OH SAY WHAT IS TRUTH

FACT OR FICTION: When John F. Kennedy was killed in 1963, I was around. Married with children, actually. I lived in the area of the ditch bank at that time, and news wasn't instantaneous like it is now, still we heard about it not too long after the fact. Fast forward several years, and a movie about JFK was made in Hollywood and released. A friend of mine, a college teacher, took a group of students to see that movie. He is many years younger than me. He later ask me if I had seen the movie. At my reply that I had not, he said it was a good movie and that I should go. He didn't really understand when I said that I had lived through the JFK years and didn't need to go see Hollywood's version of it. Now, Meryl Streep is staring in a movie about Margaret Thatcher. Maybe it has the approval of the English people, but do I really need to go see a movie about someone I watched on TV and read about in the news. Especially Hollywood's dramatic version. There have been other movies about real people and events that have been Hollywood-ized that I have seen. I usually wasn't impressed. Especially if I was aware of the facts. When I went to a movie, ( I say that cause I haven't been to a movie in years ) I went for the escapism, to get away from the worldly things I am surrounded with every day. I miss the old days of movies and TV shows that provided good entertainment, and where I didn't have to be involved in the social issues of the day. Maybe if Hollywood would try to entertain and not try to be the solver of social ills, movies would be more enticing to members of my age group. Oh Wait, Hollywood is the cause of a lot of our social ills, and are having trouble healing itself. Well, That's the View From The Ditch Bank.