#72, 7/28 – Some Like It Hot (1959) (dvd)

Just before I put Some Like It Hot in the DVD player, I’d happened across J.R. Jones’s justly harsh takedown of the moronic breed of SNL alumnus tripe which passes for mainstream “comedy” these days. And I suppose that’s why when Jerry and Joe go back and forth about the advisability of Jerry’s intention to marry Osgood, I had to chuckle. Although I’ve only seen the (depressingly unfunny, uninteresting and uncool) trailer to the latest Adam Sandler movie, I find it very telling that there’s a good chance that Billy Wilder and I.A.L Diamond had more funny, subtle and poignant things to say about gay marriage than a movie which came out nearly 50 years later.

Telling, and reassuring, actually. Because (assuming my read on certain scenes in the movie is correct), it reaffirms to me that people who respect human beings just do. No matter when they lived. This is why I don’t buy the “product of its time” argument for movies and scenes which were clearly racist, sexist, or homophobic. Respect is timeless. And sometimes I think Hollywood often forgets how to make a comedy which is both funny and respectful of humanity. Which I find sad. Because I think a comedy which joyfully puts down and dehumanizes people isn’t actually funny. It’s just mean.

Some Like It Hot’s a pretty good movie, if you ask me. And I’m really quite happy that it’s not mean at all.