The Great Escape
We watched The Great Escape last night.
The kids (the oldest in particular) did not like the movie (even after we explained it was based on a true story).
An interesting observation regarding the tension between reality and fantasy.
They objected to the reality of characters in the movie (that they liked) being killed by the enemy soldiers.
Simply saying “well, that’s how it was back then” didn’t seem to pacify.
We’ll probably have to watch Three Amigos, Christmas Vacation, Nacho Libre and Napoleon Dynamite to recover.
I had an uncle who was a pilot during WWII and was a POW in that prison. He would have been a part of that escape plot but was too ill from disease and injury from the prison guards to be of any use to the plan. We did know any of this until a few years ago, just before he died. He told a newspaper reporter about his experiences as a POW. I had asked him many years ago about his war experiences and he would not talk about them. He knew all those men who died in that escape attempt and years later was saddened by their executions.
I had hoped you would open up your blog to the airing of grievances today, since December 23rd is Festivus.
When I was a kid, THE GREAT ESCAPE was at the top of the list of my favorite movies. I still watch it from time to time. But I do remember the sadness I felt when the forger didn’t make it, and when they gunned down many of the captured.
I tend to shy away from sad movies, especially if they are “real.” Although I remember liking Bonnie and Clyde at the time!! I wouldn’t watch it again now………..