But none of this fits in with modern perception (and you see this attitude as far back as the 1920s) that the 1890s were so sexually repressed that some light and intentionally goofy pecks between a middle-aged couple would cause a scandal. So, they reverse engineer to make it work, truth be damned - ThreadSky

moviessilently.bsky.social • 19 days ago

But none of this fits in with modern perception (and you see this attitude as far back as the 1920s) that the 1890s were so sexually repressed that some light and intentionally goofy pecks between a middle-aged couple would cause a scandal.

So, they reverse engineer to make it work, truth be damned

1 / 2

Comments

moviessilently.bsky.social•19 days ago

Was someone somewhere in the 1890s offended by THE KISS? Sure, you'll find someone offended by anything if you look hard enough. (side eye at the Star Wars fandom)

But widespread scandal? A mainstream censorship demand? (Some sources even claim there were some backed by high clergy.) No.

moviessilently.bsky.social•19 days ago

But the perception of a prudish past works so well, who needs facts?

"We may have problems but at least we're not offended by a glimpse of ankle!" on one side

"They were so moral then that they were shocked at this kissing movie, what a clean past!" on the other

And actual 1890s people were like:

manxinwales.bsky.social•19 days ago

I've done a lot of work around the 1890s and people are people. I have never understood the idea that somehow we completely changed how we lived and acted over a few decades. People do people stuff. It seems Stag films were invented within minutes of film being invented!

manxinwales.bsky.social•19 days ago

The idea that we went from condemnation of someone's parents vaguely smooching to the roaring 20s is utterly ridiculous and I've no idea why people would repeat something so illogical without thinking 'hang on! That doesn't sound right!'

moviessilently.bsky.social•19 days ago

Right? If they were really that prudish, we would have died out.

And obviously there were extreme weirdos (like the Dr. Kellogg “I don’t even sleep with my wife” brigade) but we have the bespectacled Eugenia it’s. Every era has their fringe elements

aaronbossig.bsky.social•19 days ago

There seems to be some perpetual human need to find a generation that’s considered “super moral” so it can be used as a yardstick for the young’uns to aspire to. The great-grandparents tend to be useful, as they’re often just outside living memory, and can be lionized without meddlesome facts.

aaronbossig.bsky.social•19 days ago

This also has the side-benefit of excusing any moral failings of your own— you’re just a product of your time, but BACK IN THE DAY, boy howdy, they knew what was right!

moviessilently.bsky.social•19 days ago

While we're here, the myth that Victorians covered their piano legs out of modesty started out as satire aimed at Americans (who were not ruled by Queen Victoria, having fought a few wars to settle same)

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/victorian-table-legs-covering-myth

moviessilently.bsky.social•19 days ago

There's a long conversation to be had about the infantilization of affluent women during the era, the extreme modesty views of various religious sects, and how these somehow infected public perception of the whole Gilded Age but just for today:

Movie kisses and piano legs were fine, guys!

nightwarbler.bsky.social•19 days ago

It's nice to be reminded that history is not a straight line from censorious to permissive. I don't know why people like the myths so much, when the fact people were always trying to have fun and be risque with their art is so much more fun

moviessilently.bsky.social•19 days ago

And beware of circular reporting! While researching THE KISS, I found books that cited multiple sources only to discover that once I chased them down, they were all derived from The Chap Book.

So many silent era "facts" are like this: looks like a lot of sources, really isn't.

bennyprofanev.bsky.social•19 days ago

Great scholarship! Are you able to rely on digital archives, or are you in the stacks for this stuff?

dulcetspacecadet.bsky.social•19 days ago

Thank you!!!

bowlerhatscience.org•19 days ago

I feel like people should look up Victorian pornography sometime. (One of my former colleagues had a Victorian pornography pop-up book, which was predictably hilarious.)

moviessilently.bsky.social•19 days ago

As one film historian said about stag films of the silent era, despite what staged love scenes tried to tell us, things worked pretty much the same way back then when you got down to brass tacks.

ellacinders.bsky.social•19 days ago

That reminds me that I want to see Mel Brooks’ Silent Movie again. I remember it as being not very good when I saw it decades ago, but time for a re-appraisal. Available at the public library!

moviessilently.bsky.social•19 days ago

I like parts of it (Feldman particularly) but it makes a lot of the usual modern silent mistakes: one title card for every line of dialogue and too many title cards explaining what was just pantomimed clearly.

ainthavingit.bsky.social•19 days ago

Oh, it was one if my favorites as a kid!

spooky-jones.bsky.social•19 days ago

Much like today, a satire article becomes canon.

Comments

Posting Rules

Reply