07/26/2020

Today the challenge is a film that made me feel happy.

It is funny how so many of these prompts I find difficult. I think perhaps because I am not a movie aficionado and usually films do not have that much of an impact on how I feel. I went down a rabbit hole trying to decipher just what might make me happy. A happy ending? The good guys prevailing? A funny movie that made me laugh? Or maybe a nonsensical movie that serves as an escape.

I settled on the fact that the company I watch with has a great deal to do with how I feel about the movie. We watched the pseudo remake of “The Absent Minded Professor” (“Flubber”) with our grandson when he was younger and his laughter throughout made me laugh out loud. There were a few ‘borderline’ adult humor scenes that he was just beginning to understand and his laughter was contagious.

I loved the original movie, “The Absent Minded Professor”, in Black and White, but the remake with Robin Williams and the incorporation of robotics and animation made it more appealing to a new generation. John Huston’s screenplay was based on the original 1961 screenplay by Bill Walsh.

I recommend watching it with a child or two.

I decided to take on this challenge for July after reading about it from SandmanJazz. Check out his blog and his entry for the twenty-sixth day of the challenge. Maybe even join in!

Today Jim has us weighing our differences and considering how much they are actually alike with the prompt this week. Jim says: This week we have the oxymoron related prompts of Different/Same and hopefully this will fit for everyone.

“Black and White” was written in 1954 by David I. Arkin (father of actor Alan Arkin) and Earl Robinson. (Both were blacklisted in Hollywood for their leftist views).

It was first released in 1956 by Pete Seeger and again in 1957 by Sammy Davis Junior. UK band Greyhound covered the song in 1971, becoming a top 10 hit in the UK. It was from this release of the song that Three Dog Night decided to release it in 1972 and included it on their album ‘Seven Separate Fools’. Danny Hutton sang lead and this song reached number 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Easy Listening charts.

When Arkin and Robinson wrote the song in 1954, it was to celebrate the Supreme Court decision on ‘Brown Vs. Education’ putting an end to racial segregation in schools in the US. When it was recorded in 1972 by Three Dog Night, equality was still an elusive dream for many.

Seeing where we are in this country today – again fighting for equality for all – this song seems apropos to share considering that since the song was written 66 years ago, we still do not have racial equality in this country.

This verse which references the unanimous Supreme Court decision was in the original song, but not included in most of the recorded versions:

Their robes were black, their heads were white,
The schoolhouse doors were closed so tight,
Nine judges all set down their names,
To end the years and years of shame.

Black and White (Lyrics from Lyrics.com)

The ink is black
The page is white
Together we learn to read and write
A child is black
A child is white
A whole world looks upon the sight
A beautiful sight

And now a child can understand
That this is the law of all the land
All the land

The world is black
The world is white
It turns by day and then by night
A child is black
A child is white
Together they grow to see the light
To see the light

And now at last we plainly see
We’ll have a dance of liberty
The world is black
The world is white
It turns by day and then by night
A child is black
A child is white
The whole world looks upon the sight
A beautiful sight

The world is black
The world is white
It turns by day and the by night
A child id black
A child is white
Together they grow to see the light
To see the light

1972 recording by Three Dog Night