The Golden Girls are on Hulu. I really didn’t want to talk about “the show”, but this  has been on my mind.

This is somewhat concerning to me and I would like to take this opportunity to tell you why. I know that they have been in syndication for many years and they do have somewhat of a following with the LGBT community because they, on several occasions, tackle issues of having gay siblings, friends and even once Dorothy and Blanche were mistaken for being lesbians. That is not my issue.

My issues are that the writing will be attacked by the PC police and the show will go the way of the Dukes of Hazzard. Not many of the shows that we used to watch would survive the political correctness of todays society if presented as new shows.  M*A*S*H, Seinfeld and Cheers are a few that come to mind. The other issue that I have is that so much of the humor will be lost simply because the new audience may not recognize the some of the references. I know it’s an old show, but they often spoke of real issues, authors, celebrities and other things relevant to our history.

I am wondering how many of the under 30 set catch  the humor when Dorothy compares herself and the other girls to  the Bronte Sisters or the Gabor’s ? I especially loved the episode where they dress up as Sonny and Cher. Blanche, thinking they are Cheech and Chong gets this reply from Sophia, “I’m the mayor of Palm Springs…” Hilarious to me, but could be easily glossed over by the new viewers.

When Blanche said that she wrote her phone number on a mans windshield with the heel of her pappagallo pump, it brought back memories for me, but am sure not many young people buy pappagallo anymore. They do still sell them, but they don’t seem to be very popular with the Hulu watching generation.

The show was often not very political correct, according to todays standards. Blanche often spoke of the Old South and her father, Big Daddy. She once was telling a story about listening to the stories of “Abraham and Moses… and all the others that worked on the plantation.” Oh boy, that wouldn’t fly today!

Some parts of the show were, at the time, very edgy. The girls often talked about sex. Although they were ladies in their 50’s or 60’s, with Sophia being 80 something, sex was very important in their lives. Once Rose told the girls that she and her late husband Charlie had sex twice a day for 18 years. He said that’s why they didn’t get headaches and their hair was always shiny!

The show often tackled subjects that seemed taboo to talk about at the time. As mentioned above, gay siblings and friends. They also gave the audience something to think about from other real world issues such as giving birth out-of-wedlock, teen pregnancy, promiscuity, mental illness, nuclear war, May-December romances, crime, guns, HIV, sexism, racism, nuclear war, persons with disabilities, death, addiction, religion and age discrimination… I could go further into depth on any one of these, but then I’d have nothing to put in another page and this one would be a book rather than a blog!

Today I just wanted to point out why the show was such a big hit; big enough to stand the test of time and be brought back on a popular media platform. Although it was a comedy, the topics discussed were real. Often, one or more of the girls didn’t accept the realities of things happening, but worked through them with the help of the others. It truly was a show about acceptance and plain ‘ol being nice even when you didn’t understand or agree with the person or situation put before you. Many lessons were taught, but it was up to the viewer to learn.

I will try to dig deeper into these subjects on another day. In the meantime, take the time to watch an episode or two. Tune in for the laughs, but watch for the wisdom.  It’s my wish that the new viewers of the show can see that it’s okay not to like someone or something that you don’t agree with or understand; but that it’s not okay to hate, protest or try to change the person or thing with which you disagree.  We can learn a lot from the girls, one thing being to just be nice to people, no matter your differences. Often the change that needs to be made is within ourselves.

Until we meet again…Thank You for being a Friend

MG