Here's another story from while I was out getting breakfast. A man―he was black, and that's a relevant detail for reasons I'll make clear―was sitting with a young woman and talking to her. From context I don't think she was his daughter, but I don't think they were an item either. Maybe a niece. He was telling her about The Andy Griffith Show, and he was a big fan. When he talked about Deputy Barney Fife I said "Don Knotts" and he was glad to have someone else who knew about the show. Which the waitress did as well.
At this point it feels like anyone writing about The Andy Griffith Show for a magazine or a website would have to keep an arm's length from it. They'd call it out for its overly rosy portrayal of the Jim Crow South, or for its lack of characters of color. From what I understand Griffith was a desegregationist and didn't want the cast to be all white, but the network thought they understood the South better than he did and overruled him. Of course if Mayberry had been a friendly integrated town, someone would be complaining about that, too.
Anyway, my point is that while the internet is everywhere and seemingly in everything, people in real life are still different.
2 comments:
It's interesting you happened onto a black guy who enjoyed watching the Andy Griffith Show. I can't honestly say I remember much about it other than the main characters and how nice they were.. Aunt Bea, for instance. I do know it had no black cast members but at the time I wasn't expecting any since I didn't live in the South and saw very few black people (or Chinese or Indian people either for that matter).
I know there are people who see the show as racist and that's okay for them, recasting one's own beliefs into the past is easier than thinking things through. It also appears there are a number of people who still enjoy the show for what it taught and that's a good thing.
Sorrry, I got caught out timewise with this one.
I've seen enough of The Andy Griffith Show to get a sense of the town of Mayberry and who the characters were. It's not something I've watched and rewatched like I have The Dick Van Dyke Show. But I know it was popular, sufficiently popular to have a few spinoffs. So I guess it makes sense that it reached a few different kinds of audience. Those people enjoyed it for what it was.
Some people put a lot of stock into having enlightened attitudes. This often expresses itself in a kind of self-satisfaction that one is alive in the present and not the past. There's a reason why pride is one of the seven deadly sins. Anyway, those who would throw out virtually everything from the past might have trouble understanding Andy Griffith fans.
I didn't notice any time troubles.
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