An article in marionstar.com expresses fears of the young generation losing touch with history. The type of history most people born after WW II (boomers) or before, grew up with. History they consider to come to them like “second nature.” Boomers and others before them know when anyone mentions, “Laurel & Hardy,” “The Little Rascals,” Humphrey Bogart, “The Lone Ranger,” “The Munsters,” “I Love Lucy,” and lastly, and my favorite, “The Honeymooners.” We identify with these in a lot of ways. But most young people don’t know what the heck we are talking about nor do they care. Well, not all, but most.
But even more saddening and scary is that future generations will not know History’s heroes and history’s pivotal points either. Like the author said “… every generation loses some knowledge of history. But to think that future generations might not remember Pearl Harbor (no, not the movie), VCR’s and cassette tapes, (I think albums and 8 tracks would already be a forgotten piece of history to most), pop coming in bottles (remember getting a nickel for turning in a pop bottle?), a world without video games, and God forbid, John Wayne; kinda makes me sad.” This saddens me too because we are losing out on such much.
I, like the author, would encourage young people to explore Classic Movies, and TV to learn a great deal of history. When I see classic movies, I feel I am being transported to a different time and place. The knowledge which I have acquired from watching classic movies is astounding. We are so lucky to have dvd’s, Turner Classic Movies, and other channels which carry classic film. Which brings me to another article about Classic Movies, MGM is providing a free channel to customers who do not have a paid cable service, but have TV with free local channels. It is an innovative way for MGM and the TV stations to make money with ad revenues while at the same time providing Classic film to an untapped market. Read more on this here. I think this is awesome!
Let me just say to anyone 30 and under. Give classic movies and TV a chance. I grew up watching re-runs of classic TV, I’ve watched Classic Movies since the age of 5, this thanks to an older sister who absolutely loves classic movies. My sister opened up a magical world for me. What I’ve learned is priceless. To me it’s History come to life. And you know what they say about not learning from History, we most certainly will repeat it. Let’s not do that.
