Yes. it's the 45th anniversary of this wonderful film. I remember it well. It is also a very special film in our family because it's the first my children ever saw.
I watched the Oprah episode with the cast and found myself feeling quite sentimental and nostalgic. Seeing all the actors who played the Von Trapp children as adults makes one feel the passage of time. There were behind the scenes photos, too. The one that struck me the most was of a very young Julie Andrews holding the hand of her toddler daughter. That photo reminded me of how simple life was for actors at the time and also how actors were actors and not the stars and megastars they are today, constantly hounded by cameras--their bags, shoes, relationships, blings, successes, failures, faux pas, always scrutinized and broadcasted. You could be an actor then and have a life. How many of us even knew she was a young mother at the time? What did we really know about her?
Today it's all about too much information. Just a few nights ago, a local actress was interviewed and suddenly, somehow, they were talking about her underwear. Who wants to know? I certainly don't. But the sad thing is, so many others do. The world today pushes information at you. It's almost impossible to keep it out and many just keep wanting more, thinking nothing of propriety.
How much do we really need to know? The challenge is to know that all that information is out there, but to be able to determine which ones hold water. I am guilty of the same in this day and age of Twitter and Facebook, but that one photograph brought it home for me.
Simplicity, dignity--these do not have to belong to the past.
