Notes From All Over -- The Evening Edition -- June 12, 2020

TCM: Victim. From wiki --

Victim is a 1961 British neo noir suspense film directed by Basil Dearden and starring Dirk Bogarde and Sylvia Syms. It was the first English-language film to use the word "homosexual."

It premiered in the UK on 31 August 1961 and in the US the following February. On its release in the United Kingdom it proved highly controversial to the British Board of Film Censors, and in the U.S. it was refused a seal of approval from the American Motion Picture Production Code. 

I don't know if I will enjoy the movie, but the first fifteen minutes are intriguing and the movie, black and white, certainly "holds up well," as they say. Had I not spent half a dozen years in England, I might not have been "hooked" on continuing to watch after the first fifteen minutes.

The very first frame: the UK prohibited anyone under the age of 16 to see the film. At thirty minutes or so into the movie, my first thought: wow, this is so like an Alfred Hitchcock movie. Later: great, great movie. Anglophiles, I would think, would enjoy it. I never really understood the meaning of "Roman holiday" until seeing this movie. Wow.

Re-Opening: I'm starting to get "circulars" and third-class junk mail from places we used to frequent but closed due to the corona virus.

An example: today we received a notice from our favorite fine arts museum here in the DFW area telling us they were now open for their annual subscribers (which we are) with strict social distancing rules. My reaction is interesting: I really don't care any more. Somehow it almost feels like a jilted love affair. For months I was told to stay away, through no fault of their own; they were forced to close by a judge's declaration. But just the same, I feel abused, through no fault of the fine arts museum, but still.....it's completely irrational, I know, but that's the way it is.

I wonder if they will extend our annual subscription -- after all we were not allowed to visit for several months?

I've learned over seven decades of life -- almost eight --  that one's feelings/experiences are often not unique. If so, a lot of re-opening venues will have to work very hard to get their "lovers" back. We've learned to live without them; we have found new relationships.

I can think of a half-dozen places I will probably never frequent again, at least the way I'm feeling now.

Wuhan flu:

• Sweden
• Norway