hopeless romantic?

In this section of reading, Walter Bernstein once again romanticizes aspects of life that for the Average Joe would either be ordinary or traumatic. Bernstein spends about two pages discussing how the movies - which were formerly his favorite past time - lost much of their luster once technicolor films emerged. While most individuals would find this advancement exciting Bernstein frowns upon it. Apparently, technicolor makes the movies lose their shadows and excitement. Perhaps the grass is always greener but Bernstein finds a way to twist this advancement and fantasize it into something dull. It comes as a shock, considering how much Bernstein finds himself in the movies, that he would dislike this so strongly.

Besides the movies, Bernstein romanticizes his relationship with New York claiming it his city, his home. He only takes the double decker bus so that he can take it all in and finds new places to eat and drink as he explores the city. He also romanticizes FDR's dramatic death where he sees all kinds of people affected by this loss. Besides FDR being "his president," Bernstein points out that so many children were named after him and that few people knew what life was like without such an influential individual. Obviously, Bernstein turns toward the theater and the movies during these troubled times.

Something that it seems that Bernstein would romanticize but noticeably leaves out is his relationship with his wife and his daughter. These two women are only ever referred to as "wife and daughter" or "wife and child" rather than using names or showing some attachment to them. While he seems to name drop every other person he has met, Bernstein neglects to include the names of these two significant women in his life.