The Grand Old Days of Hollywood

I was browsing the web this morning, trying to remember the name of an old John Wayne movie that I hadn't seen in forever (it was The Fighting Sea-Bees, by the way), when I came across this editorial in today's edition of a small-town newspaper from Somerville, Tennessee. The writer, Chuck Warzyn, has penned a great little piece here, an entertaining but true lament for the grand old days of Hollywood, when men weren't afraid to be men and parents weren't afraid to take their children to the movies. As Mr. Warzyn asks, "Where's John Wayne when we need him?"

This country started going downhill when Don Knotts' character, Mayberry Deputy Barney Fife, left The Andy Griffith Show. Playing with toy soldiers and cap pistols became politically incorrect; it became possible to buy peanut butter and jelly mixed together in the same jar, and professional baseball's American League created the designated hitter and no longer required pitchers to go to bat.

Things especially started going to pieces in our society when John Wayne passed on to that big ranch in the sky in 1979.

The Duke, as he was affectionately known, symbolized the gutsy, he-man aspects of this country that have helped make the United States the most powerful country in the world; one that other countries look to for guidance in areas from military might and diplomacy to health care and the arts.
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I ask you, what sort of names are "Leonardo" and "Orlando"? Those aren't first names for manly-man movie actors. They're names for meadow fairies.

I can't say for sure, but I get the feeling Mr. Warzyn would likely join the president in not going to see Brokeback Mountin'.