Ever since we rented Mary Poppins and watched it, or tried to watch it, a dozen times I can't get all the songs out of my head, specifically "Let's Go Fly a Kite" and "Step in Time." Disney must have employed some sort of special magic to get those songs embedded in people's brains.
Or, it may be that the older boy keeps singing those particular songs and dancing non-stop.
I don't know...probably it's both.
Aside from the songs annoyingly stuck in my head, I have been thinking about Mary Poppins, specifically as to how much more I like it than Nanny McPhee.
Don't get me wrong. I think Nanny McPhee is an awesome flick too, but Mary Poppins is better if only because Mary Poppins doesn't have to change her appearance through out the movie to one that is more "acceptable" to the modern idea of beauty at the end.
Yes, I understand that Nanny McPhee was supposed to physically represent the children's inner beauty through out their transformation into "good" kiddies or some sort of rot like that, and I know that Mary Poppins started out attractive, so it's not a fair comparison, but, come on!
The McPhee film makers blew an awesome opportunity to toss the idea that only beautiful people are important and loved and worthy on its head, and they failed miserably. They made it so Nanny McPhee was more desirable/lovable the more attractive she got.
That saddens me because she was always the same, strong, confident person through out the movie. Only her appearance changed.
At least Mary Poppins didn't have to change her appearance to become "hotter," effectively sending a message that a pretty face and a thin body is as important or more so than a strong, good character and confidence when determining a person's worthiness or desirability.
But, of course, Mary Poppins was already pretty and thin as well as strong and confident in the movie to begin with, which begs the question, "Had Julie Andrews not been pretty and thin, would the Mary Poppins film makers still have given her the role of Mary Poppins based solely on her talent?"
I'm afraid that even if I could get an answer to that question I wouldn't want to know it.
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