POSTCARD FROM THE EDGE

I was sitting in my study feeling comfortable and fell upon a station with an old movie. It was one of those days where inside felt better than outside, but not by much. As I watched the film, something struck me. What constitutes an old movie?

As I watched, the story was engaging and I could recognize all the stars. Even some very important people had cameo or tiny roles. Perhaps in the entire tale they spoke for a couple of meetings. I did see one fellow who I knew passed away. The leader and second were much younger. As the house was quiet and my wife was reading downstairs, I was able to look for details.

No one had a cell phone or an iPod. The cars appeared new and yet quite large. I could not tell if they had cable or rabbit ears. No references were made to current culture or political happenings. So, I noticed that most were middle to elderly then. So they would be much older now. There were only a few Black people and handful more of Hispanics.

The kitchen was very pretty, but did not have the marble tops or an island. The refrigerator did not exactly look like a brand new tank. Now let’s see. As I watch this and settled into my study, I am older than most of the actors then and right in the middle of the age group now. So now I am older than fantasy, but in synch with reality. Did you get that? Have you heard of déjà vu’

The quality of the film was quite good and it made the film seem newer. I thought that many Hollywood homes remodeled every 2 to 5 years. So I started counting back to our marble top island and sink. Then I thought about the first cell phone that I had and how I lost it and got one that was really dumb and just right for me.

 Another thing that I noticed is that the women had a lot of clothes on, post big shoulders and did not initiate the conversation as much as today. The lapels on the sports coats, jackets, and suits were on the thinner side and many were 3 button for men. Today, much of the above is all over the place. Neckties seem to be disappearing. There were many in the movie and what seemed universally true, is that most were phonies fighting drug habits.

Both men and the women had long hair or longer hair. Many shows today it would seem to me have 20-30 year old stars. This was not the case here. Background music was big band. The furniture was varied, but the walls were  not overwhelmingly white as of now (2018.) It was not the Turner movie channel, that generally carries 1940-60 greatest hits.

So I thought that perhaps it was a 15 year old  movie. The name of the show was POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE. It was one of those Mike Nichols hits. It scored high on meta critic and made lots of money. Carrie Fisher (Princess Lea) (When Harry Met Sally) was the author. So it was released in 1990. I was off  10 years and I kept getting the young- old (then) and my old-old (now) mixed up.

Therefore, it was a quiet nice afternoon. I was able to put myself in place and time. At times, I was younger than now, and yet the two time-spaces get mixed together. It was popular movie at the time that I missed, but I am glad that I waited. A good time was had by all.

Prof. Joel Snell

kirkwood college

cedar rapids, iowa

52402