Saturday, March 12, 2005

Missing Sandra Dee

The gang at the lake has been a little down over the passing of Sandra Dee. While made fun of in places like Grease, she is an icon of the early boomer age. Her life was not filled with the happiness that should have followed some of the characters in her movies through life. My favorite is A Summer Place. I watch it several times a year. In it she is filled with angst over the sexual issues that the boomer group would soon rebel against. She wants love with Troy Donahue, and nothing is more important. She and he pursue it while questioning what is right and proper. While it looks archaic today, it represents the real outlook of the young boomer crowd. The trend of society, the nature of the hippie movement, and all that are in every wondering thought she has in that film. Sandra Dee stood at the forefront of societal change. To Rizzo in Grease she was at the end of the line, but she actually stood near the front. Change came not from bold leapers who extended the limits of society, but from those who avoided the hype and pushed a little more. The media followed those who bounded forward. The Boomers followed those who inched forward and thought carefully about it all. Sandra Dee was certainly among those leaders of her times.

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