Politically incorrect Eddie

[frani]

I have plenty to do, okay?

I was merely expressing an opinion. I think after hearing all the opinions posted that probably it wasn't "racist" but it was mean. I don't have to "get over" expressing my feelings on that. That's the point of this board, isn't it?

And I believe I said that I love Eddie's character. I also made the point that it was early in his character and the later Eddie would never have done something like that. He was mischievous, but he had a softer side.

I also know that a plotline like that would never go over nowadays and not because we're so politically correct, but we're just more aware of how people feel.

And since when is making a little kid cry funny?

Sir, YOU need to get over it, okay?

[Mijada]

Originally posted by frani
I have plenty to do, okay?

I was merely expressing an opinion. I think after hearing all the opinions posted that probably it wasn't "racist" but it was mean. I don't have to "get over" expressing my feelings on that. That's the point of this board, isn't it?

And I believe I said that I love Eddie's character. I also made the point that it was early in his character and the later Eddie would never have done something like that. He was mischievous, but he had a softer side.

I also know that a plotline like that would never go over nowadays and not because we're so politically correct, but we're just more aware of how people feel.

And since when is making a little kid cry funny?

Sir, YOU need to get over it, okay?

Good for you frani. Nothing wrong with speaking your mind.
I agree that was mean of Eddie to do that. I've seen that ep a million times and had never thought much about it. I didn't think it was racist. Eddie was just taking advantage of Chuey because he couldn't understand English. I don't think it had anything to do with him being Hispanic. I didn't like the fact that he never apologized though. Like in the ep where Eddie and Lumpy changed the grade on Beavers repotr card, Wally made him apologize. Like I said before If I were wally I would have beat Eddie up anyway.

[GidgetCleaver]

I always thought Eddie was just being Eddie. I never thought of it as anything else.

[tom shaw]

Nah, it was not intended to be racist, just mean, and that comes in all shapes and colors....

[Commander Benson]

Originally posted by GidgetCleaver
I always thought Eddie was just being Eddie. I never thought of it as anything else.

That's exactly what it was.

It's important to examine what makes Eddie tick. He's not evil, nor cruel. He'd never do anything like run a lawn mower over a cat or do anything which would obviously endanger someone's life or get another into what even Eddie would recognise as serious trouble, such as getting expelled or arrested. (Admittedly, he might let someone else get into serious trouble if revealing the truth would turn that trouble his way.) Eddie draws the line at physically injuring someone or causing concrete harm.

Eddie's problem is emotional blindness.

If one reads into the various snatches of dialogue spoken over the course of the show, Eddie was raised in an atmosphere where he was often belittled or made to feel insignificant by his father and probably had an ineffectual mother. This probably taught Eddie two lessons in life early:

One: having one's feelings hurt is a natural component of life; in fact, it is a normal recurring experience.

Two: the way to elevate oneself is to make someone else look foolish

If we hold this to be reasonable, then it follows that Eddie has developed a certain emotional blindness to how things emotionally hurt other people--psychological "scar tissue", as it were. It also inhibits his social development, keeping him from seeing the way most people really see him.

Thus, Eddie has two goals in life: to avoid disapproval; and to "improve" his social acceptance by humiliating others with pranks and put-downs.

Evidence of his desire to avoid disapproval is his obsequiousness around Ward and June, or any other parental figure. Evidence of his desire to achieve acceptence by stepping on others is his constant attempts to belittle anyone not in a position to retaliate. The Beaver is a prime target.

This was the motivation for what he did to the Beaver and Chuey. It was not directed against Chuey because of his race per se. In other words, it wasn't motivated by a dislike of Hispanics or by a sense that they were inferior to Causasians. Those things probably never even occurred to Eddie. Chuey being Hispanic was a circumstance, fortunate in Eddie's eyes, because he knew enough of Chuey's language to play the prank.

In Eddie's eyes, it wasn't even a mean thing to do, because he was blind to the impact of hurt it would cause either Beaver or Chuey. To Eddie, it was simply a level of degradation that he believed was a normal part of life and, sadly, had himself become accustomed to.

However, there is a caveat: as has been shown, deep in his core, Eddie is a decent boy and does understand the sheer panic and fear that can result when one screws up badly--case in point: when he bailed the Beaver out after Beav accidentally ruined Wally's suit. Therefore, at a level which Eddie doesn't like to look at, he does know how much his pranks can hurt. Witness, after teaching the Beaver how to say "You have the face of a pig" in Spanish, Eddie didn't hang around to see the results of his handiwork, when Beav actually said it to Chuey. That could have been because, at a level even Eddie couldn't ignore, he knew Chuey would be genuinely hurt by the remark and didn't want to see that. So long as he didn't see the emotional pain on Chuey's face, Eddie could convince himself that it was no big deal.

One more thing to consider, to some degree in Eddie's favour, no less. The natural thing would be for him to hang around with others who view the world the same way he does. With a group like that, his pranks would elevate his prestige.

But instead, Eddie chooses to associate with Wally, who is the antithesis of the way Eddie expects people in the world to behave. That could be because Eddie admires Wally and envies his secure home and supportive parents. The deeply buried decent Eddie wishes he could be like Wally; unfortunately, Eddie finds it easier to be the way he is.

But, is Eddie a racist? Not based on this episode.

And this is far too much analysis of a pleasant little sitcom .

[MikeZ]

Very true, Commander Benson, and very well put!

[wallyisneat]

Wait a minute people. Lets take another look at this Chuey episode. I think in todays terms, it WAS politically correct. It shows the difficulities a Hispanic family was having in the lilly white 1950s Mayfield culture. I think it was wondeful the way the cleavers reached out, and made the Hispanic family feel welcome in their home. And when the language misunderstanding occured, Ward crossed the cultural and language barriers, to make things right. I think the Cleavers were very progressive for the times. As for Eddie, he was just being his ignorant self. This episode was anything but racist, and it is one of the best ones.

[frani]

No, I never said or even questioned if the ep was racist. I was questioning if Eddie's behavior was. I thought Beav and Wally and the Cleaver parents were terrific.

[wallyisneat]

Don't get me wrong Frani, I wasn't questioning you. It is intresting to think, would Eddie even know it if he was a racist? Did teenagers think about those issues back than? The only black person I remember seeing on the series, was the maid in the episode where Wally and Eddie were parking cars. Eddie was courteous to her. But he did give her a story about how he parked cars for the governor.

[frani]

thanks wally, and thanks everyone for your really interesting comments. You're all so cool. That's why i love this board.

[WardOleMan]

Originally posted by wallyisneat
It shows the difficulities a Hispanic family was having in the lilly white 1950s Mayfield culture. .

lilly white lilly white

Lilly White, I hate that term. It is always used in a derogative manner. Where did we in our current PC climate come to the point where whites are able to refer to themselves negatively? Not only that but place blame on themselves for the failure of other races.

[wallyisneat]

I guess your right Ward, that term could be taken as offensive. I did not intend that however, I was just describing the culture at the time. I wasn't trying to blame white people for anything, but you have to admit, we haven't always been perfect!

[WardOleMan]

Originally posted by wallyisneat
I guess your right Ward, that term could be taken as offensive. I did not intend that however, I was just describing the culture at the time. I wasn't trying to blame white people for anything, but you have to admit, we haven't always been perfect!

Thanks for the response and the explanation. I took it that way because in todays poiltical climate its usually used in that way. As to not being perfect, well who has. But upon adding it all up there has been no other group who has done more. Even those who choose to complain have never had it better and for what its worth have it far worse in their own homeland.

[C_ME]

I don't particularly think that it was intended for Eddie to be racist, but it did come off that way. He was basically using Chuey's racial/cultural difference as an advantage to play a cruel joke. What if an African-American family moved into the neighborhood and Eddie told Beaver to call one of the kids by the 'N' word? Eddie may not have harbored any hatred for African-Americans, but I think everyone would agree that it was a racist act because it plays on the sensitivities of race and difference in a negative way.

BTW, does this episode still get shown? (I've never seen it). I would think that networks would be a little hesistant to put it on the air.

[MikeZ]

Originally posted by C_ME

BTW, does this episode still get shown? (I've never seen it). I would think that networks would be a little hesistant to put it on the air.

I saw it on TVL about 2 weeks ago.