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Lessons to be Learned from "Hello, My Name is Doris"

Media"Hello, My Name is Doris" is one of a growing number of movies targeting Boomers -- and this one should be especially endearing because it stars Sally Field. It is wonderful to see her back on the screen playing Doris Miller, a single spinsterish woman who fantasizes about a romance with a younger man. The plot alone is reason enough to support the film, even though at times it seems Doris is being made fun of instead of having fun.

Screen Shot 2016-04-19 at 2.54.51 PMStill, there are lessons to be learned from this charming, funny, and poignant film. For one thing, Doris is a hoarder, replicating the undesirable behavior of her deceased mother; in fact, she continues to live in her mother's junk-filled home. Let this be a lesson to those who cannot let go of the past. On the positive side, however, her imagined romance breathes new life into Doris in a way that demonstrates embracing new things is possible at any age. When she steps outside her comfort zone and becomes something of a trendy heroine to the younger generation, Doris really is symbolic of the Boomer penchant for reinvention.

Doris' pining for a younger man, while sad in some ways, is a welcome change from the more traditional older man-younger woman scenario that occupies life, literature, and movies. It certainly shows that women are just as capable of lusting after youth. In the end, however, the real lesson of the movie is that after all of her angst, Doris emerges a better, stronger, more together person. And Sally Field plays her to perfection.

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