There’s a certain kind of film that weighs heavily on America’s collective nostalgia for kinder and gentler times. Yet in the same breath that we yearn for this simplicity, we often can’t help but scoff at it.
For most of us, there is a specific film that comes to mind: one that we remember fondly from childhood, or the one we watch each year on the holidays. After tearing up at human kindness, the triumph of virtue, and the redemptive power of love, faith, and family, we quickly go back to life’s little drudgeries. And while we appreciate such fine sentiments, we know this isn’t real life—as any savvy modernist will tell you.
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