How "The Brady Bunch" facilitates misplaced nostalgia about measles on social media - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TMC · 08-21-2024, 03:34 AM

https://www.salon.com/2024/01/25/how...-social-media/

Quote:

popular '70s-era sitcom is once again being used to promote vaccine misinformation. On Instagram, a momfluencer known for promoting “medical freedom" shared a clip from an episode of "The Brady Bunch" called "Is There a Doctor in the House?" which features the entire family getting sick with measles. First, Peter is sent home from school with a 101.1º fever and a case of the viral disease. Carol Brady, describes his symptoms as "a slight temperature, a lot of dots and a great big smile” because that means no school for a few days. Next, Jan comes down with the measles. Then, all of the siblings develop a case of the measles.

The momfluencer says she grew up during “The Brady Bunch era,” which is “before the propaganda really set it.” She asks: What made measles go from this to the “panic” people experience today?

BestTVever · 08-21-2024, 05:53 AM

They made the measles appear to be like a chicken pox outbreak. In the 70s before a chicken pox vaccine, it was a child's right of passage to get the disease early in life and then go back to school. The measles is a very serious disease and its unnecessary to get because of a vaccine. The disease can cause blindness and other ailments.
When this show aired the measles vaccine existed and were starting to be required before attending school. It is weird for Carol and Alice to sit around the kitchen table checking off the diseases the kids got without mentioning why their kids were not vaccinated. This script is right out of a 1950s sitcom. Many of the writers on the Brady Bunch were old school writers so they were still living in a 1950s state of mind.

08-21-2024, 05:53 AM	#2
BestTVever Member Senior Member Join Date: Jan 29, 2021 Location: Miami Posts: 1,963	They made the measles appear to be like a chicken pox outbreak. In the 70s before a chicken pox vaccine, it was a child's right of passage to get the disease early in life and then go back to school. The measles is a very serious disease and its unnecessary to get because of a vaccine. The disease can cause blindness and other ailments. When this show aired the measles vaccine existed and were starting to be required before attending school. It is weird for Carol and Alice to sit around the kitchen table checking off the diseases the kids got without mentioning why their kids were not vaccinated. This script is right out of a 1950s sitcom. Many of the writers on the Brady Bunch were old school writers so they were still living in a 1950s state of mind.