Let's get Away from it All - Hazel

Hi All,

I guess I'll be giving away my age but sometimes I really enjoy the old, corny TV shows. As Hazel would say, this one's a doozey!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG2Vo8AafnE

Brian's picture

I wouldn't have watched that in a million years otherwise...but I liked it. The family is so about easing other peoples anxieties and helping others-it was reassuring to see. I found myself wishing I could be as cool as the dad. Even though it was just a sitcom and formulaic I let it effect me(maybe from years of watching shows from my parents couch...LOL I'm an American kid raised on tons of TV).

Wendy's picture

I think watching Hazel as a kid had a huge influence on my values in life. The show emphasizes the idea that good behavior is more about helping people out than it is about following social norms. It stresses the value of good behavior over the staus of having things, such as money or power. It maintains that "little people" like Hazel the maid can have a big influence and power over their world. I've had fun rewatching these shows lately and find that they are a nice retreat from so much of the bad news lately.

Noa's picture

I was never a big fan of Hazel, but I grew up watching "Leave it to Beaver."  Like the Baxters, the Cleavers were always reinforcing family values.  I have often wondered how the morality of those days left American culture so quickly.  In just a few decades, TV entertainment turned from family and nature programs to crime, murder, and blatant sexuality.

I used to think that it was people who somehow changed overnight.  Now I think the cultural metamorphosis was deliberately engineered.  Mass media has been shaping our lives for as long as we've been alive.

Thankfully, more people are turning away from mainstream media outlets, seeking alternative sources of news and entertainment.  I remember hearing some independent media host say say that he had more viewers than prime time television.  (It could've been James Corbett -- I don't remember, now.) 

If the truth be known, people would realize that lamestream media viewship is waning.  Despite what is depicted on TV, people are beginning to think for themselves and make healthier choices.

onesong's picture

For many years as a young adult I didn't own a t.v.-didn't have the money to buy one, didn't have the time to watch one, and just didn't feel it a priority.  My friends today get annoyed at how little I watch the news...I see it in action,(and catch enough on the web) watching it on the telly isn't a high priority to me. 

I love the old shows, we grew up with Beaver, Hazel, Lucy...but even more so, we grew up hearing that we were all important.  Having been raised in a family of nurses, police officers (who really were the 'good goys' back then), and others in service to the world we were taught that no job was unimportant.  To treat no one as 'less than' we were. To attempt to be the best at whatever we chose to do whether we were doctors or waitresses and to treat others no matter there profession as we would want to be treated.  To assist others in anyway we could when they were faced with hardship...I wonder what we're teaching our kids today? Why grandmothering seems such an important job to me and such a big responsibility! 

I'm not sure people ever stopped thinking for themselves, I think they just forgot to think 'for each other' as well! I hope we're getting there, but it sure seems slow in coming sometimes.

 

Brian's picture

"not sure people ever stopped thinking for themselves, I think they just forgot to think 'for each other'"

I puzzle over the swift changes too. I've believed media reflected people but maybe it's engineered. I helped sort through old news clippings about psi phenomena to put them in binders for the Rhine Center. I found a misplaced 1950's news article suggesting innocently that TV stations should put the new subliminal messages into public service announcements to help with raising money for good causes etc. I always wondered if they used them on TV...

If society's behaviour is engineered-maybe it's to make people more selfish so they'll buy more products. If you're insecure or feel competitive you will need to compensate for lack or try to dominate or be better than others. It doesn't feel "natural" to me.

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