Welcome to the  June 2012 Edition Celebrating Brides, Grooms and Weddings -- Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is a nice companion piece to OKLAHOMA. We again find characters that comprise old-fashioned home spun goodness not to mention seven men with chiseled good looks, seven men who, like Curley, in Oklahoma, are looking for that one special “simple” girl.   Like Curly, these men find their girls are far from simple. These ladies know what they want and definitely make their choice at the barn raising. (This is a great sequence – men who dance/fight to get their girls).  

However, the brothers   find it increasingly difficult to keep the affection of the ladies after kidnapping them and taking them to “bear country” alone –without a chaperone or parson  – scandalous!

This film does a great job in illustrating the divide between the sexes. First, by having the women occupy the house and the men the barn (“ you can sleep in the barn with the rest of the livestock”!), Second, by illustrating the difference between the way women expect to be treated and the way men treat them.

(“You think because I said yes to you—I didn’t make you court me  and coax me …that that’s all there is to it!”)  The ladies relate to this well because as they say “men are men they need us to show them a women’s point of view”.  Great stories come from the men about how “she made me a better person!’   

It also illustrates how easy it is to close that divide through “courtin,'” “sparkin’”, sofa settin'”. We again find ourselves talking about flirting, dating, marriage and children. Spring, Spring, Spring is a great segue to marriage and children  ("each nest is twitterin’ they’re all baby sitterin’...from his airy the eagle with his legal eye…says suppose we set the date this week?”). This opens great conversation about weddings, children and raising families.  

At this point in the film the brothers and their girls are “on the same page”.  They want to get married! But will their families allow it?

When the girls resist leaving the brothers we begin a conversation regarding how each group member “fit” into his/her new family.   Stories of how the family grew together – their hardships and joys abound. 

Living together, growing together and loving together make for great memories. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is the perfect place to explore all of them! 

Thanks for stopping by!

See you in July  –   for Independence Day 2012 in River City with Harold Hill – The Music Man!

---Lori