In the Wizard of Oz, in the encounter with the wicked witch, can someone explain to me why the good witch of the North not only holds Dorothy (keeping her from running away, presumably for plot purposes) but also has a smile on her face?
This is one of those occasions when the past feels a "foreign country" since no film made today would allow an expression other than horror on the good witch's face.
It stands in the face (no pun intended) of today's culture of "authenticity" which requires facial emotions match the gravity of the situation, while in the past there was the sense that you should fight against that tide and that you should smile in adversity. For the good witch to stop smiling in that situation, or any, would presumably be a poor influence on Dorothy (although she obviously can't see the good witch in this scene). It reminds me of how the actress who played the mother on "Little House on the Prairie" said that the role was exhausting because she always had to smile and be sunny. And yet part of leadership is sort of self-control of emotions, of providing an example for the people. If George Bush came on television looked panicky about the financial markets that would not be a good thing, even though panic is likely the appropriate emotion.
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