Sometimes I am impressed by how well Old Hollywood;s bag of tricks still work.  And I guess how easily I can be manipulated.  I think the one that gets me the most is the way they used to film women.  And well, still do, Hollywood hasn’t thrown out the old tricks, just modified them.  But the old favorite that was always used and isn’t quite so in your face anymore is to make the girl of desire in the film show up in soft focus and with her hair lit so it almost glowed.  Soft Focus, if you don’t know, was originally something that came from defects in lenses.  It is not the same as being out of focus but rather the edges can stay sharp while the interior is not quite focused.  It hides blemishes and is why all the starlets in black and white movies look like their skin is beyond perfect.  It also gives the dream like quality to the shot that makes them seem like they came from above, more than human.  Certainly better than you or I.  Add to that luminous hair and almost a halo of light and… well, you get the drift, there is a reason stars were seen as on a different level of humanity once upon a time. And the thing is, I know all of this, I know the tricks, I know at least enough about film to know how it is manipulating me and it still works.  It means I see Veronica Lake and not only do I think she’s beautiful, I wonder how it is even the most gorgeous of today’s stars don’t have this special kind of beauty she and other had.  And I just explained to you why.  So that’s impressive.  And you know, tricks or whatever Veronica Lake is ridiculously beautiful.  If you don’t know her enjoy, she was in quite a few movies I would recommend.  Maybe…. don’t look up details about her life though.  I made the mistake of telling my friend all about her and it just depressed her.  Well… nuff said, Hollywood maybe hasn’t always been kind to women.  Uh, thank god that’s all over.  Today I want to fuck Veronica Lake.