'The Sound of Music' 50th Anniversary!

Blogosphere, hello and welcome back! Today, I bring with me exciting news that you have no doubt heard countless times before in the past few days. Yep, that's right, the hills that we know and love have been alive for 50 years now! If my mixed metaphors are getting a bit much for you, what I'm trying to say is that March 2nd marked the 50th anniversary of the classic musical 'A Sound of Music'. Let's face it, everyone loves them some Von Trapp, and if they say otherwise, they're lying to themselves. But come on, what's not to love? It's jam packed with awesome music, a fabulous cast, and some of the best and most creative home puppetry the world has seen. So of course, to honour the birthday of this mega movie, I've decided to find and list some of the lessons we learnt from Julie Andrews and the gang along the way. Without further ado, here they are . . .

1. Be an Optimist

There's no doubting that Maria Von Trapp is nothing if not optimistic. I mean, at the very beginning of the film she was kicked out of an Abbey by a group of nuns, which you know, isn't ideal, yet she made it work. Then, she had to go in and deal with a guy who made his kids wear uniforms and address him as 'sir', but did she falter? No. She handcrafted outfits made from curtains for the children and taught them how to be actual humans through the joyful medium of song and dance. I mean, you'd have to be pretty determined and motivated to change a family's entire lifestyle, yet she managed to do it with ease and a positive attitude. Come on, she even sang a cheery song about how much confidence she had. 

2. Don't Judge a Book by its Cover

Oh yes, we're going to take a look at the mistakes of one miss Liesl Von Trapp. I mean, I get it, Rolfe seemed all nice and decent, and she was only 16 going on 17 (not that I can talk or anything, because I'm literally that exact age), but he was seriously the worst. I guess she didn't know he was a full blown Nazi supporter when she met him, but perhaps the fact that he clearly states 'Hail Hitler' as some sort of weird greeting to Captain Von Trapp towards the beginning of the movie should have been a clue. Also, they're romance just happened too quickly. It literally took her one song to fall in love with this random guy who delivers her telegrams, and then she's all surprised when it's revealed that he's basically the devil (well not quite, but pretty close). You'd think people would've learnt from Romeo and Juliet that fast, young love never ends well, but apparently not. 

3. Singing is very Important

Let's face it, without singing, my life would be nothing. Breaking into random musical numbers is my thing, and there's certainly bucket loads of that in 'The Sound of Music'. When Maria finds out that the kids have no idea what singing is let alone how to do it, she is understandably shocked and appalled. Because come on, who doesn't sing super dramatically in their free time? But nevertheless, she goes on to teach them the magical art of song, and low and behold, their talent teaches Captain Von Trapp to be a decent human, and they go on to be a successful touring musical family.

4. Always Be Outspoken

Seriously though, for a female governess in the late 1930's, can we all just take a second to appreciate how ridiculously outspoken Maria was? I mean, it's just truly awesome. Sure, she was kicked out of the Abbey for it, but she also got a pretty awesome new life as well. She turned Captain Von Trapp into a person someone would actually want to be a around, saved the children from a life of slavery, and got a whole new family out of it. Success? I think yes. Maria Von Trapp, defying gender stereotypes with her opinions since 1938. 

5. Savour your Favourite Things

This one is plucked straight from some song lyrics, and I seriously think we should all stand by it. Not only when the dog bites or when the bee stings, but just in general. Yep, it's totally overused, but just stay true to yourself and all that jazz. You like what you like, and you should continue doing so without judgement. So just go forth and surround yourself with a few of your favourite things, and then you won't feel so bad. Please excuse me while I take my own advice and grab my dog, watch some TV and eat copious amounts of haloumi. 

So that's officially the end of the post! I hope I've inspired you to go out and watch 'The Sound of Music', and bask in all things Julie Andrews. So just go forth and climb every mountain, and ford every stream you can find! Til' next time . . .

Annabel xx