Occasionally I get emails from readers who remember the good old days. It’s as if they’re hoping that I’ll sympathize with them about how horrible the world has become.
“We used to take our hats off to gentlemen and bow to ladies,” wrote someone from a country that had forgotten those days.
But it was the reader following America’s demise at the hands of the entertainment industry that caught my attention. “In my day, Andy Griffith’s show was pioneering in promoting healthy values. Today’s shows encourage violence and sexual promiscuity,” he claimed.
Although I do not have a time portal to verify the author’s premise, I subscribe to video streaming. So I scrolled through the selections where an old favorite caught my attention – “Frasier” (1993-2004).
During our maternity leave, Becky and I would often tuck the little ones into bed, turn down the volume on the TV, and vomit our stomachs watching the show. It was good, clean entertainment, or so we thought.
If you’ve never seen an episode, you need to know that Kelsey Grammer portrayed popular Seattle radio psychiatrist Frasier Crane. The show’s 42 Emmy Awards suggest it’s probably one of the funniest shows in television history.
The good doctor is a fussy, uptight, and cultured but arrogant sender. Nonetheless, his sympathy for working-class listeners, coupled with a level-headed sense of ethics, makes him very likable.
Good clean show right?
Well, I wouldn’t be too hasty with that conclusion.
“Frasier” satirizes sexism and makes sexual harassment almost normal with humor.
Supporting cast Peri Gilpin plays Roz Doyle, Frasier’s radio producer, whose open approach to dating is constantly ridiculed by the other characters.
Worse, she endures unwelcome advances from the Gonzo Sports Show host. Bob “Bulldog” Briscoe, played by Dan Butler, constantly touches, kisses and slaps Roz on the butt.
Ouch. Where was the staff when it was badly needed in those old days?
Worse still, I’m appalled that the main cast is completely white with no variation in hue. Over 13 percent of the US population is black, but like many shows depicting America’s good old days, “Frasier” reflects the racism of the time by relegating African-American actors to unwelcome troublemakers.
But maybe I should rewind our VCR time machine all the way to the sane days of The Andy Griffith Show, which portrays a kind, friendly, and close-knit community that we should aspire to.
Still, the series shamefully confronts us with a time when different shades of color or sexual orientation were little more than unwelcome cameos in our lives.
So why mention TV shows in a spiritual column?
Because I think even the best classic shows succeed in throwing down the premise that everything was better before.
No, I’m not trying to embarrass you for your entertainment choices. I’m just asking you to think about how morale can improve and derail at the same time.
As you read the Bible, you will be familiar with this idea of good and evil coexisting.
In the parable of the wheat and thistles (Matthew 13:24-30), Jesus rebukes the advocates of the good old days who advocate spending our time rooting out evil.
In verse 30 he says, “When you pull up the thistles, you also pull up the wheat. Let them grow together until harvest time. Then I will instruct the harvesters to uproot the thistles and tie them in bundles to the fire, then gather the wheat and put it in the barn.”
Yes, our world is getting worse, but this parable also tells me that it is getting better. The worst will always exist alongside the best. Evil is a parasite that feeds on good, not the opposite.
Rather than pitying people over the passing of the good old days, this spirituality columnist endorses Zen Buddhism’s teaching that “life must exist in the present or nowhere.”
Just think of the church camp song from those good old days – “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands”.
Reader: I will be coming to the Charleston area March 12-20. I am available to speak to your church, civic or veterans group, hospital or college. If your organization would like to host me, please email for details. [email protected] or leave voicemail at 843-608-9715.
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