If you are particularly observant, you may notice that the official name of this blog has changed from "Letter to You, My Friend" to simply "Dear Friend." I've been addressing my blog entries Dear Friend for years, and may not have given a thorough explanation of why I do. If you are, as I said before, particularly observant you probably noticed various references to You've Got Mail around the blog. I have, on the top right column of the page, a quote from that movie, and my tags list is under the heading "Fox Books" which was the book store owned by the character played by Tom Hanks. My links list may prove more difficult to understand, though, since it's not from You've Got Mail, it's from The Shop Around the Corner, the movie that inspired You've Got Mail. Also, instead of listing followers and friends I have "Box 237" which was the post office box number in In the Good Old Summertime.
Those movies are the reason that I begin my blog entries with "Dear Friend." A plot that despite being done three times over on film still touches my heart each and every time. In each of these movies two people begin corresponding, either through letters or e-mail, and feel a strong connection, building up to love, with each other; while at the same time, they work with or interact with each other in their everyday lives and don't get along. They don't know that the same person that lifts their spirits with their letters is the same person who drives them crazy.
The first film, The Shop Around the Corner with James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan, is set in Budapest Hungary and the main characters work in a leather goods shop. In the second, In the Good Old Summertime with Judy Garland and Van Johnson, is a period film and in a way a musical with the characters working in a music store. The third, You've Got Mail with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, is set in New York and instead of the characters working together, they are rivals in the book business. Each film has its own setting, feel and situation, but the plot, and heart, are the same.
One of the elements that is shared by each film is the fact that each letter sent is begun "Dear Friend." I love that touch. I am enchanted by the possibility that two people can get to know and love each other through letters. It almost seems like an idealistic fantasy, which could almost be a little of the point since the characters originally don't get along in person.
Another aspect of these films that I like is how these films illustrate that your impression of another person can be wrong. You can disagree with them but that shouldn't be the basis of how you think of them in every other aspect of their lives. Most of the time the characters met and initially liked each other, but somehow got on each others wrong side. It's nice to watch people take a second look at what they thought they knew and reevaluate it.
So there you have it, the reason I begin all of my notes to you with "Dear Friend." I've seen these movies so many times that it rubbed off on me. I can definitely recommend that you see each one of them. (My personal favorite of the trio is Shop Around the Corner)
