What I loved about it, especially in my teenage, boyfriendless years, was the portrayal of college, and of how a pretty but humble student librarian could win the heart of the most popular and attractive guy on campus, the star of the football team. I mean, young Peter Lawford, people.
Oh, but I also loved the idea of studying in old brick buildings, living in the grand mansions of sorority life, cheering with the crowd at a football game, and wearing cardigans with pearl buttons just like June Allyson's character, Connie. In my mind, I too could attend such a college, and with a big intellect and small waistline, surely I could just be myself and inadvertently woo a ladies' man to change his ways and devote himself to me.
Oh, but I also loved the idea of studying in old brick buildings, living in the grand mansions of sorority life, cheering with the crowd at a football game, and wearing cardigans with pearl buttons just like June Allyson's character, Connie. In my mind, I too could attend such a college, and with a big intellect and small waistline, surely I could just be myself and inadvertently woo a ladies' man to change his ways and devote himself to me.
While I did go to college and owned two soft cardigans with precious little buttons, and though I lived in a dorm built coincidentally in 1927, in a room that overlooked the cheering crowds at the football field, I graduated without a jock hanging on my arm. By that time, I'd realized that most athletes I'd met weren't usually as eager to nerd out on indie music as I was, which was my primary extracurricular interest and the basis for most of my crushes. Needless to say, Good News was not my college story. But after watching this feel-good musical again recently for the first time in years, it became clear just how many of those things I internalized in some way, whether I intended them to or not. Here are the strange ways this movie has permeated my life:
1. A college campus makes me happy. My whole growing up life, I loved imagining that I was in the midst of a musical. Being on a college campus is the perfect place to feel as though a musical is about to happen, where you have hundreds of characters around you, witness dozens of impromptu interactions on a daily basis, and a beautiful setting for it all to take place. As a student, I loved being able to say that I lived in all of it, and as an employee, I love watching the predictable energy at various points of the year.
2. Respecting my independent self. What I loved about the character of Connie was that she was a do-it-yourselfer. She could fix a sink, sew a dress, and work her way through college. And she had a healthy amount of pride: When asked to go to the dance by Tommy (Peter Lawford) after he was turned down by his first choice (the evil, gold-digger Patricia McClellan), she resisted because she knew that it would make her "second fiddle." But, of course those P-Law puppy-dog eyes convinced her otherwise. Like Connie, I worked in the library through my college years. I had financial aid and lots of help from my parents, but I also knew I needed to work and get started on my own. And I've also appreciated any chance I've gotten to learn how to do things myself. Because as long as I was single, it was fun to pine, but it wasn't fun to mope. Better to figure out what you really love and enjoy doing, regardless of your relationship status, and develop yourself.
3. Appreciating high brow AND low brow. The closing scene is a shocker when intellectual Connie attends the homecoming dance and leads Tommy and everybody else in the latest dance craze, the Varsity Drag. A delightful surprise to all! And maybe that's why on my Friday commute, I often turn the dial from NPR to the Top 40 station. Because in case people think I'm a total bore with all of my book knowledge, they'll change their mind and nod with approval when I recite all the lines to "Bad Blood" by Taylor Swift. It's about balance.
4. Learning French. Is it just a coincidence that, like the "French Lesson" scene (which, if you watch nothing else of this movie, you must at least watch this much) between Connie and Tommy that launched their romance, one of the first activities Joel and I enjoyed together was learning French?
5. Money can't buy happiness. "The Best Things In Life Are Free" is the anchor theme of this musical, and the song gets sweeter and truer as the years go by. People who chase money, like the aforementioned debutante character Patricia McClellan, are not worth investing your time in. Those who find joy in what's already around them will be set for life. I try to remember this every day.
You want to watch it, don't you?
4. Learning French. Is it just a coincidence that, like the "French Lesson" scene (which, if you watch nothing else of this movie, you must at least watch this much) between Connie and Tommy that launched their romance, one of the first activities Joel and I enjoyed together was learning French?
5. Money can't buy happiness. "The Best Things In Life Are Free" is the anchor theme of this musical, and the song gets sweeter and truer as the years go by. People who chase money, like the aforementioned debutante character Patricia McClellan, are not worth investing your time in. Those who find joy in what's already around them will be set for life. I try to remember this every day.
You want to watch it, don't you?
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