Need To Escape? Sometimes The Big Screen Past Is Perfect

An assault to the senses. As of this February 28, 2019 writing, that’s what the news seems to be about today. From social issues to politics to the enraged environment, the news has not been very good lately.

President Lincoln was once quoted as expressing, “You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”

True though that may be, it can be emotionally overwhelming.

What can you do to escape from it?

Going on vacation is not necessarily the answer because you might be traveling into the unexpected.

If you live in California, and we do, unfortunately even your home is not a haven from the onslaught of the outside world.

We have relatives in Northern California and we must tell you the wild fires were absolutely terrifying. We were literally phoning relatives and their care givers to get a day by day update on the changing winds and fire containment. You can feel so completely helpless because no matter how staunch you are, you cannot control dry conditions and wind.

It is so hard to imagine that the beautiful town of Paradise, with approximately 27,000 people, doesn’t exist anymore.

It is so surreal that it creates disbelief.

Whatever your personal problems may be, until you lived through something like that it almost pales in comparison.

We are going to stop talking about this situation because our relatives survived it and we just don’t feel qualified to remotely express the pain that someone else suffers when their house has burned to the ground or someone that they love is no longer alive.

In terms of finding a means of escape, Ms. Diana Raab, MFA, Ph.D. in her Oct 25, 2018 Psychology Today article titled Escaping Reality To Heal shares, “At one time or another, just about everyone has had a profound desire to escape reality for a certain amount of time. It might be that we crave either a physical or an emotional escape.”

For those of us who still have the safety of our homes to come back to, in an attempt to escape the outside world, as we often do at Femcompetitor Magazine, we turn to film.

We have a friend in our circle that we have spoken to you about before that lived an extremely stressful adult life as a leader in organized religion, a father raising children with very high goals and standards along with working a job that he absolutely hated that had great benefits.

He never appreciated those benefits as much as he did when he lost his job and found it unbelievably hard to find another job with the same benefits.

Pension?

Forget it. For many companies that’s not remotely on the table. For the most part the unions are gone so the management can treat you like garbage and force you to work these volatile schedules that virtually eliminate any sense of a normal family life.

They don’t pay you much either.

Having said all of that, previously when life was miserable but very stable he had a different kind of stress. The 9-5 stress of an awful job and then in the evenings, the stress of helping the rank and file members of his International religion with their family problems. Then he had the challenge of raising his own family.

At times a plenty, there seemed to be no escape. So what did he do?

He created a movie room.

That can mean many things to different people but for him it meant purchasing a huge big screen television, covering the room’s one window with a black sheet and placing a towel at the base of the door to cut off any light.

Then he would have what he described as movie marathon days, especially when his family members were busy with other activities and except for getting food, he would watch movies for easily eight hours a day, sometimes for two days.

It was a nice escape.

What kind of movie do you escape to when you cut off most of the senses is up to you and for him, it varied depending upon his personal circumstances and mood.

“Hiding places there are innumerable, escape is only one, but possibilities of escape, again, are as many as hiding places.”… Franz Kafka

Sometimes, due to his age, he liked to travel back in the past and watch films that accurately depicted that time period.

For our purposes here, we’re going to focus on the 1970s.

Now one approach is to watch movies from that decade but so many of them were exploitation or B movies that even though they are authentic, the scripts were awful.

Many modern filmmakers today try to imitate other times periods but fail miserably. All you have to do is compare their movies to an actual film from the 70’s and it’s not even close.

Why?

Part of the problem is that the internal makeup of the people who lived during that time period is so different and it is almost impossible to duplicate that especially if you were alive and of maturity during that era, you can feel the difference.

One television series that came very close to imitating other time periods, was well-acted and extremely well written.

Such was Cold Case.

Cold Case is an American police procedural television series which ran on CBS from September 28, 2003 to May 2, 2010. The series revolved around a fictionalized Philadelphia Police Department division that specializes in investigating cold cases.

Whoever was in charge with music selection was a master. They were so often spot on including their opening theme song. First up is the longer version.

While it lasts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6EEAse3i18  

Now for the shorter one that appeared during the show’s opening.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaw9Vpa0JDM

Sadly Cold Case was canceled.

That was then. What about now?

What modern film speaks honestly to the 1970s and is written extremely well too?

The Deuce is an American drama television series created by David Simon and George Pelecanos.

It is broadcast by the premium cable network HBO in the United States and premiered on September 10, 2017 on HBO.

The Deuce features an ensemble cast that includes James Franco and Maggie Gyllenhaal. It tells the story of the , the legalization and rise of the porn industry in New York City that began in the 1970s. Themes explored include government and police corruption, the violence of the drug epidemic and the real-estate booms and busts that coincided with the change. The show’s title is derived from the nickname for 42nd Street between Seventh Avenue and Eighth Avenue.

Not exactly like going to Disneyland but once again, escapism depends upon what you want to escape to.

We like authenticity.

Does the show have its flaws in terms of that endeavor? Yes. There are a lot of people wearing wigs and for those of us alive in the 70’s, people didn’t wear a lot of wigs. Wig, wigs everywhere and not a barber shop in sight.

But hey, given the incredible writing and Maggie Gyllenhaal’s stellar acting and directing, that is like kicking someone out of bed for eating crackers, and in the film, tons of people spend a lot of time in bed or at the edge of it.

With a wig on.

What we love about the series is that they do get so many things right. The details are spot on and through technology that can recreate the cars, streets and buildings.

It’s like you were right there.

Now those aspects do feel very real.

You know when a series is great when you want to binge watch it.

In the dark.

With the windows covered and for the moment the outside world blocked out.

For the moment.

Depending upon our life circumstances, we truly do need to escape.

Sometimes theme parks, where we can turn the control over to someone else, are not what we are looking for nor films that speak to the mystical filled with wizards, princesses and super heroes.

At times we need something realistic, gritty, unforgiving and era accurate to medicate on and for eight hours, to escape.

When the present is not ideal, the past can be temporarily soothing.

Especially if it is done right.

Wigs and all.

~ ~ ~

Opening photo  20th Century Fox photo credit

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Case

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Deuce_(TV_series)

https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/escape

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-empowerment-diary/201810/escaping-reality-heal