Choosing A Movie

THE LADY ON FACEBOOK, the effusive one, posted,in living color and huge font-enhanced letters, announcing to the online world her intent to watch a movie on "Netflix" that very evening. She invited recommendations. I considered myself fortunate that her posted square included no pictures of her swimming pool, pool deck, indoor or outdoor Christmas trees, indoor or outdoor cat, lunch, or dinner. Nor did she regale the world with photographs of the day's gourmet coffee or evening cocktail, as usual. Temporary that the reprieve would surely be, it was, if nothing else, a brief respite from too much information. People chimed in with Christmassy suggestions, appropriate to the season. "Miracle on 34th Street was among them. Spontaneously insired, I decided to take the plunge,and think outside the box,as we say. "The Alamo", starring Billy Bob Thornton, I typed. At least mildly intrigued, she said "I've heard of the Alamo. Tell me about it". Knowing not whether what she had heard of was the movie or the actual event, or both, adverse to extensive typing, I replied: "It is a reasonably reliably accurate depiction of an iconic event in American history". "Tell me more", she pressed on. "That would require an essay, which I could publish as soon as tomorrow, I rejoined". With freshly rested, freshly motivated fingers, I decided to throw her a couple of nuggets. "Davy Crockett hated being called 'Davy'", I offered. "He always used "David". He was famous before his heroic death at the Alamo, and immediately became a legendary figure afterwards." The Facebook lady responded with an emoji conveying care and compassion. Emboldened, I went on: "During the 1820s and early 1830s, the "white" population of the Mexican province of Texas swelled, and in Eastern cities, abandoned apartments were emblazended with the letters "GTT" on their front doors; "Gone to Texas". This time her emoji conveyed shock, or surprise. I could have told her more, much more, since I am a huge fan of David Crockett, and I know a fair amount about him. There are two versions. The mythological "Davy" Crockett who could leap over mountains and whip his wieght in wildcats, and the real, historcal "David" Crockett, a warm hearted, charming fast talker who took up all the air in the room, and was a muhh better politician than hard fighting military hero. According to the one woman who was spared by the Mexicans and survived the massacre, Crockett said that he would be tempted to climb over the wall and sneak away from the beseiged "fortress", were it not for his reputation for superhuman feats of bravery. It was his fame which preceeded him, doomed him, and outlived him by centuries, enhanced further by his dramatic, if overblown death. During his three terms in Congress, which contribued to his fame, his hillbilly charm endeared him to the masses, but made him the object of ridicule among the eastern, educated, wealthy elite. He never got a bill passed, but dramatically championed noble causes, such as Indian rights and squater's rights with funnny, fiery speeches on the floor of the House of Representatives. After his death, his son, John Crockett, was elected to his father's seat, an succedeed in passing some of his famous father's agenda, notably a bill permitting poor frontier farmers the right to remain on the land owned by eastern banks that they had settled on without permission. David (Davy) Crockett was a fun living, funny, charming, kind hearted man of intelligence who taught himself how to read, and turned an impoverished childhood into a successful political career, and, mostly by sheer chance, positioned himself to become among the most legendary figures in American history. His autobiography, which he wrote by speaking the words to a ghost writer, became an instant best seller, has remainded in print ever since, is readily available, and is a masterpiece of early American literature. When I finish informing the Facebook lady of all this, I hope, even if her interest in Davy Crockett isn't stoked to a bonfire, that she will, if nothing else, post me a heart shaped emoji. She ended up watching a Christmas themed movie, appropriately, sidestepping, for the time being, The Alamo. Maybe she'll give it a try later. Meanwhile, I can continue to ply her with tantalizing hstorical nuggets. As Crockett wrote: "I'll stand up to my rack, fodder or no fodder, and the devil take the hindmost."