At the beginning of Singin' in the Rain, Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) declares that his show-biz career has been characterized by a single-minded devotion to Dignity--but flashbacks suggest otherwise, portraying him as a checkered-suited buffoon willing to do anything for a laugh. It's difficult to maintain dignity while tap-dancing for quarters in the local dive or being pelted by rotten fruit in a grimy Vaudeville theater.
It's also difficult to maintain dignity while reading a pile of student papers analyzing Singin' in the Rain. I love Singin' in the Rain. I love writing about Singin' in the Rain. I love reading about Singin' in the Rain. What I don't love is singing about Singin' in the Rain, but I can't help it: my students' papers infect my brain with all those peppy songs, and the next thing I know I'm sashaying into the classroom singing "Moses supposes his toeses are roses, but Moses supposes erroneously."
That's where dignity flies out the window. English professors are not supposed to sashay down the hall, and we are definitely not supposed to sing nonsensical tongue-twisters while approaching students preparing to take a difficult midterm exam. An English professor who enters the classroom singing about Moses's erroneous supposition re: toeses is unlikely to be looked upon as entirely respectable, particularly if said professor can't carry a tune. Good thing I'm too much of a klutz to attempt to tap-dance. If my students start carrying rotten fruit to class, though, I'm in big trouble.
Fortunately, this Singin' obsession will be over soon and my students will be moving on to the next topic of conversation: The Conversation, a film utterly devoid of peppy tunes and tap-dancing. The only danger is that I might end up creeping stealthily through the halls while mumbling incomprehensibly--in other words, acting like an English professor.
Dignity. Always dignity.
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