Oliver was as crazy as everybody else

[biffbronson]

Originally Posted by ThomasE

Has anyone tried to sue this man?

Yes -- Fred Ziffel did take Haney to court.

Of course, if Haney is put out of business or sent to prison, much of the show's basis is gone...!

[ThomasE]

True. Thanks for the response. It would be nice to see Haney punished for his sins. LOL.

[tdr]

My "theory of the show," which I've posted before is this: Oliver Douglas really was a successful New York attorney who had a lifelong dream to be the kind of rough&ready farmer that he thought had made America great. But deep down he knew that no matter how much he wanted that, that he really had no background to make a go of it. He could learn about agriculture from books and pamphlets, but farming is based mostly on experience. This frustration finally caused him to have a complete breakdown, and he was taken to an asylum, but he thought he had bought a farm in a place called Hooterville-- a town he once heard about in his traveling the countryside looking for folk songs [see the Molly Turgis episode]. So he thought his fellow patients were his neighboring farmers, with one always wanting to sell or trade worthless junk, another couldn't remember the sentence he started in order to finish it.... he thought they were crazy and they thought he was. And a tall, not-too-bright and bumbling young man was assigned to take care of whatever he asked for, often spilling things on him, or tripping him, and such. His mother hated the place and most often refused to visit him, or acknowledge to anyone where he was, but his wife, in spite of being a prominent socialite, was sympathetic to his fellow patients and they seemed to like and understand her better than they did him.

Maybe that explains just about everything except Arnold the pig. Perhaps he was like a mascot, a stuffed animal, that everyone passed around and talked to like they understood him, which Oliver thought was the craziest among the crazy.

[ThomasE]

Well said.

For me, if Oliver wanted a farm, then he should have taken his butt to upstate New York. LOL.

[PhoenixAcres]

The show seems to imply Oliver started out silly and became more serious after a few episodes. I think Oliver had good intentions and was a victim of his own optimism when he decided to buy the Haney place. So he wasn't crazy at first, but once he saw what his life turned into, he became frustrated.

I think Oliver's sanity was eroded by him trying too hard to remain sane. He always attempts to rationalize the situation. "How can a pig turn on the TV?", etc. Everyone else (the townspeople and Lisa) was insane but in a different way. They see no reason to question the supernatural happenings. By adopting this mindset (accepting the impossible) they have admitted that normal thought processes are inappropriate here and they're much more relaxed, easygoing, and happy than Oliver ever was. It's sort of like "When in Rome..."

You could say that all the characters in Green Acres came into this world just as normal as Oliver and Lisa started out as. But once they arrived in the Kangaroo State they had to cope with the distorted reality. Everyone but Oliver proudly embraced the fact they were losing their minds. Oliver suffered the same fate, but never admitted it, except on rare occasions.

[Hazel Anyday]

I just recently started watching the whole series over again. I'm still in the 1st 1/2 of season 1 so I can see how Oliver started out. He was supposed to be serious about buying a farm but then all reality went out the window once he arrived in "Hootersville". His first crazy decision, buying that broken down shack, Haney Place. What person in their right mind would buy a totally broken down shack and then move right in???? As if it was a livable house. If he was stupid enough to buy that ramshackle shed, he should have at least HIRED people who know how to either plow it all down and build anew a good house he and Lisa could live in or if he was foolish enough to believe he could fix up that broken down shack himself then he should have told Lisa to wait in NY while he pursues his folly and hopefully realizes finally how stupid he's been.

But once you decide to move into that broken down shack and still think you can be a serious farmer at the same time you have entered into the land of the insane.

[PhoenixAcres]

Oliver's whole life was dominated by the ultimate dream to own a farm. By the time he discovered Hooterville, I'm sure anything remotely reminiscent of a farm was good enough for him. Especially since it was his first one and he had nothing to compare it to except his New York penthouses, and obviously anything was an improvement over that, for him.

At the end of the first episode when he drives up to the house with Lisa for the first time, you can see the rapture on his face as he realized his dream. The unshakeable optimism may have compromised his judgement. He made it clear from the beginning he intended to fix it up, but naturally he never accounted for the trials and tribulations that would entail.

It should be noted that his optimism never failed, although it was frequently overshadowed by anger and frustration. Even as the seasons wear on there are several times he talks about the greatness of the American farmer and never regrets his decision.

[TheLittleFairy]

I always wondered if it was just Hooterville that was "off" or the whole world? At first I thought it was just Hooterville, but even when they travel to NY for visits, ppl act just as crazy as in Hooterville.


ALSO, have you noticed when Oliver is not around, the other characters behave fairly NORMAL with each other? Like on a train ride ~I think~ Eb and Mr. Kimbal ride together and share a room, and they actually had a pretty normal conversation if I recall right, then when Oliver enters, everyone starts acting crazy again lol

[PhoenixAcres]

Originally Posted by TheLittleFairy

I always wondered if it was just Hooterville that was "off" or the whole world? At first I thought it was just Hooterville, but even when they travel to NY for visits, ppl act just as crazy as in Hooterville.

I would say it's just Hooterville and the immediate surrounding area. Pixley seems to be the boundary between realities, i.e. between Hooterville logic and the rest of the world. They could do some crazy stuff in Pixley but for the most part they were pretty normal. You can see this in "Won't you come home Arnold Ziffel" at the Pixley hospital and Lisa is acting on Hooterville logic but the nurse is completely confused and suggests Lisa is crazy. On a side note, Oliver is really in his element here. We get a rare and hilarious look at Oliver really enjoying himself because he knows they're dealing with someone on his level of sanity, but he still tags along for the ride just to watch someone else fall apart instead of him.

This happens on a few other occasions when they're on vacation or when there's a visitor to the farm. In "Guess Who's Not Going to the Luau", there's the level-headed company representative who comes over to see Arnold (unaware he's actually a pig) and Oliver just relishes every second of his futile attempts to make sense of what's happening.

In "Oliver's Jaded Past" when they go to New York, I think the behavior of the people there is more conventionally odd. They keep confusing Oliver for someone called Mr. Cummings and occasionally imply Oliver is drunk but nothing on the level of Hooterville insanity.