Whip Crack Away!

Inspired by the musical based on life of Doris Day that we went to see a while back, I had a hankering to see her Calamity Jane again. Thanks to Youtube, there’s a treasure trove of clips.

This is one of my favourite set pieces from the film:

As a kid I was a tomboy and there were very few films or books at the time where the heroine wasn’t some limp lettuce of a girly girl, always in need of rescue by some energetic, self-determined and heroic guy. In Calamity Jane, I was astonished and hypnotised by this feisty tomboy portrayed by a major Hollywood star in a big cast-of-thousands musical, in a storyline where she’s the heroine who saves the day and gets her man and is the at the very heart of the community of Deadwood. It was a story that told me that, regardless of what other people around me wanted me to be or how they wanted me to dress - a sweet, demure girly in frilly frocks - I could succeed being just who I was : an outspoken tomboy in jeans and sneakers!