North and South- 19th Century Musings

I watched a favorite film tonight. 'Twas one of those days where only the thought of coming home, and keeping to oneself all evening with a favorite movie can get one through. This selection was cousin's idea. Brilliant woman.
Funny, the last time I watched this film was New Year's Day. I remember the day well, and am almost surprised at having spent so many months not watching this movie. Yet, it is a slightly longer film, which has probably kept me from watching as often as I have some other favorites. This film makes me want to find that part of me that lives in 19th century England and do one of two things:

A) Bind it up irreparably and make it behave.
B) Give into it entirely and dress like Margaret Hale every day.

If I went with option B, I would have to ensure that most people around me died within a year of each-other, and I don't think I would get the chance to crack a single joke.
I think it would be good for me.
Anyway, as I watched, I wondered what it is about that time period that pulls at all of our sensibilities so. It is not as if the people in that time period were living easy lives, or that they did not see their share of misery. In fact, this film does a much-better job than others of its class in portraying the vile aspects of the period. The dirty streets, the dangerous mills, the riots, the sociopolitical turmoil. Why would we want that? What about the film, and so many others like it fascinates us so?
I have always believed that one reason for this phenomenon is the fact that we as human beings are (throughout different time periods) fundamentally the same--whatever time period we were born in. Many of the daily struggles were different then, but congruent to our own today. Trying to feed our families, and make it in a crazy world, find love, transcend cultural norms, be happy, etc. We have always fought for the same things, just in slightly different ways. It is like watching ourselves under different circumstances. Doing studies on human-ness. That is what I used to do every day of my University experience.
Yet I do believe that it goes deeper than that. I think we all just like the clothing they wore.
Terribly wicked of me. Did that just come out in this post?
Actually, I would assert that it has more to do with the fact that those were times vibrant with a different sort of.... doing. It required a certain amount of activity that today's world does not. I see the way that technology has worn our senses to the point that we do not see the world as vibrantly as they did. That is not to say that I believe that technology is evil (this post is brought to you by the makers of Apple Inc, etc) however, I think there is something about a technology-free world that piques our interests. We want to go back to the simplicity. It is not that those times were, in reality, more simple. I am not that naive. They were just less.... complicated.
As usual, the thoughts are not translating.
For instance. I've no idea how this computer works. It scares me sometimes to think of how little I know about the known world. There was a time (the time in question) in world history when things were not quite so unknown. Interestingly enough, one of the themes in this film is that of technology and its effects on human behavior. It focuses in on a time when the age of industrialization was beginning to blossom (does that word work?) over the empires, and the smoke had begun to pour into the streets from the factories, as well as the chimneys. The world had just started to open up to the newness of technology, and it seemed that one could keep on the outer edge of it, that one could comprehend what there was to comprehend, and "keep up"so to speak, with the technology. Or, one could completely let it pass by. It was an option to not engage. To go on knitting in the parlor and let the steam engine's clang by someone else's front door.
Today there are more ideas, bits of knowledge and technology than we know what to do with. The age of information is the age of the overwhelmed. There are so many causes, so many good and bad things to pour our time into that we hardly know what to do with ourselves. It is not merely a question of moving about in a small sphere, influencing one's friends and neighbors, working (if one was not a gentlemen), or managing one's affairs, etc.
Now there is so much to do we do nothing.

"I want to change the world, instead, I sleep." -Ingrid Michaelson

Well, now I am bringing Ingrid into it. This post has taken me places I was not expecting to go tonight. Such is the way with free-style thinking provoked by a favorite film. I think I just like the sound of the buttons on my keyboard clicking (especially as they are the evidence of the fact that I have so far triumphed over the "keyboard, low battery" warnings). If this were a school paper, I would fail. Good thing 'tis not.

These thoughts should be more organized, and should contain less talk of 19th century fashion. Forgive my in-eloquence and enjoy the following clip. It rips my soul in two every time. I wrote a whole paper on it Freshman year of college. I am quite sure I did not get a good grade on said paper, but I wrote one all the same.