Is this a debate?

It’s hard to convince people gripped by today’s mood of secular gloom that The Sound of Music is a work of abiding artistic genius. The cynic will recall a saccharine musical stretched over almost three hours, involving singing nuns, an impromptu pyjama party, puppet shows and the mawkish strains of Edelweiss. All this soppy madness culminates in a family of nine fleeing from a pack of Nazis, but not before pausing to sing at a music festival. Why would anyone take it seriously? MORE