In Defense of MAME As A Triple Goddess!

I'm a heretic in regard to at least one particular dogma of the so-called "gay canon," an opinion that actually extends far beyond the world of gay men.
      This particular opinion is totally biased due to the fact that I love to sing and dance with certain favorite movie musicals. We have a beautiful 50-inch flat-panel monitor for watching DVDs which also has good sound. So I fully enjoy this practice of singing and dancing with some of the best music and dancers in the world.
      I do it because it feels so good and it brings joyful energy and well-being into my body and soul!
      A particular favorite is what I consider one of the most wonderful musicals of all: MAME. Now I'm aware that many loyal Angela Lansbury fans never forgave Lucille Ball for using her clout and claiming the lead role in this film version after Angela created the role on Boradway. Plus there's the common critique that Lucy was too old, too cool and calculating, that she couldn't sing. All nonsense! Take a look at this marvelous film with fresh eyes and an open mind and you'll see how wonderful it really is.
      Lucy put her heart and soul and considerable talents into this film, and who says what age Auntie Mame should be anyway? She's ageless by nature. Lucy looks gorgeous in the film (yes, her close-ups employ a blurry filter, so what?) and it's the perfect role to cap her long career, though the flop of the film at the box-office and the critical dish apparently broke her heart. It appeared just after the peak of the major Hollywood musical era.
      Well, I grew up in Thailand with the original Broadway album, so I've loved the score and brilliant lyrics since I was very young. However due to the commercial failure of the film, the quality DVD now available was not released until just a few years back.
      I AM so grateful!
      Plus, with greater awareness of such things, I now recognize the depths of the story. Mame is the guardian spirit and benefactor of your inner child that maintains a curious, fun-loving, forever young perspective. With someone like her around, life could never be drab or boring. She's also a Triple Goddess, Maiden, Mother and Crone. Before her orphaned nephew Patrick Dennis comes to live with her, she's the Maiden, carefree and celebratory. She becomes Mother to Patrick; then after her beloved Beau Burnside dies, she gains the wisdom of the Crone.
      And yet she loses none of her flair and humane intensity.
      Her most famous line is "Life is a banquet, and most poor sons of bitches are starving to death!"
     So these days I can sing and dance with LOST HORIZON as well as MAME, both of which require that you think for yourself to enjoy how fantastic they really are. Check them out.
      Anyway "Think for yourself, and question authority" is still the best motto, in fact, more than ever!