A big reason why I love classic films is because they are so easy to escape in. Most new films just annoy me or make me want my time back, but films from the 30s, 40s, and 50s just do something special for me that new movies can't. I also love them because everything is in such sharp contrast to how they are now, no cell phones, no TVs, everyone works, people seem more humane, they have manners, I often find myself a little sad after watching a Fred and Ginger or Cary Grant flick because I feel like I missed out on something great.
I wonder if I'd go crazy if there really was a way to go back, no more internet, no smart phone... but taxes were lower, the government was a more reasonable size and less intrusive, corporations hadn't consolidated and monopolized the country, I think it might be fair trade. Im sure there's a huge downside and it was Hollywood's job to sugar coat and distract from reality, but maybe I could relearn the social skills social networking has ironically ruined . . .
I saw the Twilight Zone episode the other day with Buster Keaton where he's a janitor for a scientist in 1890 who has just invented a time travelling helmet, and Keaton sends himself to 1960. He's terrified by the fast pace, the high prices, and he meets a man that helps him figure out how to go back, and the man wants to go too, thinking it would be so peaceful, he could invent something, slow down a little, but when he gets there he really misses his electric blanket and down pillows.
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