You’d never guess he used to star in “I Dream of Jeannie”
An adult wants to be like the villain in a TV series. Hint: God didn’t fail to notice that.
https://leeduigon.com/2013/06/
Remember Dallas–with Larry Hagman as the bad guy, J.R. Ewing? Remember how popular that was? It came out in 1978, was a huuuuge hit throughout the ’80’s, and finished up in 1991. If you’re too young to remember, trust me–there was nothing in our pop culture bigger than Dallas.
And we had weasels out there who wanted to be “just like J.R.!” So they did nasty, petty, shameful things. On purpose. Because they thought it was cool.
Is this what happened to the Etruscans? Is this why they’re not here anymore? Were there other civilizations, now extinct, that praised and emulated things they should have been ashamed of?
Yeah. Probably.
Yes, I’m sure there were people like this. In fact, some skullduggery and nonsense went on
around the French revolution
The earlier episodes of Dallas coincided with one of the few months of my adult life when I watched broadcast TV. Early on, JR’s antics were over the top, and basically hilarious. It struck me as an obvious send up, tongue in cheek, but after a few episodes the writers tried to outdo themselves and created an antihero who quickly grew into a bit of a monster.
Interestingly, at that time, I had a business acquaintance who was not far off from JR. He flaunted his sexual exploits, all while married and a father. While he is long in my past, I am in contact with people who had done business with him, more recently, and he allegedly painted himself as a victim and well into his senior years had not changed.
He dabbled in any business which came to hand, but he came across as dishonest in all of them. After decades of dirty dealing, including activities which were bordering on highly illegal, it all came to a sudden and when a neurological disorder hit and affected his ability to assume a normal posture, so his fancy suits and expensive jewelry no longer looked good on his frame.
Was it Divine justice, or just his birds coming home to roost? I would suggest that these are the same thing. When we do things we shouldn’t, we are going against the natural order, and are going against the grain. If one cheats on their spouse, it will almost certainly damage family relationships, over the long run. A man who leaves his wife and children to pursue a new love will never restore the family relationship he left behind, and every family event thereafter will likely be stained by division.
Solon was spot in the money. As I grow in life experience, I find that entertainment is getting harder to come by. Much of the entertainment of my generation featured moral bankruptcy. Likewise for the music. One of the reasons that I backed away from music as a way of earning a living was because music has become filled with immoral lyrics. A hired hand musician who takes exception to the lyrics or subject matter of the songs will not be getting called back for future jobs.
Interestingly, there is a large community of Praise & Worship musicians. These are, essentially, Rock bands playing music used in Church services. I have mixed feelings about P&W; some being wholesome, but some sounding like REO Speedwagon with Jesus’ name popping up occasionally. Strangely, while I’ve written a number of songs, I’ve never felt moved to write music related to worship.
But, getting back to Solon, our entertainment has considerable influence on culture, at large. Even wholesome shows frequently had plot lines which featured deceit. How many sitcom plots involved characters jumping through all sorts of hoops to avoid telling someone a truth which might be awkward, or even embarrassing.
This is nothing new, by any means, but in the era of radio, television, and the much broader reach of the Internet, entertainment is a much bigger part of our lives than it was for prior generations. I remember hearing kids begin using the same phrase, at about the same time, and usually it was a phrase that had been used in a recent Saturday Night Live episode. TV had a lot of influence. The same holds true for music, and music videos can leave a very deep mental impression.
If sources of entertainment teach ungodly things, this is bound to have negative effects.
I keep all this in mind as I write my books.
I have really missed out, I never watched Dallas. But I am sure it would have improved my life watching an evil man doing his evil deeds. I never cared who shot JR. And now, if I found out, I probably wouldn’t know who that was.
I never saw a Dallas episode; but back in the day, it was impossible not to hear people talking about it.
I remember people talking about it, nonstop. I watched a handful of episodes, but soon the writers were trying to outdo themselves and it quickly wasn’t worth watching.
Not a fan of “Dallas”. I remember being with people before VCRs when you could not record your favorite shows to watch later. No matter what they were doing it had to stop so as not to miss a single episode of “Dallas.” I’m no fan of the actual city of Dallas either. You can’t believe how fast they drive on their freeways – it’s crazy.