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Old Movies
Aliens can be scary, so let’s talk movies. One of my favorite childhood movies was People Will Talk, 1951. Surprised, are you? Thought I was going to lead with a science fiction, or a Star Trek film? Star Trek: the Wrath of Kahn was my first date movie. My mom drove us. I didn’t date again in high school. And no, it wasn’t because I chose Star Trek. She picked. She was cute. I was super nerdy, dorky sufficiently absent of social skills you might have thought, ‘you’re going to grow up to be Sheldon.”
Oh, yeah, I am a mess. I like nostalgic times and desire to be in the future, go figure. Then again, there is an element to this film that is very progressive for its time. It was discussing the humanity behind the medical community and how the trend seemed to be moving away from the ideals of human kindness, and increasingly more to a profit model, which tends to naturally mechanize the process. People Will Talk is essentially Patch Adams before there was a Patch Adams. Patch Adams, the real Doctor, played by Robin Williams in the movie of his name sake, was born in 1945. Patch Adams is Doctor Noah Praetorious, played by Cary Grant.
Seriously, People Will Talk and Patch Adams could be companion movies. They’re discussing the same themes. The Doctor, played by William Hurt- same themes!
