Things that make you go hmmm

 

For my morning bike ride I decided to scroll way down in my Spotify playlist for some music to accompany me on my roll through the neighborhood. I landed on movie themes and began my journey. First up was the rousing and triumphant orchestral energy of the Theme from Exodus. Next was the Theme from the Magnificent Seven followed by the more whimsical Pink Panther Theme.

As each piece played I thought of those films and the imagery that I could pry from the depths of whatever synapses I still have left undamaged by time. For me, movies provide a story reference and common ground for other discussions and analogies. Next up was Summer of ’42 by Michel Legrand-Peter Nero that won the 1971 Oscar for Best Original Score.

I was 26 years old when I first saw that movie in the theatre. I will assume that you too have seen the film and know the story line. It deals with a coming-of-age story featuring a 15-year-old boy and a 22-year-old woman married to a soldier in WWII. The setting is a fictional island off the coast of Massachusetts. It is a tender emotional tale told from memory by the now adult “Hermie”, the 15-year-old boy in the story. The young woman’s husband is killed in action, the telegram lies on a table, she has had a bit too much to drink, then Hermie comes by and she takes him to bed for his first sexual experience.

My bike ride ends and I jump down the rabbit hole with a question not asked in 1971. Was this rape? My A.I. response to that question was that, in 1942, “No, Dorthy could not have been charged with rape as both the legal and prevailing social attitudes were gender specific and one-sided. Even when the film was released in 1971, social mores held to the same double standard. Hermie in that light was not a victim of abuse; rather, the culture often viewed it as a right of passage, a stroke of “luck,” or a harmless sexual initiation.”

It was not until the late 70s and early 80s that the women’s rights movement pushed through legal changes that, should such a thing happen in the present, Dorthy could be charged with rape. I make no judgement here but, given the circumstances depicted in the movie, if I were on a jury, I would probably have a hard time finding guilt. Other situations might have a different outcome. As I said, things that make you go hmmm.

For further food for thought, this movie was based on real events. Screenwriter Herman Raucher was “Hermie,” the 15-year-old kid (actually 14). He wrote the story with real names hoping the real Dorthy would reach out. She did. She had long worried that she had psychologically traumatized him. She was happy to find that he had grown up to be a well-adjusted and successful writer. The two talked again and found closure. She chose to keep her actual name a secret saying, "The ghosts of that night 30 years ago are better left undisturbed."

I could go on but my Fitbit just sent me a text message congratulating me on a good bike ride and that, even though I improved my speed from the last time I rode, my heart rate was lower. My Fitbit is only two years old but in electronics years that would mean she is at least 30. I think I am safe to continue the relationship.