I'll be honest. Auntie Mame (1958) is not part of my annual holiday lineup. I prefer to save this film for a day when life has got me down, and I "need a little Christmas," as Mame of the musical version would say, "Right this very minute!" Maybe subconsciously I know this is how Mame would intend her film to be used--should characters be able to hop the fourth wall and converse with their audience.
Nonetheless, this year Auntie Mame (Rosalind Russell) keeps popping into my head. I desperately wanted to finish an email reminder to read over Winter Break with Mame's famous line, "Life's a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death!" I refrained, knowing that most parents and students would not get the reference and might focus too heavily on the "sucker" part. Here, however, I can share the line and know my readers will delight in the line as I do. Mame's advice is wise--there is so much to learn if only one opens his/her mind (or for the purpose of my email, opens a book) and applies his- or herself.
