Why We Need to Bring Back Archie Bunker
"For it to succeed as the original All in the Family did, however, there can’t be boundaries or speech codes or other politically correct limits placed on the show’s writers. The writers, actors and producers would all have to prepare for a big backlash upon launch. The question is whether or not they can withstand that storm of anger to bluntly deal with such important issues without glossing it over or turning characters into cheap stereotypes that are uninteresting and two-dimensional. That’s the test. Informed viewers who want good writing, characters, and stories, be it drama or comedy, will be able to absorb any controversial subjects and dialogue."
Once over the initial shock, it might restart much needed conversations if done right. It could provide a much needed mirror inwhich we might view ourselves.
Wait!...isn't that called: Consciousness???
Would you watch it?
Once over the initial shock, it might restart much needed conversations if done right. It could provide a much needed mirror inwhich we might view ourselves.
Wait!...isn't that called: Consciousness???
Would you watch it?
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STNG was entertaining if you could ignore the statist PC propaganda, but couldn't hold a candle to STOS.
B5 was superior to both in every way.
TV today? Putrid.
(Yes, I have a headache and am completely without patience today, Mike;^)
The character did become something of a symbol for the "silent majority." One bumper sticker that I still remember was something like: "I support Bunker's bunk." But in that same note, during one family social event, my mother's second husband said that it was about time that someone said on TV the things that Archie Bunker was saying. He was surprised when my brother and I insisted that the show demonstrated exactly the opposite, that Archie Bunker was contemptible.
Moreover, consider the discussions here about the intellectual hollowness of the postmoderns who dominate progressivism. In AITF, I recall one show that really resonated with me, again, for all the wrong reasons. Mike invites a bunch of his college pals over for an afternoon of beer. He expects to discuss Plato; they want to watch a football game; he is crestfallen. His wife, Gloria, explains why he was wrong to impose his values on them.
Actually, it would be a challenge to find a show today that is not politically slanted - philosophically slanted, with implicit, even explicit subjectivism and intrinsicism. Some are better than others. Before it went down a wormhole of its down devising, Battlestar Galactica was pretty good at raising questions relevant to us here and now. Right now, we are re-watching Season 7 of Star Trek: Next Generation. "Measure of a Man" (Season 2 Episode 9) was all about the questions we argue here in the Gulch around what it means to be a human being with rights.
Regarding BSG, I will cite one theme: hereditary employment. As the humans are stressed for resources, the people on the refinery ship are teaching their jobs to their children. Chief Tyrol warns the President that if this continues, the basis of society will soon be changed. When I first viewed that, I had just seen a classmate pass from her BS degree to post-graduate school for her doctorate. Her father was one of my professors.