I think the didactic point of the movie was that one should not pretend to anything better. We have two 20 somethings who gave their best shot and lost. One is a hack writer who cannot write lyrical prose with sound metaphors. The other is an aspiring actress, who has sled into prostitution after failing to secure a career in the media. I suppose Fred will always be a bookstore clerk, and Doris will be the happy homemaker. I enjoyed the comedic lines, and the awkward situations. When I was younger, I could not understand why I felt sad at the end of this movie. Now that I have reached middle age, I understand the meta message. You are just a menial and that is all you are ever going to be. I know that one can lose the zest for life if he is pushed to fulfill ambition. But isn't it better to give it your best shot? Perhaps this is a familiar story of people in the arts. There are so many also-rans. Then again, this movie came to the screen in 1970 as perhaps a portent of diminished expectations for the middle class. Perhaps the skeleton suit of Felix/Fred is the personification of death for a way of life. Hollywood seems to delight in such metaphors. Even the scissor scene of the belt of Felix's bathrobe represents the loss of power for a country that does not need the creative power of its men. Perhaps that may be why Barbara Streisand at some level excites some animosity in more traditional conservative parts of the country as her role in this movie seems to bring a denouement to the Promethean dreams of another era. All that aside I find her delightful and wonderful in this film, and I am sure she does not like her role as a Saturnalian crone. We can only do what we are paid to do. Doris understands that all too well.
Review of The Owl and the Pussycat
