Times have changed... [updated]

I can honestly say with 100% assurety that this song would never make it in a movie today.



Here's a little Wiki-info about Detroit, Michigan. I'm not knocking it as a place, I'm sure it's a fine place to live. It's just not the city it once was ("the Paris of the west"). I mean, how many people do you know now who dream of moving to Detroit to make a name for themselves? At the end, Cordy and Angie drive off into the sunset of Detroit - a "beautiful" skyline filled with tall, black smoke stacks pumping columns of soot into the sky.

Also - it's just part of the greatness of the movie, The Happiest Millionaire. It's so outdated and fabulous. Cordy is thrilled and excited while telling her mother how their car broke down twice on the way home. This is a car with no interior (they use an umbrella when it's raining) and it's the middle of winter. My sister remarked how patient Cordy is. I just figured it was the times. Broken fan belts were new and exciting.

So, it's a funny movie with a few good songs, but mostly I find it hilarious that there's a "love" song about Detroit. These are people living in Philadelphia and New York, which, according to the reference in the song, are "boring 9 to 5 towns". Bored with nothing to do in New York City? Well, why not try out your luck in Detroit, Michigan! Maybe that puts it more into context?