I now blog over at The Eyre Guide! This blog is an archive of my past posts.


Sunday, August 31, 2014

Suspense Sundays (113) Everything Will Be Different

Posted by Charlene // Tags: ,
Suspense was a radio series from 1942 to 1962.  I have a fondness for "Old Time Radio" as we call it now, and Suspense is my favorite show.  It sets up weird, dark, scary, or intriguing stories with a plot twist in the end, and all in half an hour.  For Suspense Sundays I'll give a short review of an episode.

"Everything Will Be Different"
Air date: August 9, 1959
Starring Kathy Lewis
>>Episodes here<<

Shirley needs to tell her boyfriend Herb something before they can continue with their relationship.  She has been married before, and ... "they said" she murdered her husband.  Okaaayyyy.  Herb doesn't seem to be too perturbed by this bombshell, but Shirley is determined to tell him the whole story so that he can understand her hesitancy in continuing with their relationship.

You know how people say that books are different in every reader's head?  That we bring our own interpretation so it can't always be the same?  That's true (although I don't know if I believe in it wholeheartedly - especially when it comes to adaptations that just don't get the story right, some interpretations just can't be correct) but in this case my personal interpretation has definitely affected how I viewed this story.

The monologue before this episode talks about people who think they can change a person, and they try so hard despite the signs, and that maybe they even enjoy the challenge and the feeling of being burdened by this task.  And then this story unfolds, and Shirley is treated extremely badly from the beginning by her slob of a first husband, and we are supposed to think Shirley brought it on herself?  That is so stupid.  Obviously Shirley should have dumped that guy and never married him, but it's not her fault he's a mess.  And I was waiting for a big twist in this story but it was more of a punctuating moment when you realize that Shirley's life is unfortunately not going to be any different with Herb.  This was a very thought-provoking episode for me, and a very interesting insight into the perception of a woman's role in a marriage at the time.  A very disturbing insight...


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