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On Bewitched
serious crayons:
Just saw this great thread. Bewitched is a fascinating topic for me, for several reasons.
Mainly, I see it as an allegory with a feminist message, whether deliberate or not. Samantha had powers that she wasn't allowed to use, under orders from the patriarchy, aka Darren. She was obviously smarter than Darren, even magical powers aside, and with her powers way outclassed him in all other skills. Darren forbade her to practice or reveal those superior skills to anyone, and she willingly complied, embracing the role of happy devoted housewife except very occasionally, when required to avert disaster, usually caused by her own relatives.
Bewitched began in 1964, the year after The Feminine Mystique was published. It ended in 1972 -- two years, for perspective, after The Mary Tyler Moore Show debuted. Bewitched, with that premise, could never, ever air today. Whereas in essence TMT is really a less-funny 30 Rock (think about it! you can even see parallels among many of the cast members, though Liz Lemon = Mary + Rhoda).
Even as a child watching Bewitched, I was always baffled that smart, cool, beautiful, magical Samantha would marry (and obey!) dorky dimwitted Darren. I thought her evil twin brunette cousin Sabrina had made the much better lifestyle choice.
The show is also fascinating to watch because it's so full of anachronisms, not just sexist ones. In one episode I saw, in addition to Samantha having to beg Darren for money to buy herself a winter coat, we saw Darren's use of both sides of scratch paper as evidence that he was under a spell that made him absurdly frugal, and when Samantha told him she was planning to make chicken when the big client came to dinner, Darren, still under the frugality spell, ordered her to make something cheaper, like veal.
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: serious crayons on October 24, 2013, 11:12:53 am ---The show is also fascinating to watch because it's so full of anachronisms.
--- End quote ---
That's one reason I enjoy watching all of these old sitcoms. When was the last time you saw a woman go shopping all dressed up and in a hat and gloves (and I don't mean a winter hat and winter gloves)? Or people actually getting dressed up to travel? And automobiles the size of cabin cruisers? And no security screenings at airports? And no cell phones? And rotary dial telephones? I'm sure there are lots more. These shows are great for a review of American material culture in their day.
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on October 25, 2013, 04:20:42 pm ---That's one reason I enjoy watching all of these old sitcoms. When was the last time you saw a woman go shopping all dressed up and in a hat and gloves (and I don't mean a winter hat and winter gloves)? Or people actually getting dressed up to travel? And automobiles the size of cabin cruisers? And no security screenings at airports? And no cell phones? And rotary dial telephones? I'm sure there are lots more. These shows are great for a review of American material culture in their day.
--- End quote ---
And not only material things, but outdated attitudes, as well.
One of my favorite shows as a kid was Here Come the Brides -- a Seattle-set historical dramedy about a 19th-century logging camp and a parallel camp of women who'd been shipped in to be courted by the loggers (if it were more real-life, it would have been a whorehouse, but the women were all chaste and "proper"). Anyway, at the time it was seen as sort of feminist: the cast was full of strong female figures.
But a friend of mine who'd also been a fan checked Season 1 out of Netflix a couple of years ago and we watched in horror. It's actually laced with sexist stuff.
I bet people who were more attuned to sexual orientation than I was would have noticed those elements more vividly. I do remember that any situation involving two presumably heterosexual men accidentally touching or getting physically close was a typical setup for a big "laugh."
Luvlylittlewing:
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on October 25, 2013, 04:20:42 pm ---That's one reason I enjoy watching all of these old sitcoms. When was the last time you saw a woman go shopping all dressed up and in a hat and gloves (and I don't mean a winter hat and winter gloves)? Or people actually getting dressed up to travel? And automobiles the size of cabin cruisers? And no security screenings at airports? And no cell phones? And rotary dial telephones? I'm sure there are lots more. These shows are great for a review of American material culture in their day.
--- End quote ---
Or cooking dinner and cleaning house in pearls and high heels? :)
Front-Ranger:
I like to think when she wriggled her nose that it was a bit like a secret wink that said, "we know who REALLY wears the pants in this family!"
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