So I've been ill for the past few days.....I've come down with a horrible cold and have so far gone through two boxes of tissues. Its been somewhat unpleasant except that I get to do one of my favorite things, which is to watch old movies on TCM. Well, one of the movies was really amazing as it dealt with the issues of aging and fading beauty. The name of it is Mr. Skeffington. Bette Davis is a famous beauty in New York and she is swamped with suitors and admirers but she is really trying to stay afloat financially because her brother Trippy(! what a great name right?) has squandered the family fortune. Then she meets Mr.Skeffington who she marries for his money so she can continue to live her lavish lifestyle and also support Trippy. ( do you think its a nickname for Tyrone?) Anyway Mr. Skeffington is a Jew who climbed the ladder of success from extreme poverty, played by Claude Raines. He is so wonderful to her even though he knows she doesn't love him and he even lets her continue with her suitors and such because he knows she would be unhappy without constant admiration from men. She is a complete idiot with no concept of what is going on in the world around her and goes through two world wars completley oblivious to the suffering around her. So eventually she gets pregnant and is mortified that she will become bloated and ugly so she leaves New York and her husband to hide out and have their child in Los Angeles. When she comes back she is largely indifferent to her child and thinks she is not attractive as the girl has inherited her father's looks. Ok. So, to shorten this a bit let's just say that eventually Mr. and Mrs.Skeffington split. And Fanny, (Mrs. Skeffington) just continues being totally obsessed with herself and going through all these men including a famous gangster. Mr. Skeffington and their daughter have been living in Europe for many years. Well,! she is still carrying on like a fool at 45 and actually still looks pretty good when she contracts the diptheria virous and her good looks are ravaged! Well, I was waiting for this for almost the entire film! Of course she is so vain she will not allow anyone to see her and she goes into a mental tailspin where she is having hallucinations of Mr. Skeffington sitting and staring at her. She becomes a basket case and eventually goes to see a therapist whobasically tells her off and tells her she should have stuck with her husband. He challenges her to invite some of her old suitors to a party to prove that she will mean nothing to them now. She thinks they will still make proposals to her. The scene when she is coming down the staircase to the party is hilariously tragic. She almost looks like Baby Jane Hudson in "Whatever happened to Baby Jane?" She just looks so over-the-top and ridiculous and still the viewer feels no sympathy for her. Anyway, I'm not going to give the ending away because its resolved in such a typical Hollywood fashion and its also quite comical in a way. Thus the picture of Vivienne Westwood who has not given in to our modern preocupations with youth and is, I think a role model for us gals, (and guys) who feel a pressure to conform.
