At Norman Lear's shows put a mirror up to everyday Americans and exposed us, warts and all, though we didn't always recognize ourselves. I right, am female, small-town, mid-west born and raised smack dab in the middle of the Civil Rights and Women's Liberation movements. My dad epitomized Archie Bunker. Had his chair that no one else ever sat in, and jokingly referred to mom as "Dingbat." She wasn't amused. By the time "All in the Family" ceded to "Archie Bunker's Place" my dad, finally seeing bits of himself in Archie, no longer found the character funny or justified in his bigotry. He stopped referencing people of different ethnicities with the everyday slang he'd grown up with which denigrated them into second class citizens, and instead recognized their equality to him and his family. They weren't stealing jobs or coming to attack the womenfolk (who were clearly demonstrating they could fend for themselves pretty well)...these were hardworking everyday Joes just like him just trying to do what was right, take care of their families, and stand up and be counted. And as the broadcast demonstrated, so many of the divisive issues of 50 years ago remain. The content stands the test of time. The acting? Well, these characters were written to be larger than life so some exaggeration is to be expected and not everyone can rise to the level of the original cast. But these are stories worth telling because we have to be reminded that no matter how far we've come, some things never change...and some things do, like my Dad.
