GOOD TIMES

 

I used to watch Good Times in the 1970s, the Norman Lear sitcom about an African-American family struggling to survive in the Chicago housing projects.  It was a curious mix of cheesy sitcommery, preachy social consciousness and jive-talking shtick.  Jimmy Walker as the oldest son JJ had the catchphrase “Dy-no-mite!” (He started out as a supporting character but advanced to become the show’s star, like Henry Winkler as Fonzie on Happy Days at the same time.) The youngest son Michael was in his mid-teens and out to advance Black Power. (His nickname was “The Militant Midget.”)

I remember an episode where the father was tempted to go off and work on the Alaska Pipeline to make real money for a change. (He said, “We are poor—and that’s the last thing anyone wants to be, except for sick and dead!”) But the mother wasn’t happy about him leaving her and the family behind.  Meanwhile, Michael was with this group of boys out to promote Black Power, but they got attacked by a street gang.  He mentioned that they were going to attack them in retaliation, and the father responded by making him leave the group, taking away the jacket that showed he was a member.  Then he said “Want to discuss it?” while making motions with his belt. (In other words, “One more word and you’ll get a beating!”) He said “No!” and walked away, and the audience laughed.  Then he decided he should stay in Chicago, saying with a smile and a wink that he had to keep his son on the right path.

That “Want to discuss it?” moment made me laugh too, but something about it bothered me.  It isn’t that I’m an anti-spanking fanatic; I’ve never raised children, and I don’t know that I could completely avoid resorting to physical violence.  But threatening violence just to cut off the discussion is unacceptable to me, especially when  dealing with teenagers.  That’s bullying your kid, and it’s teaching him to be a bully too!  Of course, a show like Good Times was short on subtlety:  a father solving the problem through subtler means wasn’t something they expected viewers to have the patience for.  It’s a common cliche on TV shows:  if you want to get through to someone, confront him!

Another cheesy aspect of the show was how they were often giving JJ a new girlfriend who’d make a single appearance to illustrate a new social issue.  One was pregnant—JJ wasn’t the father, of course—and another one had venereal disease.  And there was one two-part episode where JJ got engaged to a girl he didn’t realize was a drug addict! (Happens all the time…) Near the end someone says that drugs will always be a problem, and the father retorts, “President Kennedy said we’d put a man on the moon in ten years, and we did it.  So why can’t we get rid of drugs?” Big applause from the studio audience.  In hindsight, that bothers me too—a serious, complicated issue dealt with through rabble-rousing triumphalism!

And don’t get me started on Norman Lear’s other African-American sitcom The Jeffersons!