Let me repeat those coupla disclaimers, first:
** News flash to loyal readers: not feelin’ my
usual healthy self since my CA trip. . . did Jet Blue poison me with their
plentiful fun snacks and ”superhealthy” Snack Up box? Hope not! Anyhoo, pardon
the (temporary) disappearance. I’ll get back up to speed so hang on &
fasten your seatbelts: it’s gonna be a bumpy ride (kinda). . . pickin’ up old
memories for me ain’t all roses and chocolates. . .
*** PS
- I could use another real good survival job right now: any ideas?
Yuppies
on the screen: All right, other than the aforementioned Afterhours by Martin Scorcese, various Yuppie portrayals on the
screen helped form the image that we formed and projected of that sometimes
scurrilous sociological species: Yuppie.
All
right, so there was Michael in The Big
Chill. In the movie, he was
called cold and manipulative, and wasn’t very sexy. Played by Jeff Goldblum in
thick eyeglasses, he was also a funny Jewish yuppie. Of course, yuppies came in
all sizes, ethnicities, and religions. But, on re-watching The Big Chill, it seemed insipid and unsatisfying. Other than
seeing a really young and skinny William Hurt, Glenn Close, and the whole rest
of the cast (wow -- well, it WAS almost 30 years ago), and having an all right
soundtrack, I don’t like it.
Another
funny -- and sweet -- yuppie on the screen: Alex in the television show Family Ties, as played by Michael J.
Fox. His yuppieism seemed a reactionary move to his liberal hippie-ish parents,
who despaired of him ever earning back the soul he sold to the devil of
commerce. . . or tried/wanted to sell it.
But of
course the greatest yuppie fairy tale of all came with two strong female
characters -- played by Sigourney Weaver and Melanie Griffith -- with one
dreamy (at the time) romantic lead, a good guy played by Harrison Ford.
If you
said Working Girl -- bingo! I’ve got
to mention supporting actress Joan Cusack, too, and Alec Baldwin as the
philandering Staten Island boyfriend of Melanie Griffith’s character. . . the
movie’s premise, plot, characters, and music was all so well done I still kinda
love it. . . “I’ve got a mind for business and a body for sin” is just one of
the great lines. And how about, “. . . it’s not even lea-thuh!?”
Working Girl is a classic good yuppie/bad yuppie saga. . . and
yuppie style was explained and exhibited very well. . .
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