‘All in the Family’: Embracing Curmudgeons in the Age of Trump

As President Trump hits his stride, the right is exuberant, the left depressed, and the uncommitted are silent. No side shows much interest in talking. Yet a healthy democracy requires dialogue, even when it’s loud and awkward like the sitcom “All in the Family.”Your columnist, during a recent bout with the flu, rewatched “All in the Family” as Washington readied for a changing of the guard. Here were characters with opposing beliefs who never stopped caring about each other, who kept in mind that a family, like a nation, needs love to survive.Archie Bunker, the father in “All in the Family,” is from Astoria, Queens, where the show is set. It happens to be the blue-collar suburb where Mr. Trump — criticized for putting ketchup on his steak as Archie is for slathering it on his eggs — was born, though in far-better economic circumstances.When “All in the Family” debuted in 1971, the Vietnam War was raging, the civil and women’s rights movements were in full swing, and the assassinations of the 1960s were open wounds. America had many issues to settle, and it watched them being debated each week at 407 Hauser Street.“We’re not arguing,” Archie Bunker, father of the household, says in the pilot episode. “We’re discussing.” When his wife Edith, played by Jean Stapleton, disagrees, Archie insists there’s no malice. The topics are religion and poverty. Archie and Edith have just returned home from church.The Bunker’s only child, Gloria, and her husband, Michael Stivek, known as Meathead, let slip their agnosticism. “What God?” they ask. It’s not an attack, it’s a question. It’s worth noting that Archie has taken exception with the day’s sermon. He objects to atheists but is no sheep or fanatic.The four characters speak to rather than at one another, attempting to persuade rather than destroy. As Prime Minister Thatcher said in her eulogy for President Reagan, he “won the Cold War” not with arms, but “by inviting enemies out of their fortress and turning them into friends.”For “fortress,” Thatcher might have used the term “bunker.” It’s not only a physical structure armed against attack but a description. A “bunker” spreads “bunk,” slang for trash. Caroll O’Connor as Archie often does just that; so does Michael. They’re both curmudgeons, stuck in their ways.Archie might be a two-dimensional foil in the hands of Hollywood today. Instead, he’s a World War II veteran, union member, and a loving family man. He invites Michael — portrayed by Robert Reiner, a liberal Democrat who was to O’Connor’s right — to live in his home while he finishes his college degree.Norman Lear, who created “All in the Family,” was also on the left. It’s a sign of the cultural shift that some now dismiss his show as right-wing propaganda, and criticize his partnership with “Mr. Conservative,” Senator Goldwater, to produce the 1982 TV special “I Love Liberty.”While Archie prompted conservatives to look at themselves through a stereotypical avatar, Michael did the same for curmudgeons of the “pinko” variety. In “Michael’s Move,” an employer passes him over for a less-qualified Black applicant, forcing him to confront affirmative-action’s personal cost.What’s striking about “All in the Family” is its light touch. “Controversy,” Lear told the AP in 1994, “suggests people are thinking about something. But there’d better be laughing first and foremost or it’s a dog.”The program, a CBS disclaimer stated before the pilot, “seeks to throw a humorous spotlight on our frailties, prejudices, and concerns. By making them a source of laughter, we hope to show, in a mature fashion, just how absurd they are.”Tuning an ear to the dialogue throughout “All in the Family” demonstrates a devolution from that zeitgeist. Although teasing is the norm, characters refrain from the cutting insults so common today. These slurs — including “woke,” “Nazi,” and “racist” — shut down conversation and ruin family dinners of the sorts the Bunkers enjoy.When Archie mentions a stereotype or uses a slur, Michael is more likely to say, “That’s racist” than “You’re racist.” This subtlety is key. Michael is calling to his father-in-law’s better nature, saying he’s not a bad man so why sound like one?It’s easy to overlook Edith and Sally Struthers’ Gloria. But like those who feel caught between the warring factions today, they are voices of reason. They restrain the men’s egos, reminding them of the damage they do to the larger family if their rhetoric crosses the line.In the 1972 episode, “Archie Is Jealous,” Michael appeals to Edith. “Archie,” who calls him Meathead, “hates me,” he says. Edith disagrees. She explains that as a college man, Michael has opportunities that Archie — who suffered through the Great Depression and war — never enjoyed.“Mike” Edith says, “Archie is jealous of you.” He had to give up his dreams, drop out of school to support his family, and fight overseas. He never did and never would go to college. “You have your whole future ahead of you,” she says, “but most of Archie’s life is behind him.”Rather than weaponize this insight, Michael later tells Archie, “I understand,” and gives him a hug. It’s rare moment that Archie doesn’t say, “Get away from me,” to a member of the family seeking physical contact, even if he does seem perplexed.Saying that America is more divided than ever in the Age of Trump draws nods from most Americans. In addition to reeking of self-pity, it’s false. In the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, and the 1960s and ‘70s, America was coming apart at the seams and looking for ways to heal.“All in the Family” helped Americans find the road to a more perfect union. It can perform the same role today, showcasing fleshed-out characters and curmudgeons who discuss issues from the heart rather than arguing for its own sake — seeking to coax foes out of their bunkers and transform them into friends.

‘All in the Family’: Embracing Curmudgeons in the Age of Trump

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