The Philadelphia Story

Michael started feeling sick around 3:00 P.M. today, and when I got home after six, it was apparent that we would be staying in and resting. He wanted to be upstairs in bed, so we decided to watch a movie so that he could watch at it or sleep, depending on how he felt. We picked The Philadelphia Story. This is the one with Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, and James Stewart. It has been one of my favorite movies since I discovered it as a teen, but it is a bit strange that it should be so. I see a lot of myself in Katharine Hepburn's character, Tracy Lord. Those who have actually watched the movie know that is not really a good thing. Tracy Lord is highly judgmental and proud, and so very certain that she is always right. She expects everyone around her to rise to her standards, and those standards seem exacting and perhaps unattainable to many around her. One of the great lines comes from her ex-husband, who tells her "You'll never be a first class human being or a first class woman until you've learned to have some regard for human frailty." It took me a long time to figure out the lesson of the film, because the dialogue is sparkling and entertaining on its own, and the performances are engrossing. I would like to think that I have more tolerance for human frailty now than I did as a teen, but I'm probably still a little too harsh. In any case, it is a wonderful movie, and I think it does a fine job of showing that too much judgment and too little forgiveness makes one into a cold statue, rather than a warm human being.