Sometimes TV baby food helps when I'm depressed. Spoon-fed mush for the mind.
Consider the first episode of "Charlie's Angels" (1976) or the dated movie "Gidget Gets Married" (1972), with a blonde Gidget/Francie and a surprisingly feminist thrust by the end. Doesn't compare to "Gidget Goes Hawaiian" (1961, Deborah Walley as Gidget, Carl Reiner as her Dad) and "Gidget Goes to Rome," (1963, Cindy Carol as Gidg) but it IS part of the movie series. A big slice of Americana (though white). And I can watch it all for free on Tubi, the streaming service (with ads).
The Screen Gems "Gidget" TV series starring Sally Field was the best. It ran on ABC from September 15, 1965, to April 21, 1966, with reruns after that.
I need more ice water and a tumbler of cold, creamy milk.
Until tomorrow, which I hope is a better day.
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ReplyDeleteI agree, sometimes TV baby food is just what’s called for. A small amount at just the right time can be a form of self care. I once, however, binged watched an entire Star Trek series (I had bought all 7 seasons, 26 episodes each, of Voyager on DVD) and perhaps that was unhealthy escapism rather than self care! I would rush home from work each night, and for about 140 hours total, boldly went where I couldn’t in real life. (Those were the days when most of my troubles were at work, before I inherited parenting duties.) but I think an old movie is just the right dose. Good for you!
ReplyDeleteXoxo,
Nan
Grappling with your role, watching a young woman struggle, I don’t know if Gidget is helpful. Always seemed more of a male fantasy to me with the sweet and cheerful acceptance of things maybe she shouldn’t accept. Recommend Star Trek - black woman on the bridge sailing to strangle new worlds in1967!
ReplyDeleteLiz
Nan and Liz, thank you. You have me looking up the Star Trek quote: "Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before!" Nan, I love that you watched all of those "Star Trek" episodes. I wonder if it was helpful. Probably! Liz, hmmmm, I think you are right. My Gidget and "that" Gidget are quite different. So are the times, of course (60 years!!!! since the TV series began) but perhaps oddly, I find a bit of comfort in any of the tiny similarities that do exist...wanting to talk to your best friend at length on the phone, lying about stuff (like Gidget not having her driver's license but saying she did so she could drive the florist's delivery truck), love relationships and drama, parents' rules. But I know in my retro TV loving heart that this is a fantasy world, acted on a stage set. I guess the thread I like is the one that connects yesterday's teens to today's in any ways. Pushing codes, and rules. A gossamer thread. And not too helpful in that it doesn't encircle today's teen dangers. thanks. Alice
ReplyDeleteP.S. Nan, I'm still waiting for your next blog post.
ReplyDelete