Memorial Day?
A day for bad movies? Is that what TCM thinks the country needs? If TCM wants to honor memorial day, they can display the names of the service members who passed away in the last 12 months.
We don't need John Wayne on Memorial Day. I love Jane Fonda and COMING HOME but we don't need that either. Stop pretending that fictional films are 'service.' Stop pretending that everyone who is a veteran wants to watch a war movie -- let alone hours and hours of them.
TCM is an entertainment channel -- a reality that host Ben frequently forgets. It doesn't need to spend a day on war films. My daughter was flat out disgusted and already angry because they scheduled children's films at midnight Saturday morning. She doesn't know what the heck is going on. I told her that TCM is trying to get some easy applause while doing nothing.
Along with noting the passings, TCM could also, if they wanted to do something, they could also speak to Disabled American Veterans and bring on some of their members to choose a favorite film.
Instead, they air bad movies and pretend like they're honoring veterans. It's garbage. And all we get are garbage movies -- movies already airing near weekly on over the air channels like MOVIES! -- over the air channels that don't charge you. I'm paying for TCM.
Repeatedly, they show films like SOME LIKE IT HOT and it ends up on their most popular list -- topping it, in fact. That's because we love that movie -- it's a classic that never grows old and just may be the funniest film of the 20th century. Not every film they show should be popular -- they're also about educating. But when the only John Wayne film that ever makes it high on the list of most viewed is the one in (fake) France with Joan Crawford or the one with Katharine Hepburn.
This isn't about politics, my objections. Nor is about partisanship. It's about bad movies. Bob Hope is from the same political spectrum as John Wayne. But Bob has some solid films. I don't complain when Bob's films are on -- I actually think they aren't on TCM enough. He was one of the biggest film stars and made some great classics. MY FAVORITE BRUNETTE is my favorite film with Bob Hope but I also love THE PALEFACE, THE LEMON DROP KID, ALIAS JESSE JAMES, THE PRINCESS AND THE PIRATE, NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH, CASANOVA'S BIG NIGHT, MY FAVORITE BLONDE, MONSIEUR BEAUCAIRE,, MY FAVORITE SPY, SORROWFUL JONES, etc.
I'll also note that they don't air enough Barbara Stanwyck -- and I don't care that she was a Republican. She made some amazing films. DOUBLE INDEMNITY has been their most streamed movie for three days in a row. SORRY WRONG NUMBER is repeatedly ignored by TCM. Her CLASH BY NIGHT and CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT tend to get shown and THE LADY EVE. So much more gets ignored including GREAT BALLS OF FIRE, GOLDEN BOY, NO MAN OF HER OWN, MY REPUTATION, ANNIE OAKLEY, THE FILE ON THELMA JORDAN, CRIME OF PASSION and WITNESS TO MURDER.
