"All in the Family" - The Legacy
So was "All in the Family" offensive? To some, maybe. Was it guilty of anything? No. Yes, it brought up issues to many families that they had never talked about before. People who have seen the show only a few times get a distorted picture: A picture of this Archie guy preaching hate to America. But that is simply not true. There is so much more to the show than Archie's bigotry. In fact, as the seasons of the show go on, we see Archie's mind opening. Archie doesn't HATE. Archie just needed to learn to LIKE.
You see, from "All in the Family" we learned. Young and old alike, we learned. We learned what makes some people turn into Archie Bunkers - and how to deal with them. We learned how silly our differences really are, in the scope of things. We learned from Archie; not only how NOT to think, but also, that he too has another side to him. As the series progressed, we began to see Archie's weaknesses and failures. We also saw him opening, at rare and special moments, his heart. And we learned from Edith. We learned patience, compassion, and unconditionial love. We learned from Mike and Gloria about the struggles of being a modern liberated couple, trying to change a far from perfect world.
Something else the show made us do: care. Many shows don't do that: The characters aren't deep. They get a laugh - they serve their purpose. But when Edith finds a lump in her breast, or is held at gunpoint by a rapist, we care. When Gloria miscarries, or is attacked on the way home from work, we care. When Archie learns his brother is seriously ill, or when Archie overdoses and breaks down in failure, WE CARE. Yes, "All in the Family" is funny. VERY funny at times. But when the studio audience falls silent and the camera pans in so close that we can FEEL the pain, love, or horror...that's when we care.
Almost every show since "All in the Family" has benefited from the show in some way. Some shows have tried to copy "All in the Family" by being daring and pushing the envelope. What they always lack, though, is the heart; the emotion. Doing things for shock value isn't what "All in the Family" was about. There are shows right now in the prime-time line-up that think they are doing what "All in the Family" began doing 30 years ago. But these shows could never even hold a candle to the real thing that we as a society have come to respect as a part of our heritage.
The Bunker's chairs are in the Smithsonian Institution, symbolizing what an important part of America's culture it was. The term "Archie Bunkerism" has appeared in dictionaries. People magazine called the show "the best show to put in a time capsule." And it's no wonder. Seventeen years after Archie Bunker left our TV sets, the importance of the show and it's legacy are still very much alive.
"Those Were The Days..."
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