The positive side of being a good grump

One of the unexpected pleasures for old grumps is finding old plays of the past whose value we now appreciate ;( David Hare seems to have revived plenty of the Russian authors - why aren't they on our TV's? ---ABC2 and ABC3 ) The things that really worked and the rubbish ; the quickfizz colour and movement that goes nowhere and has no real choices ( modern Dr Who?); scenes like those at the end of PLENTY-lonely, shallow and empty.( forget the watering down woosiness scene in the paddock at the very end of FRED SCHEPSIS"s film)
When we were young , we thought we knew -. This is not new ; what's new and pathetic is all the woosy adults who can't bother to be grumpy old parents/GP for the sake of being consistent and concrete walls of reality to the next generation/s . Sure young people "don't listen" and " don't want to know" but should that mean we don't use some subtedly, rather than silence and rage if we really "want to make a difference and also them to make a difference to their world - "Lets get it right - even if we are boring old grumps for saying so
Grumpy old men and women is a welcome indulgence for us to share with each other at the end of the day ( we listen to each other - even if our kids don't listen to us ). Better though are those British films and plays that revive an honest review of both the TOUGH and weak choices of the past . we want to see more of them . even if they are just recorded on stage .( live theatre on TV)
I especially like the honesty David Hare brings to the few plays we in Australia never get to see of his . Being alone may be "the comfortable place" (Meryl Streeps famous words in PLENTY ") for all those stuck in the land of plenty, but seeing the end result of self centred and even reactionary choices make one want to find another way OUT of the liberation era that never was liberation .