Mickey Z

Cool Observer

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Thursday, July 24, 2008

“If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun"

The other night, Michele and I went to Symphony Space to catch Sylvia Scarlett...the only Katherine Hepburn-Cary Grant flick we had never seen. It was a hoot and inspired me to post an excerpt from my book, 50 American Revolutions:

It’s the hallmark of innovation and rebellion that what once was outrageous is eventually mundane. After all, what could more unremarkable than seeing a woman wearing a pair of pants?

When Katherine Hepburn shunned the girdles, petticoats, stockings, garter belts, and high heels considered “normal” for women of her time, she was brazenly defying fashion and social convention. Hepburn wore pants. She even wore sneakers. In 1930s Hollywood, such behavior was deemed scandalous…to say the least.

Reviews for the 1936 film Sylvia Scarlett—in which Hepburn spends almost its entirety in short hair and men’s clothing—were sarcastic, to say the least. Time magazine declared “Hepburn is better-looking as a boy than a woman” while the New York Herald-Tribune named her “the handsomest boy of the season.”

Her bosses at RKO went as far as commandeering Hepburn’s slacks…in the hope of forcing her to wear a skirt. Unmoved, Kate strolled the studio lot in only her underwear. Her point was made…and her pants were returned.

“If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun,” said Hepburn…and by doing what came naturally, her public mutiny became a high-profile example of independence and individuality.

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Cynical MZ poem