Not Everything is Better New

Whats wrong with a classic, vintage, traditional. Have you ever heard the cliche's "Leave well enough alone" or even better "If it ain't broke don't fix it"?  I am so sad when I see people take something that is fabulous in its original state, and they think that updating it somehow makes it better.

If you have read my blog, you already know I am a big fan of movies. My two all time favorite holiday classics include of course Miracle on 34th Street, the 1947 version, and Its a Wonderful Life, 1946, with Jimmy Stewart.  These two movies are an absolute must see every year, multiple times if possible and every time they make my heart sing.


Originally done in black and white, pre-dating color cinema, these movies were and are spectacular. Warm and innocent. They make us smile and take us back to simpler times when the lines between good and bad were clearer, and less complicated. I love the way they speak to each other, the conversations and the little enigmatic turns of phrase. This movies are classic for a reason and have stood the test of time. Generation fall in love with them because they were not made to stand on special effects or cinematic slight of hand.

So why do people find it necessary to bastardize and diminish perfection. I refer to the colorization of these movies. I know there are those who will argue that adding color enhances the movies and brings them into the modern age, but I so vehemently disagree. I will seek out and find the black and white versions in an effort to preserve them in my library for posterity and in honor of their originality. I will not support the color versions being peddled and broadcast in order to garner younger viewers.  I would argue that if this generation were introduced to these wonderful movies in their black and white state, in the right setting, they too would fall in love with them just as they have the claymation videos of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, Santa Clause is Coming to Town, Frosty, and the Little Drummer Boy. My children and their friends are perfect test cases, and they love  these movies just as I do.  They are a part of our annual holiday traditions, and it is a tradition they will pass on to their families.

I guess my point in all of this rant and rave, is that not everything is better made "new". Somethings are classic for a reason, and their beauty is found in their originality and their natural intended state. There is a reason they have stood the test of time. Trust in that, support it, and honor it. Help to ensure that future generations are given the opportunity to embrace things as they were intended to be in their original era, touched with the iconic feelings and symbols of a time gone by but worthy of acknowledgement and embracing even today.

Happy Holidays.