Tea at Trianon: Scary Movies

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, July 29, 2011

Scary Movies

Why some children should not see them. A discussion from Esther in Hawaii.

When my son was little we watched The Picture of Dorian Grey as a family. It was the old black and white movie. My husband and I thought he would like it. We completely forgot about the colorized scene in the movie. That one scene terrorized our poor son so badly that he had nightmares for a long time. He is now twenty and he still cannot bring himself to watch that movie.

That movie was tame compared to some recent horror movies.

As kids, my husband and I had been big fans of old black and white movies, especially film noir and horror movies. We stupidly forgot how impressionable a young child is.

I do remember a traumatic experience of my own. When I was 12 years old, my aunt took my cousin and me to watch Mark of the Devil. It was the most violent, scary movie I had ever experience in my sheltered life! I do not think my aunt knew what it was going to be about. We left after maybe 1/2 hour but that movie images stayed with me for a long time too. (Read entire post.)

Julygirl said...: I read an article a while back regarding the 50th anniversary of the showing of the Disney film Snow White at Radio City Music Hall in New York. It mentioned that some of the theater seats had been 'wet' on by children who had been frightened by the film......that was Snow White.... Imagine what is out there these days.; July 29, 2011 at 11:17:00 PM EDT
EC Gefroh said...: Mahalo Elena!

Julygirl, sometimes adults forget to see things through a child's eyes.; July 30, 2011 at 12:45:00 AM EDT