Some snoopy people
The earliest car I can remember would be a 1957 Ford. Saw one just like it this evening, while it was sliding into a swamp.
On film. Imagine, a half century has passed since that car pulled up outside the Bates Motel. I have finally watched the Hitchcock classic, Psycho all the way to the end, and can now claim all the cultural artifacts as my own. The famous shower scene has been replayed, and lampooned and referenced so many times that I was under the mistaken impression I had seen the movie. Not a chance that my parents were taking me to see such scary fare at a tender age – I actually was allowed to see the Shaggy Dog, and the two movies have nothing in common.
Cultural artifacts. What does this film teach me about the social mores of an earlier time? Well, I now believe that people were more than inquisitive. They were downright snoopy. Imagine going to a motel and checking out unlocked rooms? Or going up to the house on the hill and having the moxy to wander from floor to floor checking out closets and the big bed? This wasn’t supposed to be a remake of the 3 bears tale. How about the private detective going straight to the safe in the back room of the motel office? Talk to me about psychos. Why, Norman might have been the best mannered character on stage.
While my cable company allows me the privilege of viewing movies older than my family, I’ll have to keep an eye on other asocial behaviours from a distant time.
