Film Friday: Don't Call Me Shirley

Some things you hafta pass on. 

A few weeks ago, we made our kids sit round the fire and watch one of the formative comedies of our youth.  Airplane!, the surprise hit of the summer of 1980, remains for my generation of the most hilarious films of all time.   With its plot cribbed from an old action thriller from the fifties, Zero Hour, and allusions to the Airport cycle of disaster films from the seventies (and reference to dozens upon dozens of other contemporary cultural expressions, from basketball to coffee commercials), Airplane! became an instant classic. 

I'm not going to blather on about the film, because I'd only end up quoting the entire thing.  (I am serious. And don't call me Shirley.)   There are two basic strengths of Airplane!: one is the relentlessness of its sight gags (yes, shit really does hit the fan) and language jokes ("nervous?" "Yes." "First time?" "No, I've been nervous lots of times.").  The other is the presence of veteran actors not necessarily known for comic parts, like Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges, and especially Leslie Nielsen, who would spend the rest of his career playing the fool.   But what keys the film so effectively is that many of the jokes resonated with the audiences of 1980.  If you're going to pass on a cherished cultural object to the next generation, you better be sure they can handle it. 

My oldest was amused by the film, but not thrilled by it.  The younger kid liked it more, but won't spend the next month quoting lines like my sister and I did for the rest of that summer.  And remember: this is 1980; we saw the film once, maybe twice in the theater.  We didn't see it again on home video, and I don't recall its first appearances on cable tv.  But the film was so imprinted on our memories that we could quote almost the entire film verbatim. 

I found myself explaining some of the jokes, which usually is a dumb thing to do, but you want kids to appreciate how damn funny a movie is.  If you have to explain that "well, there was this movie called Saturday Night Fever..." it kind of ruins your own enjoyment of the flashback in the seedy bar.  It's very funny that the Hare Krishnas tell some hippie types begging for donations, "no thanks we gave at the office," but since our kids have never seen anyone soliciting at the airport in a post-9/11 world, we have to pause the video. 

I do this all the time with them anyway, playing the role of professor.   But when it comes to the classics, I just want them to grab them and have fun.  I don't want to have to drag them along.  I've had much success with the good stuff: they've seen some of the silent masters, and the Marx Brothers, and Abbott and Costello.  So I'll keep plugging away.  I just hope I don't develop a drinking problem.