Two good films: The Blind Side and The Social Network

After blogging that whole cynical political diatribe on Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon I saw a movie that blew my stereotype of rich southern Republicans right out the window: The Blind Side. I won't ruin the film if I say it's about a remarkable rich Republican family from Memphis who take in a black 16-year-old and raise him as their son. It's a true story. I have to say that it's hard for me to believe that such a selfless, wonderful act could be done by the people I've come to hate so much for their selfishness and greed. I know we're just talking about one family. But it happened. So that blows the possibility of profiling Republicans right out of the water.

The other movie I saw and liked was The Social Network. It was interesting to me that the story of the rich Republican family was heartening and the east coast Harvard story reinforced my cynicism. The Social Network is a the story of the brilliant obsessive Harvard freshman who created Facebook. To do that, he took a road in the business world that was not pretty. He was not particularly likable. But the movie is an Aaron Sorkin triumph. All of it is well done.

I found myself being shocked at the partying scenes in The Social Network. These kids are way over the top doing things I never dreamed of. I guess the sexual revolution and the drug scene have taken this turn. I was surprised that the exclusivity of the fraternities and sororities we scorned still have a hold in colleges. With this group, there's no political awareness or feeling of being committed to anything that I could discern, and therein lies a big difference from what I was doing in the sixties, even if we were wild. But I will say that I never partied like these kids do. Other people may have. But not me. And I'm glad. I don't feel like I've missed a thing.

I wish that there were more Republicans in Congress who were like the family in The Blind Side. In fact, I wish there were more people in the world who were like the family in The Blind Side. They are my new heroes. I love Facebook no matter how it came into being. And I'm grateful for the films that tell the stories we need to know.