Glorification of the Confederates and the protagonists called “the good old boys” would be instantaneously shut down and called out today for the racist white supremacist idea that it is.
The shows antagonists were a wealthy business man turned politician who wielded the corrupt police force to feed his own power and oppress the common folk. And while his nickname was Boss Hogg, the villain’s canon name was Jefferson Davis Hogg. Pretty literally calling the cops confederate pigs.
Definitely a lot of problematic elements to the show, but there’s some good there too. And I’m sure it influenced a ton of car action sequences for decades.
Yes the show itself outside some very visible totems like the car unfortunately, didn’t really touch on issues of bigotry and racism. Had it just been about a back woods moonshining family in an unmarked car harassing the corrupt governor and police. There wouldn’t be a lot of uproar. Hell it might be embraced.
Oh FFS, if you were young then you also remember All in the Family and The Jeffersons, shows that were in-your-face anti-racist. Prime time was hardly in a mood for racist bullshit.
What if I said the show was racist because it showed white, country people as wide-eyed, stupid hicks? How ridiculous does that sound?
What if I said the show was racist because it showed white, country people as wide-eyed, stupid hicks? How ridiculous does that sound?
Pretty ridiculous, considering you’d be comparing making classist jokes with the glorification of a nation founded to maintain the enslavement of black people.
In the 70s in the south people knew what that flag meant, just like they know what it means now.
You know an episode of Golden Girls was pulled from Hulu for blackface right? Or the jokes about Dorothy’s rape (there are several of those)?
Or “Wham, Bam, Thank You Mammy” , Maurgerite in general or having the same actor play different characters with different ethnicities that are broadly the same general color (for example Mr. Tanaka and Dr. Chang played by the same actor so apparently the show can’t tell the difference between Japanese and Chinese people?), racist jokes about Chinese food, things Sophia had to say about Cubans, Puerto Ricans and Arabs, Rose in a Native American headdress, Rose pretending to be an exchange student, Blanche defending the Confederate flag… Yeah, there’s a lot problematic about Golden Girls and a lot of it was about race.
I suspect I could spit out a similar list of examples for Fresh Prince if I dug down on it, though it probably would be less about race and more about sex or disability or weight or sexual orientation or some other demographic line that was a common well for comedy back then that is a problematic -ism or -phobia now.
I was too young back then.
In hindsight, this show was a terrible idea.
Glorification of the Confederates and the protagonists called “the good old boys” would be instantaneously shut down and called out today for the racist white supremacist idea that it is.
The shows antagonists were a wealthy business man turned politician who wielded the corrupt police force to feed his own power and oppress the common folk. And while his nickname was Boss Hogg, the villain’s canon name was Jefferson Davis Hogg. Pretty literally calling the cops confederate pigs.
Definitely a lot of problematic elements to the show, but there’s some good there too. And I’m sure it influenced a ton of car action sequences for decades.
Yes the show itself outside some very visible totems like the car unfortunately, didn’t really touch on issues of bigotry and racism. Had it just been about a back woods moonshining family in an unmarked car harassing the corrupt governor and police. There wouldn’t be a lot of uproar. Hell it might be embraced.
Oh FFS, if you were young then you also remember All in the Family and The Jeffersons, shows that were in-your-face anti-racist. Prime time was hardly in a mood for racist bullshit.
What if I said the show was racist because it showed white, country people as wide-eyed, stupid hicks? How ridiculous does that sound?
‘redneck dumbass’ isn’t a race, though.
Pretty ridiculous, considering you’d be comparing making classist jokes with the glorification of a nation founded to maintain the enslavement of black people.
In the 70s in the south people knew what that flag meant, just like they know what it means now.
Except that they are now seen as affirmation of the racism nowadays. They miss the point entirely.
As opposed to the white country heroes of the show who were always the most clever, compassionate, capable, ethical? I’d say that’s a bad take
To be fair, virtually everything more than 20 years old is some flavor of “problematic” today.
Not really. Those that aren’t are still appreciated today still. Like the Golden Girls or Fresh Prince.
You know an episode of Golden Girls was pulled from Hulu for blackface right? Or the jokes about Dorothy’s rape (there are several of those)?
Or “Wham, Bam, Thank You Mammy” , Maurgerite in general or having the same actor play different characters with different ethnicities that are broadly the same general color (for example Mr. Tanaka and Dr. Chang played by the same actor so apparently the show can’t tell the difference between Japanese and Chinese people?), racist jokes about Chinese food, things Sophia had to say about Cubans, Puerto Ricans and Arabs, Rose in a Native American headdress, Rose pretending to be an exchange student, Blanche defending the Confederate flag… Yeah, there’s a lot problematic about Golden Girls and a lot of it was about race.
I suspect I could spit out a similar list of examples for Fresh Prince if I dug down on it, though it probably would be less about race and more about sex or disability or weight or sexual orientation or some other demographic line that was a common well for comedy back then that is a problematic -ism or -phobia now.