Fred and Rita to the Rescue.

Thanks to Camille Paglia's enormous sense of good taste, I spotted this video in a recent Salon.com article of hers. I hate to wax nostalgic. It seems regressive and geriatric of me, and I am neither, but, looking at the current state of the culture, the planet seems in need of civility, as well as sensuousness and some non-virtual loveliness. We need some kind of grace, some relief from the bombardment of empty spectacle and the overwrought sensationalism of a lot of really non-events. We need a respite from all the technological hoo-haw between us and other humans. With the increasing use of CGI in filmmaking, when "real" would do the job, I feel further removed from a simpler beauty and a direct encounter with a real, er, role model.

This video says much about a kind of joyfulness of spirit that is refreshing, and, well, just plain happy. That the video is scored with one of my favorite Mazzy Star songs, Fade into You, maxes the pleasure. The song is woeful and somber and a brilliant counterpoint to the Fred Astaire / Rita Haworth footage. The conceit of musical melancholia driving the visual, affective sumptuousness...knocks me out.