Hey there, folks!! Can you stand yet another diary about my alltime favorite film, West Side Story? Anyway, here goes:

As everyone on here knows, West Side Story is my alltime favorite film, hands down...and no one, including myself really and truly knows why. Haven't seen WSS this year so far, but I'm excitedly looking forward to driving from Boston out to Albany, NY a week from next Monday to see a screening of the film West Side Story at the Albany Palace Theatre, which looks like another great place to show such a classic. Regarding January 2009's Broadway revival of WSS, I really don't know what I'll be doing back then. I go to the LB/WSS board just out of curiosity, only to see nothing but links, but it seems that Arthur Laurents, who wrote the original book of WSS, and who admitttedly hated the film version, wants today's Jets and Sharks to be more vicious, and the leads, Tony and Maria, much more passionate, and to have a totally different, up-to-date ending, and not the hint of reconciliation of the Jets and Sharks in the end. It might be an interesting idea, but who knows how it would turn out? Would WSS lose the original heart and soul that made the original so great...and popular, or would it be an up-to-date, grittier, tougher version of the original Broadway production? Who knows?

Given the various current events here in the United
States and throughout the world, I sometimes wonder if the great, venerable golden oldie-but-goody classic film, West Side Story, is destined to eventually disappear into history. I certainly hope not, because this film is a real treasure, imo.

My intense love for the film West Side Story, although accepted and supported by my friends and family, has also provided somewhat of a source of amusement. That doesn't bother me, because they're close, warm, loving and I realize that they like to tease me in fun. When I told my mom that I plan to drive out to Albany, NY from Boston for a screening of West Side Story, she laughed and called me a maniac...out of affection. I laughed and agreed with her. What can I say? This film is a hard one for me to resist.

On the other hand, however, I've also come in contact and corresponded with people that're totally derisive of the film West Side Story, and my love for it. Some of these people are mental health councilors who regularly work with troubled kids from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and believe that West Side Story, in addition to being too "white-bread" and dated for their tastes, also evokes negative stereotypes that depict all kids from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, regardless of ethnic group or color, as being involved in street gang activity and prone to violence. In either case, NOTHING could be farthur from the truth, imho. On the contrary, WSS evokes the message that violence and prejudice are senseless, and, that while never easy, some kind of reconciliation is possible between people, regardless of background.

Back to what I was saying earlier: many of the people who're derisive of WSS are also much younger than many WSS fans, and, although not said outright, tend to think of me as somewhat immature, because WSS is supposedly about adolescents, but I've also heard that it's about people in their late teens-early 20's. Inotherwords, very young adults. Either of those theories is possible.

However, there's one other thing that occurs to me more and more; I believe that that people that're derisive of West Side Story and my love for it, not to mention my style of posting, are people who have issues of their own, are insecure, and have their own panties in a bunch much, if not most of the time.

It takes all kinds of people to make a world. The world would be a rather dull place, otherwise, wouldn't it. (wink, wink)

Anyway, folks--talk to you again soon. All the best. (pardon my rambling.)

S