Why do some films seem to date/age so badly?
07.06.2025 17:58
Most Tamil movies, even the seemingly progressive ones are all written with no input from a woman. So, you have male perspectives on pretty much everything. And that’s why you have a thousand versions of Taming of the Shrew. And women who conveniently drop dead when the script feels they are burdens. And worst of all, chastity, virginity and purity! Vasanth’s ‘Rhythm’ had a widow and a widower finding love. But it’s laughable that he had to portray the widow as a virgin! Speaking of Vasanth and widowers, why couldn’t Radhika’s character have been a divorcee in Keladi Kanmani? Tamil Cinema cannot quite comprehend women and sexuality. And all these movies which touch upon these, age very badly. How on earth did K Balachandar design a script that had JKB’s wife stay with him, raise his child (born to his mistress) in Sindhu Bhairavi? In Gunaa, I can understand the woman feeling some amount of gratitude for Gunaa but why does she decide to be his ‘Abirami’?
Non HD is not the only reason you cannot stomach an old movie. ALL films age badly in varying degrees.
//An aside: Today, when I read/listen to Baradwaj Rangan these days, I wish I had that final year’s time to watch the Japanese, French and whatever movies he mentions. Alas, I have a child, a family, a job and almost no time for all this. But, but, but… I somehow found time to watch all three seasons of Bridgerton AND read all 8 books from which the series are being made. Clearly, I can’t claim I don’t have time. When I take a break someday, I shall start with the works of Godard et al. Speaking of Bridgerton, yes.. I confess it’s not content I would confess to watching ( heck , I just did.. on a public platform) but when you read the books, you feel weirded out by the treatment: while the industrial revolution was playing havoc with the ordinary man during that time, here is an fantasised account of Mayfair’s Dukes, Earls, Viscounts and barons. Butlers let visitors in (to the lords’ and ladies’ houses) and valets help their earls put on and remove shoes. Maids, chaperones, balls and male heirs. Virgins falling for rakes and vice versa. Makes no sense today. Reality would have been a hotbed of STDs. Anyhow, the series is a tremendous success and yours truly has read them all, watched them all. //
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Films don’t age like fine wine. Unless it is MMKR.
Unless it’s comedy because humour is ageless. That’s why my generation watches Michael Madana Kamarajan dozen(s) of times and can recite the jokes like it’s our national anthem. And similarly, the previous generation watches Kadhalikka Neramillai. A close second is mystery but I can’t watch mysteries over and over again… for example, Psycho is brilliant BUT, your heart rate does not enter Zone 5 with the screeching violin soundtrack during subsequent watches.
Thanks for the request, Nagarajan Srinivas Sir.
Closer home, consider Kannatthil Mutthamittaal… when I watched it, I decided it was the best thing I have watched. Ever. Today, you realise that Thiruchelvan (Maddy from the handsome days, caught seductively on screen by Ravi K Chandran) was an idiot, to shock Amudha one fine day, to tell her she was adopted… My friend who has adopted a child last year, tells me that adopted children need to be told the truth right from the beginning to ensure that they aren’t shell shocked all of a sudden. In fact, the UK government runs a looooong program to test, select and train adoptive parents and then entrusts them with children.
Looking at very recent films that will age badly, there’s Vikram. Gayathri, why, why and how did you fall for Amar when you don’t even know what he does for a living? I like handsome and smart men just as much as you do, Gayathri. But!!
The great romances from 80 years back don’t make any sense at all in 2024. People do not fall in love eternally or treat lost loves like that today. But, when I watched Casablanca, It Happened One Night, Roman Holiday etc, I lapped it all up. And looked dreamily at the walls and ceilings until my mum felt I had to be exorcised.
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Why do some films seem to date/age so badly?
I doubt I could have savoured Citizen Kane without understanding the technical restrictions of the 1940s. Today, if someone were to make a movie that made heroes of Mafiamen, I would have qualms. But the second movie of the Godfather franchise, I fell in love with. So much that I included Sicily while honeymoon-ing. With films like The Graduate, I swear I was sweating bullets when Benjamin Braddock, played by Dustin Hoffman, ran to the church screaming, ‘Elaine, Elaine’. But today, I feel a sensible Ben would have left Elaine alone. In fact, if there had been a realistic sequel to the movie, it would have Ben and Elaine headed for separation, uncomfortable moments amidst Elaine, Elaine’s mother and Ben… somewhere, I read that Ben was the visual medium version of Holden Caulfield. Made a lot of sense back then. Still does.
‘Relevance’ changes every couple of years or so. Feminism/socialism/individualism/LGBTQ was all new once upon a time… truly radical in the previous generations. But today, while there are varying perspectives on all these thoughts, it is all out in the open. This is why, old films look stale to the watcher. During my final year of engineering, when most of my mates were busy with their project work, I had a different goal: to complete watching the top 100+ movies from IMDB, AFI etc. Along with this, I watched Tamil classics and the odd Indian other language classics like Kokila. And guess what? With every movie I watched, I was transported to the time and place it was made in.