Sunday, February 23, 2014

"....Maria.....We All Love A Girl Named Maria....."

The Sound Of Music.

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

One of these things is not like the other.

And, for that matter, the other is not like the other, either.

Au contraire, mon amigo.

Turns out they are just alike.

Translation just ahead.



(CNN) -- Maria von Trapp, the last of the singing children immortalized in the movie musical "The Sound of Music," died at her Vermont home of natural causes, her half-brother told CNN on Saturday.

The native of Austria was 99 and lived in Stowe. She died Tuesday.
 
Maria von Trapp was the third-oldest child of Agathe Whitehead and Capt. Georg von Trapp. The couple had seven children: Rupert, Agathe, Maria, Werner, Hedwig, Johanna and Martina.
Georg von Trapp's second wife, Maria Kutschera von Trapp, wrote a book titled "The Story of the Trapp Family Singers," which sparked two German-made movies and "The Sound of Music."
The Trapp Family Singers rehearse in 1946. Maria von Trapp, who died Tuesday, is third from left.
In 1959, the play "The Sound of Music" opened on Broadway. Julie Andrews, in arguably her most famous role, played the part of Georg's wife, Maria, in the 1965 film. Christopher Plummer played Baron von Trapp. The movie won five Academy Awards, including best picture.
 
Johannes, the youngest son of Maria and Georg von Trapp, issued a statement following his sister's passing: "Thank you for your thoughts. Maria had a wonderful life and while we will miss her, the memories of her will live on," Johannes wrote.
 
 
First, let's get a couple of rim shot remarks, that wont let me rest until expunged, out of the way.
 
"...the family that sings together.....very often has to cross the Alps on foot in the dead of night with the Nazis in hot pursuit...."
 
Ba...
 
"....Maria Von Trapp died at 99 of natural causes and there is no truth whatsoever to the vicious rumor that Carrie Underwood's acting had anything to do with it...."
 
...dum bump.
 
Thank you, I'll be here all week.
 
Far as I know.
 
And now, back to......
 
Among the myriad "guilty pleasures" we experience in our lives, there is probably none so universally experienced and enjoyed than "The Sound Of Music".
 
Three hours of acclaimed, celebrated and much beloved wholesome, uplifting, virtue and victory validating, family friendly comic/dramatic/musical entertainment for every one and all between the ages of five and five hundred.
 
And nary a "real housewife", millionaire duck call carver, back stabbing pair of country music older and younger divas or oversized bootied, talentless sex tape capitalizers whose name rhymes with Marnashian in sight.
 
Or sound.
 
Everybody loves "The Sound of Music".
 
Whether they want to or not.
 
Guys.
 
Naturally, given human nature, it is inevitable that a lot of people (guys) would find the whole presentation not their cup of tea, let alone their stein of good Austrian ale.
 
It's the province of trained and education sociologists to research and determine why a lot of people (guys) find the whole thing not of their liking.
 
My own instincts as an average member of society (guy) lead me to suspect that it's probably because "The Sound Of Music" is three hours of acclaimed, celebrated and much beloved wholesome, uplifting, virtue and victory validating, family friendly comic/dramatic/musical entertainment for every one and all between the ages of five and five hundred with nary a "real housewife", millionaire duck call carver, back stabbing pair of country music older and younger divas or oversized bootied, talentless sex tape capitalizers whose name rhymes with Marnashian in sight.
 
Not to mention a lack of mention of anything pigskin, horsehide, foul shot and/or jock strap related.
 
But even hard core hard hearts (guys), if pressed (or, more likely necessary, injected with sodium penethol) will grudgingly admit that they have a soft spot in that hard core hard heart for the lives, loves and libretto of the family von Trapp.
 
And while I'm not academically qualified to postulate the cause/effect of any surface anti-Sound of Music attitude, I have what I think to be a literally pretty sweet theory as to why it is, underneath everyone's all, much beloved.
 
It is, I would offer, a perfect combination.
 
Or even a recipe, if you like.
 
The very real and, even, relatable core substance of the story, a caring family caught up in the horrific oppression that was Nazi Germany, the courage shown by people willing to risk everything to resist being "conquered" by an evil and corrupt group of sadistic and savage oppressors at a time in history when such resistance was almost immediately fatal if discovered, an admittedly tender, but still relatable love story of a man who had lost a wife, was left to deal with a large group of children he was ill equipped to raise on his own, finding both a caring parent for his kids and a second chance at a successful marriage.
 
In short, the kind of life events that, in, at least, one small way or another, almost anyone with a pulse can identify with.
 
And if not admire and adore, then, at least, appreciate.
 
The other part of the recipe?
 
Catchy, sing-along songs that, while catchy and sing-along to some, might easily seem sickly, syrupy, saccharine, yes, not just a spoonful of, but a whole damn dump truck full of....
 
...sugar.
 
Christopher Plummer, the actor who played the father in the movie, even said, for years, that he feared he would contract diabetes during the filming.
 
In this case of this musical, though, the sugar of syrupy songs comes almost perfectly balanced with the spirit feeding nutrition of the real and relatable story.
 
Sugar.
 
Kind of like chocolate.
 
Nutrition.
 
Kind of like peanut butter.
 
Which will bring us back to do-re-mi...the...
 
...Sound Of Music.
 
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.
 
And even the least romantic among us (guys) love Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.
 
Hell, some even enjoy the smell of roses.
 
Or honeysuckle.
 
Maybe, even......
 
Eidelweiss.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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