Something I always found kinda disturbing about the Beverly Hillbillies..

[TheLittleFairy]

Yes I know it was just used for the sake of comedy , BUT when I was younger I used to analyze things like this.

It always bothered me kinda how, at the drop of a hat, Granny would always think her family was trying to kill her. I know on 2 of Granny's birthdays, she think her family is going to "do her in". And I think this subplot was used in a couple other episodes as well.

The thing I'm wondering is, do you think this actually HAPPENED back in the Hills where the Clampetts come from? Do you think back in the Hills it was common for families to kill their elderly if they saw them as no longer useful and a burden to care for.

I just ask b/c I have heard horror stories about how older, uncivilized cultures would dispose of elderly ppl, like locking them outside in the cold, and letting them freeze to death, b/c it would get to the point they could no longer care for them... So I'm just wondering if this sort of thing happened a lot back in the Clampett's homeland. I just always wondered why Granny always jumped to such a conclusion that her family was getting ready to kill her if it wasn't a common thing that she had seen a lot of in her lifetime?

[QTMcWhiskers]

Originally Posted by TheLittleFairy

Yes I know it was just used for the sake of comedy , BUT when I was younger I used to analyze things like this.

It always bothered me kinda how, at the drop of a hat, Granny would always think her family was trying to kill her. I know on 2 of Granny's birthdays, she think her family is going to "do her in". And I think this subplot was used in a couple other episodes as well.

The thing I'm wondering is, do you think this actually HAPPENED back in the Hills where the Clampetts come from? Do you think back in the Hills it was common for families to kill their elderly if they saw them as no longer useful and a burden to care for.

I just ask b/c I have heard horror stories about how older, uncivilized cultures would dispose of elderly ppl, like locking them outside in the cold, and letting them freeze to death, b/c it would get to the point they could no longer care for them... So I'm just wondering if this sort of thing happened a lot back in the Clampett's homeland. I just always wondered why Granny always jumped to such a conclusion that her family was getting ready to kill her if it wasn't a common thing that she had seen a lot of in her lifetime?

It is possible that the show parodied that (not very urban) legend. There were cultures that revered the elderly as well. The way Irene Ryan acts it all out, she's hysterical. With the show, and being a farce, that's all that matters.

[jimpickens]

In the hills the elderly are revered and loved by their families.