I never really had a chance to see this movie in it’s entirety, believe it or not. I was like 5 when it came out, so it was a major no-no. There are many movies that are Pop Culture Icons that I have never seen because I was small when they came out such as Jaws (I saw it recently), and any of those “Jason” movies. Yesterday I had the chance to finally see it as we sat on the couch and ate rhubarb pie.
I thought the dance scenes were so good, but the story line around the characters was really depressing. I did think the story around the friend with the pregnant girlfriend was interesting, only because the character said he went to his guidance counselor, his parents, priest and all for advice and they told him to get married. Fast forward to 2003 and many people would tell him to get the abortion. What I thought was even funnier was the character asked Tony’s brother Frank (the ex-priest) if he thought the Pope would give his girlfriend dispensation for an abortion. Now of course while the idea of this is ludicrous, if you put this in 2003 context, the idea that he would even know what “dispensation” is, or that he would even care to try to get permission is order to stay in good standing with the Church would be nonexistent.
Again, while I never saw SNF back in 1977, it made a huge cultural impact. The
soundtrack is just awesome. (I personally think it is better than the movie). Most of the songs take me right back to that time period. Yvonne Elliman, Tavares, the Bee Gees…
Like I mentioned I was about 5 and we lived in Glen Oaks, Queens. It was the neighborhood that was being terrorised by Son of Sam at that time. Everyone was scared and the grown-ups spoke of it often, although I never knew what they were talking about. I remember my mother telling me one time she took me for a walk to the shops around the corner and was startled because there was a very suspicious man following us in a long raincoat in the middle of a hot summer day. After we passed a few stores, she finally ducked into one and pretended to be meeting someone. It was not long after that they caught David Berkowitz. When they posted his picture on the newspaper, my mother recognised him as the man with the raincoat.
I also thought I was Jewish at the time because we lived in a Jewish neighborhood, I attended public and everyone around me was Jewish. I kind of thought it being synonymous with human or something.
While the music may seem like it brings back scary memories, it was a very pleasant time in my life. There is a lot about the 70’s I miss, or maybe it is things about my childhood…