Archie Bunker: The Coons Are Coming - Trailer (Comedy)
- 8 years ago
Archie Bunker (Carrol O'Conner) was the product of a bygone era. Bigoted, self-centered and ignorant; anything that didn't directly benefit the king of the castle was open to criticism, derision or spite. Difference was something to be shunned and looked down upon, and what the difference was didn't really matter; gender, race, creed, religion, or ethnic origin all garnered the same derogatory response. The 1960s turned his world on its head, as the issues of equal rights came to the forefront, and the world was forced to confront its prejudices.
An American remake of 1966's Britcom 'Til Death Us Do Part, Norman Lear's ground-breaking television series, All in the Family, put a face on bigotry in the form of Archie Bunker. He was an uneducated, working class stiff, firmly entrenched in his traditional world view, trying desperately to hang on to the "good old days." At his side was his wife Edith (Jean Stapleton), a woman a few bricks short of a full load, but one who didn't necessarily share his views, primarily because she'd never had cause to think about them. The voice of conscience came in the form of their live-in daughter Gloria (Sally Struthers) and her student husband Michael Stivic (Rob Reiner), both of whom were ready to take up the causes of their generation and fight for the rights of others, even if it meant calling Archie a bigot.
"No fighting with Daddy, okay?" - Gloria
Despite Archie's extreme political incorrectness, he was not the kind of character the audience was led to hate, as his was not a vindictive personality, but an ignorant one—he simply didn't know any better. While he would petition to keep the "unwanted elements" out of his neighborhood, he wasn't one to be burning crosses or inciting violence. Archie simply wanted things to remain as they had been in the past, where his own self-importance wasn't challenged. But the Stivics would have none of that, and the series did an excellent job of addressing the issues of the day, allowing Archie to express his outdated thoughts by defending them with inane arguments that were the heart of the show's humor. Archie's lexicon of racial and ethnic slurs was boundless, and were the some of the few things in the English language he could get right.
In spite of Archie's prejudices, the show didn't take the easy road and leave him as the sole bigot in the sea of humanity; instead, it introduced like-minded characters from all walks of life. The Jefferson family, whose son Lionel (Mike Evans) is introduced in the pilot, would have their own prejudices, though we only get an introduction in the first season. Lionel's character is a key role, being of Mike and Gloria's generation, he is the voice of the black people in Archie's ear, hamming up the stereotype, while playing Archie for the fool in the process. There was no subject that was taboo for the series, which drew in 50 million viewers each week. It was a ground breaker, which is as relevant today as it was thirty years ago.
An American remake of 1966's Britcom 'Til Death Us Do Part, Norman Lear's ground-breaking television series, All in the Family, put a face on bigotry in the form of Archie Bunker. He was an uneducated, working class stiff, firmly entrenched in his traditional world view, trying desperately to hang on to the "good old days." At his side was his wife Edith (Jean Stapleton), a woman a few bricks short of a full load, but one who didn't necessarily share his views, primarily because she'd never had cause to think about them. The voice of conscience came in the form of their live-in daughter Gloria (Sally Struthers) and her student husband Michael Stivic (Rob Reiner), both of whom were ready to take up the causes of their generation and fight for the rights of others, even if it meant calling Archie a bigot.
"No fighting with Daddy, okay?" - Gloria
Despite Archie's extreme political incorrectness, he was not the kind of character the audience was led to hate, as his was not a vindictive personality, but an ignorant one—he simply didn't know any better. While he would petition to keep the "unwanted elements" out of his neighborhood, he wasn't one to be burning crosses or inciting violence. Archie simply wanted things to remain as they had been in the past, where his own self-importance wasn't challenged. But the Stivics would have none of that, and the series did an excellent job of addressing the issues of the day, allowing Archie to express his outdated thoughts by defending them with inane arguments that were the heart of the show's humor. Archie's lexicon of racial and ethnic slurs was boundless, and were the some of the few things in the English language he could get right.
In spite of Archie's prejudices, the show didn't take the easy road and leave him as the sole bigot in the sea of humanity; instead, it introduced like-minded characters from all walks of life. The Jefferson family, whose son Lionel (Mike Evans) is introduced in the pilot, would have their own prejudices, though we only get an introduction in the first season. Lionel's character is a key role, being of Mike and Gloria's generation, he is the voice of the black people in Archie's ear, hamming up the stereotype, while playing Archie for the fool in the process. There was no subject that was taboo for the series, which drew in 50 million viewers each week. It was a ground breaker, which is as relevant today as it was thirty years ago.