Friday, December 10, 2004
Ricky's Speaking Spanish Again
I heard George Lopez interviewed once about his childhood. He said that his family used to watch reruns of "I Love Lucy" waiting, just waiting for Ricky to get mad enough to start speaking Spanish. The room would erupt in cheers that a fellow Spanish speaking American was on TV for all to see. How rare it was (and still is) to see someone, something on TV you can relate to.
Tonight is "Joan of Arcadia" night at our house. Has it come to this? Not that I can relate to Joan, but I remember our family, when I was growing up, watching "The Waltons," "Little House on the Prairie," "Andy Griffith," etc. Shows where religion was portrayed as part of the characters' lives. Even "All in the Family" played Edith's belief with strength. Now, we either watch those old shows or wait for some sprinkling of faith like George Lopez waiting for Ricky's Spanish.
I read a review of "Spiderman 2" in a Catholic newspaper that made mention of items in his house that appeared to have some Catholic meaning (when I see the DVD, I will look closer), but how sad is that, that Spiderman's faith has to be mined from background hints.
I watched a bit of "Rodney" the other night. Rodney is kind of blue-collar comic who now has a TV show (I doubt it will last, though I do find him funny sometimes). Rodney was trying to find a video game for his son's Christmas present and ended up swiping one from a charity bin (he put money in for it). His family was waiting for him at Church but it was obvious the family only goes once or twice a year -- they couldn't find the Church bathroom, they weren't familiar with anything -- and they were only going for Christmas to expose their kids to their religion. How's THAT for your 2004 version of the Waltons? Rodney ended up backing his truck through a wire that was holding up a giant statue of "Touchdown Jesus" which fell onto his truck. This seems to be the more common portrayal of religion today. Religion portrayed like Amos and Andy portrayed blacks. For laughs.
Tonight is "Joan of Arcadia" night at our house. Has it come to this? Not that I can relate to Joan, but I remember our family, when I was growing up, watching "The Waltons," "Little House on the Prairie," "Andy Griffith," etc. Shows where religion was portrayed as part of the characters' lives. Even "All in the Family" played Edith's belief with strength. Now, we either watch those old shows or wait for some sprinkling of faith like George Lopez waiting for Ricky's Spanish.
I read a review of "Spiderman 2" in a Catholic newspaper that made mention of items in his house that appeared to have some Catholic meaning (when I see the DVD, I will look closer), but how sad is that, that Spiderman's faith has to be mined from background hints.
I watched a bit of "Rodney" the other night. Rodney is kind of blue-collar comic who now has a TV show (I doubt it will last, though I do find him funny sometimes). Rodney was trying to find a video game for his son's Christmas present and ended up swiping one from a charity bin (he put money in for it). His family was waiting for him at Church but it was obvious the family only goes once or twice a year -- they couldn't find the Church bathroom, they weren't familiar with anything -- and they were only going for Christmas to expose their kids to their religion. How's THAT for your 2004 version of the Waltons? Rodney ended up backing his truck through a wire that was holding up a giant statue of "Touchdown Jesus" which fell onto his truck. This seems to be the more common portrayal of religion today. Religion portrayed like Amos and Andy portrayed blacks. For laughs.
