C I P R I A N I

I did a Google search for Spencer Tracy’s wife and though this photo was in the batch, there were also quite a few photos, of course, of Mr. Tracy with Katherine Hepburn.

No doubt one of the screen’s greatest and probably most misunderstood romances, I’ve recently thought about Louise, Spencery Tracy’s wife.

Before I go any further, this is no condemnation of Spencery Tracy or Katherine Hepburn, no judgement of either of their characters.  It’s none of my business really.

But it’s a larger thing.  Spouses of actors and actresses have to deal with their husband or wife doing a love scene etc., it’s the nature of the business and frankly I don’t think it bothers the majority of those involved.  I’m completely speaking out of turn.  But anyway…

None of these situations, even the most intense of love scenes, pack as much emotion as some of the the smallest glances Hepburn and Tracy shared.

I guess I just wonder if Tracy ever looked at his wife that way.  That’s none of my business either of course, and again – I’m not coming at this from a judgemental place.  It’s just a genuine curiosity.

There’s so much lore, so much written, so much legend, and of course, so much film of Hepburn and Tracy together.

But what of those moments in between?  Is it possible that there was a chemistry, a fire, a love more intense between Treadwell and Tracy?  That the idea that Tracy was this staunch Catholic, that divorce was forbidden, otherwise he would have ran off with Kate and lived happily ever after was just an excuse to continue the fling?  Something wonderful in small doses?  A genuine professional fondness, of course – but maybe…maybe Hepburn and Tracy were just that good at acting.

Or not…

What is true is that for as much material that’s out there, there’s a great deal that’s not.  Information about stars was highly controlled back then – not that it’s not today, but stars were handled with far more care because they were essentially the studios’ property.

But for all that material, everything on record that was made public, for the big stars, with so many bios and documentaries and work left behind, it’s easy to forget the multitude of quiet, unrecorded, off the record moments in the lives of so many public figures.

When we think of our own lives and who we are – what is seen, what is recorded, what we keep track of – certainly our wedding albums and baby pictures are stored away for safe keeping, but what of the random date on a Thursday in May twelve years ago?  

The first time your baby really smiled at you?  

That thing you’re awfully embarassed of that you hope no one ever finds out about?

In our ever increasingly public world...he said as he typed his thoughts into the blogosphere…the private forgotten moments become few and farther between.

iPhones can capture just about everything and YouTube can store it.  What used to be a collection of reruns and talent shows and people falling down and cats playing piano is quickly becoming a virtual time machine catologing every moment.

So many genuine moments that were reserved for our memories are actually up there for full view now for future reference…of the past.

Home movies have been around for quite some time, but thanks to smart phones, it’s as instant as writing oneself a Post-it note.

But is it the same?  Do these memories function the same way if they’re constantly being recorded? Aren’t we in essence becoming more performers than actually living the moment?

And then does the marriage to those memories become more like that of the affair with Katherine Hepburn?  Most people remember Hepburn and Tracy.  Not Tracy and his wife – his real life, such as it was.  So where does “real life” go?  A generation from now will there even be such a thing anymore?