The other night I watched a 1964 film called
"The Americanization of Emily"
with James Garner and
Julie Andrews.
It takes place in England during WWII.
He plays an American officer in the US Army
and she plays a nurse in the Royal Army.
Her character, Emily,
is a woman who has lost
a husband, brother and her dad
in war related incidences.
Because of this
she has built some walls and defense mechanisms
to help protect her from the pain of losing loved ones.
His character, Charlie,
is cocky, arrogant, self-pleased and a little bit funny.
Needless to say, they fall in love.
Charlie asks Emily to marry him and after much
vacillating and rationalizing,
she finally agrees.
But as Charlie is about to board an airplane
which will take him to his station from which he will
storm Normandy,
they have a bit of a spat and
Emily tells him that she won't marry him.
Clearly frustrated, Charlie goes on a bit of a rant
and basically tells her that she has allowed fear to rule her
and keep her from being happy.
He evenly says to her,
"Emily, you are a bitch."
And it's true.
She was.
Although she was a caring nurse to the wounded,
the walls and defense mechanisms she had built around her
had caused her to adopt an air of superiority.
This scene from the movie caused me to reflect on
current American society
in which a large group of girls/women have
fallen into what seems to be a trend of
the "Bitch Attitude".
While I understand that there are
reason and circumstances which have contributed to
and have led them there,
it doesn't make it right or good.
And while there are people who will choose to
love those who have adopted this attitude,
as Charlie clearly demontrated,
there comes a time when
enough is enough.
The same is also true for those
cocky, arrogant, self-satisfied
boys/men
out there who have fallen for the trend and have adopted the
"Asshole Attitude".
Though these attitudes might make one feel better
for a time,
they aren't becoming or cute
nor do they empower a person,
rather they isolate and
add to one's misery.
Because
no one likes a Bitch or an
Asshole for very long.
And seriously,
I hope these trends fade away
quickly!
Of course, by the end of the movie,
both Charlie and Emily see the error of their
ways, reconcile and
live happily ever after;
or so I presume.
This scene from the movie caused me to reflect on
current American society
in which a large group of girls/women have
fallen into what seems to be a trend of
the "Bitch Attitude".
While I understand that there are
reason and circumstances which have contributed to
and have led them there,
it doesn't make it right or good.
And while there are people who will choose to
love those who have adopted this attitude,
as Charlie clearly demontrated,
there comes a time when
enough is enough.
The same is also true for those
cocky, arrogant, self-satisfied
boys/men
out there who have fallen for the trend and have adopted the
"Asshole Attitude".
Though these attitudes might make one feel better
for a time,
they aren't becoming or cute
nor do they empower a person,
rather they isolate and
add to one's misery.
Because
no one likes a Bitch or an
Asshole for very long.
And seriously,
I hope these trends fade away
quickly!
Of course, by the end of the movie,
both Charlie and Emily see the error of their
ways, reconcile and
live happily ever after;
or so I presume.
