Darlings, It Is Up To Me And My Girls To Keep Manhattan Sophisticated!!!!!!!!!!

Girls, let me tell you, Gotham has always been glam, but from what I have been hearing, that is slowly going down the tubes, so it is up to all of us out there to preserve this at all cost. Remember, darlings, it is a penthouse view we just adore, not a strip mall one!!!!!!! Which brings me to audience participation. Especially at films, where people seem freer to express their emotions, there are some responses you can count on almost as knee jerk reactions from viewers. Though some mentioned here may be repeats, they bear mentioning. 1. Thunderous applause from gay men when Anne Francis' name appears on the opening credits of "Funny Girl!!!" 2. Boos and hisses from the audience during the opening credits of "The Sound Of Music," when these words flash onto the screen-"And Eleanor Parker as "The Baroness". 3. More boos and hisses during "The Wizard Of Oz," when Miss Gulch first appears, riding her bicycle!!!!!! 4. Again, thunderous applause at the close of "The Bad Seed," when Rhoda gets struck by lightning. All of which are fun to go along with, and to which we can all relate. Now-- I had not made up my mind if I was going to see Clint Eastwood's film "J.Edgar." It has gotten rather mixed reviews, and while the subject fascinates me, I cannot stand Leonardo DiCrappio as an actor, and I question whether a right-winger like Eastwood could tell this story honestly. The word on the street is he gets more honest, than one might expect, but I am more concerned about the audience, after what I heard from a recent source. According to an unnamed source, who attended a screening somewhere in Manhattan, during a moment when Judi Dench as Hoover's Gorgon-like mother, tells her son, to paraphrase, that she would rather have a dead son, than a gay one, someone in the theater burst into applause. And that another moment, when Hoover and his partner are shown kissing, the same member, or maybe another, yelled out, "Ewwwwwwwww!" The first thing I want to know is--how dare they???? The second thing, is what are they doing going to a movie like this? This supports my contention that an audience should be screened for a movie, before being allowed to sit inside and view it!!!!!!!! And thirdly, how could this happen at all!!! The sad answer is that the decline of sophistication in Manhattan is growing. You have people coming here with money but no taste, who would be better off living in a tract house in the sticks by a gas station, and across from a one line strip mall!!!!!! Who think Italian cuisine is Pizza Hut!!!!!!! The Raving Queen says belt these boobs outta MY town!!!!!!! Let them stay in their one horse dwellings if they want to carry on in this way. Once upon a time, people came here for sophistication and glamour; now you have those who don't know the difference between John O'Hara (or Scarlett!!) or Truman Capote!!!!!!!! Even prostitution has taken a nose dive!!!!! Remember when it would be exemplified by the likes of Elizabeth Taylor in "Butterfield 8," or even Audrey Hepburn in "Breakfast At Tiffany's?" Yes, darlings, Holly turned tricks!!!! They were the reasons so many of us girls wanted to come here, and did, carving out a stake for ourselves; not to meet some nerdy twit like Ted Bessell as Donald Hollinger on "That Girl!" Well, let me stand on ceremony, saying if such behavior takes place in MY theater when I go, it will be dealt with harshly!!!!! And if they want to come after me afterward, let them, because if they so much as lay one finger on me, I will charge them with assault, and the next thing you know this will be dramatized on "Law And Order." Now, don't get too upset, girls!!!!! There is still sophistication in Manhattan; you just have to know where to find it, and whom to hang out with. And if you keep up with the Raving Queen, you will do just that!!!!!!!!!!!! Cole Porter would turn over in his grave at what Manhattan has become!!!!! I need to be at the Cafe Carlyle, in a Thirties wig, and floor length black gown, astride a piano, like Dorothy Dell in "Little Miss Marker", singing "I'm Just A Black Sheep Who's Blue!!!!!!!" Why don't you come and take me away from it all, darlings!!!!! Bring us back to that restored Art Deco Thirties sophistication!!!!!!!!!!! I'll have a martini now, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!