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thedrifter
11-03-03, 05:56 AM
A Court Street that few Marines ever saw
November 02,2003
MADISON TAYLOR
DAILY NEWS STAFF

I am beginning to believe that TV is simply not an accurate portrayal of American life. Call me a skeptic. Call me a pessimist. Call me jaded. Call me cynical. Call me a cab, for goodness sakes. Call me any ol' thing you want.

Only don't call me by phone at home with a recorded message asking for my vote on Election Day. For candidates who somehow don't understand the difference, this is known as telemarketing, a form of harassment so hideous and cruel even Congress finally got the, uh, message and developed a law about it.

So stop it, OK.

Anyway, ahem, back to the point, which was, I believe about TV's serious lack of accuracy when it comes to its portrayal of American life - mainly that there is one, big time.

Now this isn't much in the way of news to those more intelligent life forms who became just a tad suspicious when "My Mother the Car" debuted in the 1960s. This, some might recall, was the completely realistic tale about a man whose deceased mother is reincarnated as a Buick. Well, it probably wasn't a Buick. But most get the general idea. It was an American-made car of some variety. TV executives of that period apparently assumed that no one would believe "My Mother the Volkswagen."

Hey, I would've watched it. Then again, I regularly tuned in to "Mork and Mindy," thought Secret Service agents in the 1800s traveled around in their own James Bond-style train car just like on "Wild Wild West" and was once certain that all women were exactly like the character Joan Collins played on "Dynasty." I used to vote, too, but that's another story.

This, of course, does not include recent "reality" TV, shows that feature acting that makes Max Baer Jr. look like Jack Nicholson. Oddly enough, TV generally becomes more fictional the more real it tries to be.

Anyway, growing up in the sticks as I did, I generally accepted most stuff on TV I hadn't seen before as things I just hadn't been exposed to yet. I like to call this being "enlightened" and "open-minded." Others would just flat out say "stupid ignoramus." I wouldn't argue one way or the other.

But I started to get suspicious myself when I first saw "Everybody Loves Raymond," the story of a sportswriter at a large New York newspaper who is always at home, spends weekends with his kids and once watched the Super Bowl on TV with his buddies when the New York Giants was one of the teams playing.

In real life, sportswriters usually cover the home team's biggest game, always work nights, have about two free weekends a year, may know their kids names but not their ages and are four months behind on alimony payments.

I know that because, as a former sportswriter, I'm acquainted with a few practitioners in the field. Most still owe me money, unless, of course, I owe them money. It gets confusing.

In recent weeks, I've had a few more TV reality checks mainly via the show "American Dreams." It's a drama involving a Philadelphia family set just as the previously tranquil 1960s are about to explode into "THE '60s!"

The daughter dances on "American Bandstand;" mom is searching for life beyond her immediate family responsibilities, and the dad is a Democrat who, if he were alive today, would vote Republican. One of the sons just blew off college and a football career to join the Marines.

Then, of course, the son was whisked immediately to, you guessed it, Camp Lejeune.

Now for the most part, the writers got the geography right. The show accurately references Court Street in Jacksonville, which was where the action happened in those days. It correctly identifies Sneads Ferry as being across the river.

But they don't once mention mosquitoes or swamps - two things that helped make Camp Lejeune famous. And, when the boys head down to bars on Court Street, they're greeted by women who resemble Sports Illustrated swimsuit models only dressed in designer clothes.

"I never saw anybody like that in a Court Street dive," a Marine stationed here in the 1960s told me last week. "And believe me, I looked and I looked hard."

So I'm starting to believe that TV is not an accurate portrayal of American life - past, present or future.

Unless, of course, it's "The Simpsons."


Madison Taylor is managing editor of The Daily News.Contact him at mtaylor@jdnews.com.


http://www.jacksonvilledailynews.com/SiteProcessor.cfm?Template=/GlobalTemplates/Details.cfm&StoryID=17464&Section=Columns


Sempers,

Roger
:marine:

2091351
11-03-03, 06:35 AM
I watched China Beach one time, but when they showed the sunset over the water, I gave it up.

Take care-Steve

Devildogg4ever
11-03-03, 04:57 PM
Well, when you have people calling another war, NO WAR, then I guess reality isn't real, anymore!!