Outspoken & Freckled

This post is part of the 31 Days of Oscar Blogathon, hosted by Once Upon a Screen, Outspoken & Freckled and Paula’s Cinema Club. It runs Feb. 1 – Mar. 3, in conjunction with Turner Classic Movies’ 31 Days of Oscar.

Sometimes the movies teach us distasteful life lessons.

You know the lessons we’re talking about: life isn’t fair; the rich live by a different code; the only way to get ahead is to cheat. Sound familiar?

All these joyous virtues are celebrated in the 1936 drama Becky Sharp. This movie, set during the Napoleonic Wars and loosely based on William Makepeace Thackeray’sVanity Fair, is about a selfish, ambitious woman who climbs over everybody to advance in society.

“Life owes me many things and I intend to get them,” says Becky Sharp. “All it takes is the least touch of wit.”

(Did you notice…