Like so many people lately, my friend Melissa and I were discussing the often incomprehensible situation brought on by the pandemic/panic from the COVID-19 virus. Things of this nature bring out the best and sadly the worst in folks. Hoarding is in full swing as toilet paper disappears from shelves as soon as it is stocked and bananas are nowhere to be found. Bananas?!? They spoil within days; what good can hoarding do? IT’S BANANAS!!
Closures increase by the day; the workplace, schools, restaurants, gyms, and...BROADWAY! Told to stay at home, it hasn’t taken long to hear the complaints of those feeling like they’ve been imprisoned.
Whenever I wanted an instant smile as a kid, I knew that watching a Shirley Temple movie was a good cure. Back in 1935 during the darkest days of the Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt was quoted as saying:
"During this Depression, when the spirit of the people is lower than at any other time, it is a splendid thing that for just 15 cents an American can go to a movie and look at the smiling face of a baby and forget his troubles."
Millions of Americans did just that, including my parents, who grew up during those lean years. In “The Littlest Rebel,” Shirley is a little girl living in the south in the midst of the Civil War. Her mother is on her deathbed and her father is fighting a losing war. Shortly after, attempting to get his daughter to safety, Shirley’s on-screen father is put in prison and given a death sentence. What’s a little girl to do?!?
She takes to the streets with Bill Robinson to sing and dance and earn money so she can go to Washington, DC and beg Abraham Lincoln for a pardon. Does she get it?
Of course she does! And his autograph, too, according to this publicity shot!
That was the magic of Shirley Temple. Against insurmountable odds, she overcame every obstacle with a smile, a song, and a dance. Corny as it may sound, there’s a lesson in there for all of us, even during these times of fear of the unknown and what may be around the corner.
Count your blessings and focus on the things that make you smile. My friend Melissa’s husband tells her to “Go to Shirley World!” when she has an anxious moment. Shirley Temple may not be your thing (perish the thought!), so find your own “Shirley World” and go there. In the meantime, be kind and understanding to others and try to avoid getting caught up in situations you would normally avoid (aka hoarding and panic). I’ll leave you with this appropriate song “Be Optimistic” from “Little Miss Broadway,” sung when Shirley’s character is sent back to the orphanage and her adopted father is about to go to the poorhouse.
Is there a happy ending? Of course there is; it’s Shirley!
See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.
