The Criterion Channel on
November 1 unveiled a collection nearly two dozen classic MGM musicals
for streaming this month. One blogger's mission: To watch each and every
one.
My son, during old movies, has gotten in the habit of pointing out problematic gender politics. He was busy during this one.
Let Wikipedia explain why:
The screenplay, by Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich, and Dorothy Kingsley, is based on the short story "The Sobbin' Women", by Stephen Vincent Benét, which was based in turn on the Ancient Roman legend of The Rape of the Sabine Women.
Wait. What?
The Rape of the Sabine Women was an incident in Roman mythology in which the men of Rome committed a mass abduction of young women from the other cities in the region. It has been a frequent subject of artists, particularly during the Renaissance and post-Renaissance eras.
The word "rape" is the conventional translation of the Latin word raptio used in the ancient accounts of the incident. Modern scholars tend to interpret the word as "abduction" or "kidnapping" as opposed to a sexual assault. Controversy remains, however, as to how the acts committed against the women should be judged.
It's not that difficult. But it is discomfiting to watch a movie where the last third is dominated by women being kidnapped from their homes -- and then, in the movie's climax, marrying the brothers because each claimed to be the victim of what we would unquestionably view as rape today.
It's played for laughs and joy in the movie.
I don't expect people of the 1950s to make movies from a 2019 moral view. But I can't help but watch a movie in 2019 from that point of view. And that makes Seven Brides a movie I can't really fully enjoy. What's more: I hate to be a killjoy. But I'm glad my son points this stuff out. He's thinking about this stuff already and I'm glad.
Which is too bad about this movie. Because it has Russ Tamblyn, at his most athletic and youthful, dancing in it. And that is, context aside, a joy to behold.
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