i had told helena the truth , i had those pictures stored away like old film reels , blow off the dust and play them again , a little shaky , a little unreal with that touch of technicolour , and of course it could be said that they were the kind of images i could have seen over and over again in any number of american films , the ones they show on tv in the afternoons : the plots all interchangeable , men being good fathers , strong and smiling men , there to give you a good warm feeling before the bad things happen .