Fred Astaire, and as it has been pointed out, she did it backwards and in high heels. She has the most beautiful, sexy back, fantastic legs, and the face of an American-born blonde cheerleader. I’ve been in love with the characters she’s played for more than fifty years.

Films such as Top Hat, Swing Time, Shall We Dance, Carefree, and The Barkleys of Broadway are innocent, full of fun, but so delightfully bursting with talent, they leave an audience gasping for more. The music and the dancing reflect the incredibly gifted people who created them. This is why today’s movies are not only unwatchable, they are as grueling and as horrible as they are endless.

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