GeeBee
07-24-2004, 04:35 PM
When I watch the old episodes of LITB, I'm amazed at how the show was so ahead of its time in philosophies on parenting and the damage that bad parenting can do to children.
Did you ever notice that the kids who were the most obnoxious, self centered, or disobedient usually had the parents who were too extreme in their roles of authority? Lumpy Rutherford was a bully, an underachiever, and a follower. His father called him names like "boob", never considered his feelings, threatened to give him a fat lip, and once bragged about how he smacked him in the mouth. Eddie Haskell was two-faced and underhanded. He once talked about how his father would have smacked him in the face for something and you got the feeling that Eddie's deceit may have been a way of dealing with fear. Then there was Larry. He was greedy, selfish, and was often the quickest to want to break the rules and cover it up. Larry's unseen father often sounded like an ogre. In one episode, Larry said that his father hit him for something he didn't do and then said that it would teach a lesson for when he did do something. Larry's mother never seemed to really understand her son and seemed to believe the answer to every problem was having her husband home to "give it to him." The only exception may have been Gilbert. Gilbert could be rotten, but it was never exactly clear how dysfunctional his home was. Early on, they did mention some reasons that Gilbert may have been troubled, but the development of his character came late in the show and had an inconsistent history.
Anyway, compare all of that to Wally and Beaver. They did things wrong (it would have been unrealistic and boring if they didn't), but they always had a conscience about it and would always try to make amends. Their parents had rules, set limits, implemented punishments, but they always balanced it with trying to understand their children, knowing when to pick their battles, and admitting when they made mistakes and not being afraid to tell their children that they were sorry.
So, that's what I interpret LITB as trying to say. Bully, hit, and insult your children and you'll get brats that you can't trust. Balance discipline with love and understanding and you'll get children with a conscience who care about what you have to say.
Of course, there's also the other danger in being too permissive, which was never really shown on LITB, but the important thing is that the main characters strived for the right balance. Sadly, today, no one would take a show like LITB seriously. If such a show was made today, the main characters would be one of the dysfunctional families like the Mandellos or Rutherfords, all the laughs would come from how parents belittle their children and children disrespect their parents. If the Cleavers even existed in the show today, they'd be some minor characters that everyone laughed at for being goody-goodies. LITB was a once in a lifetime show.
Did you ever notice that the kids who were the most obnoxious, self centered, or disobedient usually had the parents who were too extreme in their roles of authority? Lumpy Rutherford was a bully, an underachiever, and a follower. His father called him names like "boob", never considered his feelings, threatened to give him a fat lip, and once bragged about how he smacked him in the mouth. Eddie Haskell was two-faced and underhanded. He once talked about how his father would have smacked him in the face for something and you got the feeling that Eddie's deceit may have been a way of dealing with fear. Then there was Larry. He was greedy, selfish, and was often the quickest to want to break the rules and cover it up. Larry's unseen father often sounded like an ogre. In one episode, Larry said that his father hit him for something he didn't do and then said that it would teach a lesson for when he did do something. Larry's mother never seemed to really understand her son and seemed to believe the answer to every problem was having her husband home to "give it to him." The only exception may have been Gilbert. Gilbert could be rotten, but it was never exactly clear how dysfunctional his home was. Early on, they did mention some reasons that Gilbert may have been troubled, but the development of his character came late in the show and had an inconsistent history.
Anyway, compare all of that to Wally and Beaver. They did things wrong (it would have been unrealistic and boring if they didn't), but they always had a conscience about it and would always try to make amends. Their parents had rules, set limits, implemented punishments, but they always balanced it with trying to understand their children, knowing when to pick their battles, and admitting when they made mistakes and not being afraid to tell their children that they were sorry.
So, that's what I interpret LITB as trying to say. Bully, hit, and insult your children and you'll get brats that you can't trust. Balance discipline with love and understanding and you'll get children with a conscience who care about what you have to say.
Of course, there's also the other danger in being too permissive, which was never really shown on LITB, but the important thing is that the main characters strived for the right balance. Sadly, today, no one would take a show like LITB seriously. If such a show was made today, the main characters would be one of the dysfunctional families like the Mandellos or Rutherfords, all the laughs would come from how parents belittle their children and children disrespect their parents. If the Cleavers even existed in the show today, they'd be some minor characters that everyone laughed at for being goody-goodies. LITB was a once in a lifetime show.