
Archie Bunker Then and Now
Archie Bunker Then and Now
Most of us remember the comedy show from back in the seventies, “All In The Family.” With Archie, Edith, Mike and Gloria. Though Archie, played by the late Carol O’Connor was a fictional character, there are millions of Archie Bunkers living among us today. Perhaps you know a few?
Archie managed to have an opinion about, well, pretty much everything and everyone. He had his old faithful, the Bible, to fall back on to support some of his views.
Let’s look at his view on Women: Archie: “It’s a well known fact that men are worth more than Women”. He goes on to say: “God made man in his own image and he made women after, from a rib, a cheaper cut.”. Does this sound like anyone you might know?
Archie did of course also have views about race, equal rights, politics, etc.
Let’s take a look at Archie then and the Archie Bunkers of today, but just for fun, we’ll list his likes and dislikes as if he were filling out an online dating form.
Name: Archie Bunker
Race: WHITE!!!!!
Religion: Protestant (doesn’t attend church)
Political party: Republican (doesn’t vote)
Dislikes: Asians, Blacks, Catholics, Democrats, Environmentalists, Facts, Feminists, Free speech, Gays, Hungarians, Intellectuals, Jews, Liberals, Mixed couples, Puerto Ricans, Polish people, Protesters, The Press.
Today’s Archie: All of the above, plus: Gay marriage, Climate change, Gun control of any kind, Hillary Clinton, Recycling, Mexicans (all immigrants for that matter), Muslims, Electric cars, Solar power (any form of clean energy) and again, Hillary Clinton.
Likes: Beer, Twinkies, bowling, John Wayne and “people that are are exactly like me”.
That’s quite a list and believe it or not, it’s most likely incomplete, but a pattern has clearly been established. Looking back, it seemed the character of “Archie” was so exaggerated. Sadly though, now it seems as if he were the subject of a documentary. These characters truly exist. They are everywhere, perhaps even in your family or your own home.
After interviewing many ordinary folks, the Archie Bunkers of today seem to have had a population explosion, but in fact, they have always lived among us: it seems, now, that expressing these views is just more “normal”, or shall we say, at least more common.
One of Archie’s traits was his total lack of knowledge and distaste for Facts, especially if they were not in agreement with what he believed, and the word is “believed”, not what was factually true. Has much changed from the seventies? When Archie heard or read something he didn’t like, he called it “Pinko Propaganda”. (By the way, to say Archie read something outside of the sports section in the newspaper is being generous). The Archie Bunkers of today call it “Fake News”.
Archie Bunker was a blue collar worker from Queens New York. He was unable to finish High School because he had to drop out to help support the family, as many had to in those difficult times. But what made Archie who he was, is the same thing that drives the Archies of today. The fear of CHANGE.
Though Archie had his own views of the world, if you were to ask him if he is a racist, he would say “Nooo”. And for sure there are many Americans that have no problem with admitting that they are, but so many share these views but don’t feel they are racist at all. It’s everyone that is different from them that has a problem. It’s the changing world around them that terrifies them, makes them feel left behind, forgotten, especially with older Americans and those who live in rural communities. For example, the resentment he had when he saw a minority that excelled, and was doing better than him. To him that was somehow unfair. In a perfect world (Archie’s) people of color knew their place, they were segregated, poor; they all lived in Harlem and were not in positions of power. When confronted with a black family moving into the neighborhood, Archie shouted out “Our world is crumbling down, the coons are coming”! Women also knew their place, and that was in the kitchen. But the world is always changing and always will. Those that have an open mind, can embrace and adapt to change, those with closed minds never will.
The most frustrating thing about having a discussion (quickly an argument) with Archie, was his closed mind. The TRUTH was what he wanted it to be, FACTS were irrelevant to him if not pure poison. Nothing has changed:
families today fight over politics; relationships and friendships have been destroyed and why? As in anything, when the TRUTH doesn’t matter, when FACTS don’t matter, heads will clash. An example is Science. You can have a thousand scientists in agreement, produce FACTUAL EVIDENCE, such as “Climate Change”, and have millions of Americans with no scientific background whatsoever, say it’s a hoax, because they are told through various sources that have their own agendas and who also have no scientific background, tell them that it’s not true and they believe it. Those people that RESEARCH and look for the TRUTH and ASK QUESTIONS will always be fighting a losing battle with someone who is uninformed, stubborn and closed minded. How sad is to say, that to millions of Americans, FACTS don’t matter? We all want our spouses, our partners, our children for that matter to be honest with us. If we are ill and need medical attention, we want the doctor to give us the FACTS. In politics, FACTS just get in the way.
There was of course the human side to Archie. He loved his wife, his daughter and in his way, he also grew to love his son-in law. As funny and crazy as he came across to us, the scene where he sits on the edge of their bed in the bedroom and cries over Edith’s death is a real tear jerker. It shows the love he had for Edith, perhaps a little regret on how he treated her, and how he was supposed to go before her. You can look it up on YouTube, it will bring a tear to your eye.
So if you ever want a quick fix of Archie Bunker, you can watch “All In The Family” in re-runs, or perhaps just step outside and talk to your neighbor.
Archie did however have some thoughts that made sense. One of them was that “Patience is a Virgin”. On that we could probably all agree on.
By Lou Dos Santos

