[Snip for brevity]

> But I didn't even consider how many heathens would come out against Mary Poppins.

heathen n. One who is not an adherent of a religious system; an infidel; a pagan; an irreligious person. (Webster's. Anyone got an OED?)

I personally don't care for Mary Poppins, myself; I see no problem with people who love it.(Nor do I hate it, actually) Shall I defend my tastes? No. My tastes are my tastes, and not open to debate. I personally couldn't explain them if I wanted to. You seem happy to try, though. I wouldn't say I'm irreligious; which religious system says I'm an infidel or pagan for not particularly caring for MP?

> I'm not surprised about you, Mike the Pennystamp Man, as you've pretty consistently formed strongly passionate opinions that run contrary to everything I know and love, not just in movies but in every area of life we've ever discussed. But the rest of you? No matter. As far as I'm concerned, the subject is not even open to debate. Forget Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (those are decent if thin and syrupy children's movies but hardly enduring). If you don't know how to love Mary Poppins, my heart weeps for you, for you are either cynical or jaded or just tragically grown up.

I will admit to a certain amount of cynicism; not everyone is worthy of my trust. How this applies remains to be explained.

Jaded: Tired; weary; sated. Sated: having had one's appetite satisfied; glutted.

Hmm. "Having had one's appetite satisfied" probably works best for me.

One who has tragically grown up does not easily produce the kind of archive participation that I have.

Perhaps I can just chalk it up to not much caring for movies. Even though I absorb certain facts about them

> Et tu, Wolf? Well, at least you had a proper reason for your opinion, and I can respect that, but I would argue that the songs in Mary Poppins are as seamless as movie music gets, which was admittedly not usual for musicals of that era, good or bad.

Everybody stated their opinions as opinions, using language the personalized it as such. Except the 12-year-old.

I submit the *possibility* that they had "proper reason"s for their opinions which they just didn't state.

I personally define a "Proper reason" for liking something or not liking something as "one's own reason". Not only does it not need to be articulated, it doesn't need to be articulatable, in my mind. But it does need to be one's one reason. I do believe that the reasons you stated for loving "Mary Poppins" are, indeed, your own, lest my statements be construed as meaning the opposite. Just stating what I believe to be proper.

> S "a little more cynical and jaded now" am

Nyper"Me too, perhaps"old