A Guide to Properly Hating Old Movies

Will Truman

Will Truman is the Editor-in-Chief of Ordinary Times. He is also on Twitter.

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8 Responses

  1. Rufus F. says:

    “I’m not saying we’re necessarily smarter and more enlightened than they were back then, but look at how oblivious they were to other people’s socio-cultural context!”Report

  2. LeeEsq says:

    This article is just going to get dismissed as man-splaining. People are bad about putting media of their past in the historical context, especially if they have strong opinions about things.Report

  3. El Muneco says:

    It’s not the same thing, but this inspired me to plug James.Nicoll’s blog’s series “Young People Read.Old SF”.

    It’s Just What It Says On The Tin. Current students are handed a period work from e.g. Heinlein, Joanna Russ, etc. and no particular historical context, and review it through current goggles.Report

    • pillsy in reply to El Muneco says:

      I found a link!

      Haven’t read all of them, especially since I now want to go back and read some of the stories I haven’t read or don’t remember very well. One thing I noticed is that the readers often tried to avoid the [NEVER ADD HISTORICAL CONTEXT HERE] trap by inferring it from what they were reading.

      Also, I’m a little disappointed he didn’t point them at “The Cold Equations”, just because it’s a classic that’s so polarizing.Report