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To: Joe Hadenuf; jodenkoekje
I stand accused of being thin skinned by Joe Hadenuf, and of being a sourpuss by jodenkoekje.

I plead guilty on both counts.

But again I ask, why is it permissable to portray rural Southerners as bumpkins, and yet impermissable to poke fun at the intellectual capacity, vocabulary, or social skills of other ethnic groups? And don't tell me Sanford & Son was a sort of black Beverly Hillbillies. For that to have been a parallel situation, Redd Foxx's diction would have consisted solely of ebonics ("I be tired", "I be hungry") and liberally sprinkled with "mofo" or worse; sight gags would involve fried chicken, watermelons, enormous boomboxes, and much shuckin' and jivin'; and the sound track, rather than banjo picking, would have been whatever precurser of rap which existed at the time. Do you think such a format would draw criticism?

Better yet, do a Beverly Hillbillies in reverse. A family from Beverly Hills, members of an ethnic group so protected by political correctness that it cannot even be mentioned, falls upon hard times and has to move to the East Tennessee mountains. Instead of "hooo whee!" it would be "oy vey!" about every fourth line. They would all complain that people in Tennessee "don't know from good brisket"; they would "schlep" from one place to another, and of course they would constantly remind each other never to pay retail, even at the gas station. And instead of battered straw hats, they would all wear yarmalukes 24/7. Of course, this scenario, too, will never see the light of day, not least because it would insult the ethnicity of many writers and producers.

Nope, there's only one ethnic group for which this kind of crude ridicule is still permitted. As a thin skinned, sourpuss Anglo-Saxon, I wouldn't seek to ban the airing of reruns of The Beverly Hillbillies, or, worse yet, The Dukes of Hazzard. But let's just say "we are not amused."

124 posted on 07/08/2003 6:38:58 AM PDT by southernnorthcarolina ("Shut up," he explained.)
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To: southernnorthcarolina
>>A family from Beverly Hills, members of an ethnic group so protected by political correctness that it cannot even be mentioned, falls upon hard times and has to move to the East Tennessee mountains. Instead of "hooo whee!" it would be "oy vey!" about every fourth line.<<


I like that concept! It would be a hoot!


The Beverly Hillbillies didn't just lampoon hill folk, they lampooned everybody. The Clampetts were caricatures of hillbillies, but the Beverly Hills they moved to was portayed as some kind of insane asylum.

Did you know that the Beverly Hillbillies' greatest fans were black people? Most people with rural roots overlooked the ridiculous nature of the show and recognized beloved archetypes in the characters. Jeff Foxworthy made a career out of the same phenomenon.

BTW, most people would put Granny up there with Deputy Fife as the two greatest sit-com characters in television.
126 posted on 07/08/2003 1:14:10 PM PDT by Jeff Chandler (This tagline has been suspended or banned.)
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