'Miss Pettigrew' relevant in 21st century

Although the movie “Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day” was set in England just before the British entry into World War II, its message has relevance for 21st-century America.

“Miss Pettigrew” involves people making themselves out to be something other than who they really are. This is as true in the modern entertainment world as it was in the entertainment circles of Miss Pettigrew’s time, and such facades exist in today’s corporate world to an extent beyond that of the movie’s setting.

Frances McDormand plays Guinevere Pettigrew, whose standards impair her ability to hold a job as a governess. The placement agency is no longer willing to locate employment for Miss Pettigrew, but when she overhears that Delycia Lafosse (played by Amy Adams) is in need of a social secretary she stops by Miss Lafosse’s apartment before the real assignee can arrive.

Delycia’s primary need is the juggling of three boyfriends. One is a show producer who controls the lead role in the play for which Delycia has auditioned. Another owns a nightclub. The third is a pianist who offers nothing but his love.

Guinevere hides the fact that she was in the soup kitchen earlier in the week. After her initial success in handling the transition between two of Delycia’s boyfriends, Delycia brings Guinevere into the entertainment and fashion world, where everybody else isn’t really who they pretend to be.

There’s a bit of humor in the movie, and it’s relatively clean humor. Any sexual references are related to the context of the plot. What stands out is the fact that Guinevere, Delycia, and everybody else aren’t really who they’re pretending to be.

This was also the case in America in the late 1930s. Some of that pretending was in the entertainment world, while the mainstreaming of ethnics also saw many Americans hide their true origins.

The mainstreaming of ethnics wasn’t an issue in England in the 1930s, and it is much less prevalent in America in the 21st century, but Americans in the entertainment industry still try to hide their real selves and they have been joined by many in the corporate world.

The plot of the movie is basically about Miss Pettigrew trying to be successful as a social secretary for a high-living actress and singer with a blue-collar background. The audience is left to wonder whether Miss Pettigrew will get away with her façade, as well as who Delycia will choose.

The feeling is one of a light action movie; Miss Pettigrew is trying to pull off her “disguise,” and she just happens to help Delycia while doing so.

Thus the focus isn’t comedy or love, but on trying to get away with being a different person. It resonates with adult Americans who deal with such facades in their own lives. It’s over the head of children, but it has appeal to both male and female adults.

“Miss Pettigrew” isn’t a movie which stands out. But it’s a movie worth seeing, especially in today’s times when people are increasingly trying to be someone other than who they truly are.