Where are the Petries now?
Fads in society come and go. Something is a hot item one day and out of vogue another, only to return years later.
The pendulum swings in similar fashion in other aspects of society. Trends are seen in politics – conservatism is popular one election, liberalism the next. When you add that to the dreaded ‘political correctness’ pull of society it’s a wonder society ever advances at all. Then again, some might question the definition of ‘advancement’ made, especially where sex is concerned.
Those old enough to remember Rob and Laura Petrie of the ‘Dick van Dyke Show’ from the 1960s, will recall that despite being married with a young son, TV censors insisted on separate, single beds in their bedroom.
Contrast that to the cutting edge sexual innuendoes found in today’s ‘Two and a Half Men’ and you realize television censors don’t exist anymore. Or at least they let television reflect today’s more provocative society.
However, the pendulum is swinging back. Two news stories this week show that there’s a push to return to more prudent times.
First Toronto’s Classical Theatre Project’s production of Romeo and Julliet was almost stopped by “outraged” censors in Nashville where the group is on tour. They wanted some of the lines “toned down” for the high school aged audience.
The artistic director said the play has been performed before more than 100,000 students in Canada without one single complaint.
The second story is about a school in California that has banned the Merriam-Webster dictionary because it contains a definition of “oral sex”.
Granted the book was being used by Grade 4 and 5 students, but the move has divided parents with one saying “Pretty soon the only dictionary in the school library will be the Bert and Ernie dictionary.”
Perhaps Rob and Laura will be moving in beside Charlie and Allan Harper soon.