Maude
I sent my Mom this article (thanks, Feministing) about Bea Arthur's 1970s sitcom Maude, which, according to the Kansas City Star, is far too liberal to have made it on TV today. (Maude actually had an abortion on the series, whereas today, even on Sex and the City, characters boldly contemplate abortion, and then, every time, decide to have the baby, or else have conveniently-timed miscarriages). My mom wrote back:I love the article about Maude. Maude and Archie Bunker were two of the most socially relevant, ground breaking shows of their time. Maude was introduced as Edith's cousin in season 2 on Archie. She was on more than once and of course, Archie HATED her. I remember the shows because they were different than anything else on tv and they were hilarious. The show Maude was a spinoff.I've suggested it before, but I think it's time for a Momisfamous.com blog.
Maude actually influenced how girls dressed when I was in jr high and high school. In a time when girls wore their mini skirts one day and their maxi skirts the next, Maude made a statement of her own. If you wanted to look confident you wore a midi vest over your white shirt and pants. I had one.
It was discussed, that the Maude character was perhaps less than feminine, a secret lesbian, and/or a symbol of a liberal agenda. It was the "powerful women are always evil" mindset. Maude always said it straight and Archie always made you see your prejudices for what they were. They did it first and they did it well. These were the shows that made lasting impressions on a generation...mine.
Love Mom
posted by JenIsFamous at 3/23/2007 07:34:00 PM
1 Comments:
FUN FACT:
Named after the popular star of "Threepenny Opera", "Fiddler on the Roof", "Mame", "Maude", and "The Golden Girls", the Bea Arthur is a potable consisting of equal parts whiskey and prune juice. It has been elected to the International Bartenders Association Hall of Fame and ranked in a vote by its membership as the Second Most Disgusting Alcoholic Beverage after the Bloody Awful*.
* A Bloody Awful is prepared exactly like the Bloody Mary that gives it its name, but with Heinz ketchup substituted for Bloody Mary mix or tomato juice. In all my years of bartending, I never made a Bloody Awful or a Bea Arthur, but I swear that when I attended Tulane University in the mid-80s, I saw for the first time denizens of the Crescent City putting Tabasco sauce in their vodka. Then again, this should have come as no surprise--in New Orleans, it is not uncommon to put Tabasco or cayenne pepper (or both) in everything from popcorn to lemonade!
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