I was startled to find, in watching Oklahoma with the kids last night, that there's a strong anti-pOrn message in it. Curly the hero condemns the villain, Jed, for being unhealthy because he lives in a dark hovel filled with pictures of nekkid women sold him by a gypsy peddler who's himself a no-account. Jed tells Curly a tale of "someone" (obviously himself) whose dark longings caused him to murder a previous love interest, and he admits his hidden obsessions destroy his possibility of being with a real woman.At the close of the climactic scene where Curly wins the heroine at auction, rescuing her from a date with Jed, we're shown Jed's malice when he attempts to destroy Curly's purity by tricking him into seeing "something special" --which the audience knows to be "French pictures."
I did not pick up on that when I was 12.
I recall adoring Oklahoma at that age. Not so much now. I still love the songs & lyrics, but there are lots of long dance interludes where the dancing isn't at all interesting. Still, Gordon Macrae & Shirley Jones can sure sing. When American Idol finds a voice like either of those, it'll be worth something.
