Redeeming an Icon

As you might’ve already heard, Hollywood superstar Mickey Rooney died recently at the age of 93. After eight marriages and irresponsible financial decisions, Rooney’s loose lifestyle makes it all too easy to sermonize, wag our fingers, and speculate about how much better off American culture would be if Hollywood had never existed.

But, if we allow his death to move us in a more positive direction, we can choose to remember that even men with imperfect lives can still create art that inflames the noblest yearnings of our hearts, inspiring us to live lives of meaning, wonder, and heroism.

As such, it seems fitting to recall that while Hollywood may currently be experiencing a dearth of high-minded motion pictures that inspire us to live will, such need not continue to be the case.

Enjoy browsing some of the finer products of American artistry from ages past, and consider giving them new life by letting their beauty and goodness come alive in you.

Boystown (1938)

Casablanca (1942)

Going My Way? (1944)

Angels in the Outfield (1951) 

The Flying Leathernecks (1951) 

McClintock (1963) 

Sound of Music (1965) 

The Cowboys (1972)