Goin' Courtin'

There is one movie in my cabinet that I could watch on repeat for a whole day and not get bored. That movie is Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. It is another one of those movies that my mom introduced me to when I was young and it was a quick favorite. It also reminds me of sick days or cloudy, gross days when you want to just sit inside all day on the couch. Of course it is a musical with great songs to sing at the top of your lungs along with Jane Powell and Howard Keel. 

This film is all about Adam looking for a wife to cook, clean, and take care of him and his six brothers. Looking beyond the terrible sexism in this picture, it is a great film. It is about love and trust and even has lots of little jokes in it. Millie marries Adam but is unaware of those six brothers until they get home in the mountains. She soon learns that these men do not know much about acting like gentlemen or women. She fixes to teach them a few things so that they have better manners. My favorite song is Goin' Courtin'. Remember a few posts ago when I told the story about dancing around the basement singing along with these old movies? Well I did that with one as well. There is a barn raising scene where all the ladies are in gingham dresses that spin just  like a little girl would imagine they should and I swear to you after a few weeks I could have been one of those ladies. I had perfected the little hops and skips as well as the head turns that make it all look so awesome. Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong era. Then I dance to songs like "Get Low" and realize I am a great dancer no matter the era!

There is some minor kidnapping in this movie but that really makes the second half of the movie. Oh and the fact that they use the word vittles makes this movie extra special too. I have recently started to use it in my everyday vocabulary. I once worked with a man named Marcus who claimed he "brought words to America" from his native Australia. We often criticized him for that, because in reality he did not bring any of his vocabulary to America. But I will claim responsibility if people start to use vittles in everyday language around here. 

RAs who want to plan around this classic film could play on the important of manners. You can see it clearly in this movie when the brothers are less than successful with their shenanigans but then can convince these beautiful, young ladies they are gentlemen at other parts of the movie. Manners seem to be a lost art, especially internet manners. An RA could bring some of that knowledge into the program, maybe a flier about internet manners. There is also the business of bathroom manners. A community bathroom can be a scary place when the floor does not respect each other or their housekeeper. You could extrapolate some of the manners from this movie into a program about bathroom etiquette. 

There is also the dancing lessons that could come from this movie. Everything is choreographed! It could double as a program about physical fitness, your residents will get a work out mimicking some of the moves in this film. I would be willing to offer my services to lead a few of the numbers, just call!