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Thursday, February 4, 2016

Cheesecake

Friday, January 29, 2016
Cheesecake
Quick side note: if you've been to San Diego, if you live in San Diego, you've probably heard of or been to Seaport Village. It is THE most darling part of America's Finest City and it is at risk of being torn down to make room for a mall and hotels. Now yes, I get that we need to expand the convention center, but by tearing down Sea Port village we are taking from San Diego a place where locals AND tourists enjoy peace, the best coffee in town (at the Upstart Crow), and a variety of adorable shops. Please help us preserve this piece of our town by visiting this website and sharing it with all of your friends on your Social Media: http://www.saveseaportvillage.com/take-action/. It takes two clicks to let people know that this is NOT right and it should not be allowed to happen. Write #savesaportvillage on Facebook AND Twitter with your photos of the joy Seaport Village has brought you.

Alrighty, dear readers, here's the scoop: some of the following may not be suitable for all audiences (young'ns in particular) because, to paraphrase a line from Sophia, "This ain't going to be no cakewalk." 

A few years back, one of my sisters sent me a link to an article regarding an analysis of the Mary Tyler Moore Show. The article discussed the residual impact of the sitcom on viewers and its influence on social norms. This sparked inspiration for my sister to send me the link with her simple commentary: "You could do this with the 'Golden Girls' no one knows them better than you." 

When I first started this journey I had not claimed to be the number one fan, still don't, but I have always deeply respected and admired the messages within the show and the strength of their characters. Once, I considered proposing to instruct a semester long college course on the 'Politics of Golden Girls,' so this project struck me as a positive first step toward achieving this goal. 

Whether you are interested, but not familiar with the sitcom that aired in 1984 or if the girls are dear friends, sit back, relax, and in the words of Sophia, "Fasten your seat belt slut puppy, this ain't going to be no cakewalk." (See, that's the complete quote). And that's probably not the case; the following posts will be discussing social issues that were controversial at the time of the show's running life and that remain relevant issues to-date.

A tremendous thanks goes to Victoria who introduced me to the girls. Victoria, as ever, "Thank you for being a friend." 

Chapter 1: Cheesecake

I. Widows and a Divorcee, Not Biddies 

In the first season, Rose and her boyfriend Arnie decided to go on a romantic weekend cruise. It is Rose's first intimate experience with a man since her husband Charlie's passing fifteen years earlier. She is hesitant, scared and nervous. She was concerned that she would feel like she was cheating on Charlie. To add to Rose's fears, Charlie had endured a heart attack while they were making love and passed away; you see, Rose was afraid that she might kill Arnie. 

The episode switches to a conversation with Blanche, Dorothy and Sophia. They are discussing how long they waited to be with men after their husbands passed or, in Dorothy's case, after her separation. Blanche is the most-promiscuous character - to say the absolute least - and she did not wait so much as a month after her husband George passed. This contrast brought to light the taboos that face women at that stage in life: can there be life after your husband dies? At what quality and to what extent? In the 1980s when the GGs were on air, women outlived their husbands on average by eight years. Women have historically outlived their husbands and have been stuck with the question of "what do I do now?" for centuries. Rose Nyland captured the concern best in her speech in the pilot episode: 

"It's not fair you know. We get married, we have kids. The kids leave and our husbands die. Is that some kind of a test? You don’t work that hard. You don't go through everything you go through to be left alone. We are alone, Dorothy, we really are. Our families are gone and we are alone. There are too many years left and I don't know what to do." 

The Mary Tyler Moore show had a similar theme of life after marriage, showing a woman after divorce, another taboo. But she was young and did not have an established family. These women are all over fifty and while Blanche has a different date in almost every episode, their prospects for marriage seem small. However, in their seven years of show, they more than proved their prowess, knocking the stereotype of cake-baking, sweater-knitting, t.v. zombie grandmas. These grandmas, they rock. 

The GGs did something that had never been done prior and that has not been done since; for seven years, four women in their fifties and sixties ruled the air like twenty-somethings. They set the stage for shows like Sex in the City and Mom, and they proved that actresses don't have to be shelved once they're over forty and starting to display signs of aging. Bea Arthur wore her white hair with dignity and style. Betty White displayed evident signs of aging gracefully. Rue McLanahan, the youngest at fifty-one.had more sex-appeal (even if it was self proclaimed) and as such a sex life more active than most can claim. Estelle Getty was even made to look older by wearing a wig, skin-colored makeup, and old-lady" glasses.  

Although Rose's speech about being older and alone is chilling, every episode to follow in the next seven seasons proves that these girls were anything but 'alone or inactive.' There have been many times when I've acknowledged that the lives of these gals were more active than mine!

They attended a Madonna concert, went to a nudist resort (granted, unbeknownst to them), they were on a game show, they sailed through a hurricane, traveled back in time in Brooklyn, danced the night away in an all night marathon, and, need it be said, had more dates than one can count! Now, Blanche may have been the most promiscuous one, but Sophia got all the celebrities: she had dates with Burt Renolds, Mikey Rooney, and Julio Iglesias (yes, Enrique's dad). Sophia, the character in her eighties was quite often times a grump, demonstrated the most that life is about living, especially after loss.

There's one episode, "A Nectarine" where it's a rainy day and the three younger ones are determined to be productive around the house. Alas, their ambition is thwarted by apathy and they spend the day in their pajamas. But Sophia goes to the market to buy a nectarine. At least, that's what she tells the girls. When she goes to the market, she meets a lady who is about her age and is being spoken down to by the grocer. Sophia, the champion for the under-trodden, steps up and takes a stand against the grocer, listing a myriad of organizations that she alleges represents the elderly. In a later scene she is volunteering at the hospital and an elder lady who is clearly been neglected by her family, a theme we see arise numerous times in a few episodes, including one where Sophia "kidnaps" a friend of hers from a home that is poorly funded and has less than home-happy standards.

Elder abuse and neglect  was not considered a criminal issue until the 1980s when "Surgeon General Louis Sullivan held a workshop on family violence, declaring it to be a public health and criminal justice issue that included the problems of elder abuse and neglect." (National Academies Press). In 1985, a federal task force was created to determine the extent and possible prevention of elder abuse within the United States. The task force requires, "States to have in effect a State elder abuse law with mandatory reporting provisions." (Library of Congress). This hadn't existed federally prior to the 1980s. The writers of the Golden Girls were highly attuned to the social issues of the day, and throughout the course of the show, Sophia stands as an advocate for elder rights, shedding light onto the fact that the elderly in the States are too often seen as burdens and not as loved family members with incredible insights on life, love, and days long gone. For many of her friends and the watchers, Sophia shows that you don't have to accept something that feels wrong especially because you are not alone. This is a theme that rises numerous times throughout the Golden Girls and we will continue to discuss this theme throughout the following weeks. 

Yes, these are brief overviews of deep topics and youbetcha I could ramble endlessly about each topic mentioned, but this is a blog and a mere brief escape, so I'll do my best to keep these short. Trust me, it's not easy. This whole segment is to show that the Golden Girls were more than just a mere sitcom - they were guardians in a way, proving to people in their golden years and up that they didn't have to be afraid. That if they tried hard enough or if they did not sit down and wait for death, that one thing was certain - you would find a friend and maybe even find someone with whom to share a slice of cheesecake.

Until next week dear readers when we meet the girls individually,

Your humble author,
S. Faxon

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