Pa

ANDY GRIFFITH

June 1, 1926 - July 3, 2012

 

Our childhoods are officially over.

Comments

[Flannista]

A link to Andy Griffith's obituary in the Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/andy-griffith-mayberrys-sheriff-andy-taylor-dies-at-86/2012/07/03/gJQACHM5LW_story.html?hpid=z5

[Flannista]

A lovely "appraisal" of Andy Griffith from the New York Times, copied here in its entirety to show why the Sassistas! posted this to honor and celebrate all that is best in this country on the Fourth of July:

*****
You could argue that the defining issue in the culture and political wars that dominate American life isn’t health care or big government or religion. It is whether small-town is smarter than urban, or vice versa. And that makes Andy Griffith, who died Tuesday at 86, a pivotal figure in those wars. Not for the man he was, but for the character who made him a fixture in American living rooms: Sheriff Andy Taylor of Mayberry.

Sheriff Taylor, among the most popular and enduring characters television has produced, came along at a time, 1960, when things weren’t looking so good for the rural-is-smarter argument, especially as it pertained to the South. News coverage was making the whole country aware of the ugliness of racism there, an impression that would only grow stronger over the next few years with clashes over school integration and the murder of civil rights workers.

A stereotype defined by ignorance and bigotry was becoming codified in popular culture as well, especially in relation to Southern characters: the obvious miscarriage of justice in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” published in 1960; Rod Steiger’s good-ol’-boy police chief from “In the Heat of the Night” in 1967. Mr. Griffith himself nudged that archetype along with the 1957 film “A Face in the Crowd,” playing a Southern drunk who accidentally ends up in the fame-making machine and turns into a demagogue. That same year, a lighter but still unflattering counterpart turned up on television in the sitcom “The Real McCoys,” about a backward family of farmers from West Virginia who relocate to California. If such stuff was representative of small-town America, yeah, better bring in some Ivy League brains to set things straight.

But hold it, as Andy was known to say. While the urbanites were ascendant, characters like Atticus Finch in “Mockingbird” and Sheriff Taylor of “The Andy Griffith Show” were keeping the flame of Main-Street nobility and wisdom alive. In Andy’s town, the fictional Mayberry, a place modeled on Mr. Griffith’s real hometown, Mount Airy, N.C., slick, eggheaded urban types didn’t generally swoop in and solve problems. More often, they were the problem.

That was established right from the start, when Andy stepped out of his police cruiser in an episode of “The Danny Thomas Show” in early 1960 to hand a ticket to Thomas’s character, a nightclub comedian named Danny Williams.

“You’ll kindly take a look at my name,” Danny says, handing Andy his license. “You’ll discover that I’m somebody.”

Andy glances at the license and says: “Well, you know, I knew that the minute I laid eyes on you. Yessir, I’ve never seen a car yet that wasn’t being driven by somebody.”

The episode became the basis for “The Andy Griffith Show” later that year. As that opening scene rolls on, Andy takes Danny down one peg, then another, then another. In three minutes Andy’s character is firmly established: a seemingly simple man who has a craftiness and common-sense wisdom that beat book learning any day. Sure, there were bumpkins on “The Andy Griffith Show,” including Don Knotts’s Barney Fife, one of television’s great goofballs, but there was a rock of clear country thinking at the core.

Not just any actor could have created Andy Taylor and sold him to the public during the unsettled ’60s, but Mr. Griffith made it look easy. He brought good looks and physical stature to the role, as well as a Southern accent that was strong enough to convey “country” but not so thick as to be off-putting to a national audience. (It also helped that the show was scrupulously uncontroversial and that Mayberry was a very white town; no reminders of the gathering racial storm there.) Eventually, the tumult and accelerated pace of the decade pushed “The Andy Griffith Show” aside, but not the notion that the moral center of the country lives somewhere in a small town.

Today, when you hear politicians and talk-show hosts spew platitudes about common sense and the wisdom of ordinary people, Andy Taylor is part of the collective memory they’re invoking. So is Ben Matlock, the homespun lawyer Mr. Griffith portrayed in another long-running series in the 1980s and ’90s.

Small-town mores are, of course, largely identified with Republicans these days, which shows you how good Mr. Griffith was as an actor: in real life he tended to support Democratic candidates, and he was once urged to run for the Senate against Jesse Helms. But never mind party allegiance; what would Andy Taylor have made of the deterioration in tone since he sat behind the sheriff’s desk in Mayberry?

Even the urban sophisticates who brushed up against Sheriff Taylor would have admitted that the fellow was always cordial and self-deprecating, never holier than thou. He knew he was smarter than they were, but he never let that register as a lack of respect. Andy Taylor, fundamental as he was, could never survive today as a character; he was too damn nice. Too bad.
*****

[Flannista]

"The rock of clear country thinking"

I love this line from the above appraisal of Andy Griffith.

Our family never missed an episode of "The Andy Griffith Show" when we were kids. Couldn't wait for the wisdom Pa would bestow on Opie or the shenanigans of Deputy Barney Fife.

What calm and quiet dignity Griffith brought to us in the turbulent Sixties.

[treesta]

Good morning, Flann. I just sighed when I heard yesterday that Andy Griffith died. He was indeed a man of calm and quiet dignity. Not a bad way to be.

[Flannista]

I don't really know why his death makes me so sad. I do think it's tied in with my childhood being over. When I was a kid, I wanted him to be the sheriff of my town.

[treesta]

Our childhood is over. True 'nough. That's one reason why your work with the kids at school is so important, why the time I spend with my granddaughter is so important. Now is the time for us to give back, to share, to show, with the children in our lives.

[Matissta]

I loved watching "The Andy Griffith Show" as a kid. The small town, slow and simple pace appealed to me. Imagine being able to go fishing right down the road from your house!

When I watched the show, I was unaware of how respectful and nonjudgmental Andy was. But thinking back, how many sheriffs would treat Otis Campbell, the town drunk, with such kindness and understanding?

[Flannista]

Sheriff Andy was a nice guy, period.

They don't make 'em like that, anymore.

[PEACEsista]

Ron Howard cited the joy that Griffith took in creating as a major influence in his young life. What a great way to be remembered and what a wonderful way to have lived a life! That may be Griffith's lasting legacy for all of us.

[Flannista]

The Sassistas! received at least 15 spam comments today and because of that, all comments will be moderated through me, so they won't appear immediately after you post.

Sorry about that. But it's either that or that crazy code thingy that my iPhone can't read. Sh!t.

[PEACEsista]

hmmmm ... it would appear that sometimes the joy of creation can be a pain in the ... i-phone! Sorry about the mass spam attack.

[Flannista]

I woke up to at least 10 more spams that did not appear here because I did not approve their publication. I'm not certain I like this option, either, so Matissta and I will revisit this today. Sorry about this.

[Matissta]

We're trying to avoid using the code thingy, as Flann likes to refer to it.

I'm investing alternatives.

[PEACEsista]

Bummer. I've noticed more spam sneaking through the spam filters on my personal e-mail, too, lately. It's the new junk mail and I doubt we will EVER totally escape it.

I'm not leaving Wisconsin today as planned. I will be driving to Chicago with my brother on Sunday to spend a week visiting my little mom and helping him to settle some of my mother's affairs. Noway will drive home with the dog tomorrow.

The current plan is for me to fly home on July 14, unless something else changes. Unusual summer (but not a bad one) and I'm glad that I have LOTS of flexibility.

[treesta]

Good morning, everyone. Sorry you're having to deal with all the spam, Flann & Matiss. What a pain.

Enjoy your day. We have some chores to do today - laundry, some shopping, mailing a few things. Then we're back out to Arches to see a few things we missed on Monday. Tomorrow we drive to Bryce Canyon City, with a stop at Capital Reef Park along the way.

[Bnbsista]

I wonder if the spam happens more when you hit upon a 'trending topic' like Andy Griffith's death. We have that issue on an innkeeper's forum when we talk about products - towels, linens, etc. We get more spammers.

[Flannista]

Thanks for the updates PEACE and treesta.

The spam on Sassistas! just sucks the life out of me. Ever since seeing a short documentary at SILVERDOCS called, "Mondays at Racine," I've been convicted of not spending time and/or walking away from things/people/situations that just suck the life out of me. I'm not certain how Matissta and I will resolve our spam problem, but until then, I will do my best to walk away from it without walking away from all of you.

[Flannista]

Interesting theory, Bnb, which makes a lot of sense.

[PEACEsista]

Well, Flann, if Bnb is right, it will at least help to avoid the "trends" and bucking the trends is something the sistas are already really good at. It seems that it may be better to comment on trendy topics in the stream rather than posting about them, in order to avoid the spammers.

Please, don't let it suck the life out of you. Better to shut the whole thing down than to let that happen.

[Flannista]

Good advice, PEACEsista.

Am pondering it.

It's a challenging time for me, to be honest. The year is more than half over and I still feel like both Matiss and I are living with so little clarity about the future. I meet with clients who need help, but offer no money. I do a gig at a retirement facility that is very well received. An offer is made to do more classes at the facility starting in the fall -- for pay -- and then you get an email this morning that they don't have the budget after all to pay me.

I have allowed "paid work" to dictate the writing I do outside of it. When I'm not making an income, I panic inside. Freeze. Seem unable to write my own story for which I'm getting paid nothing as well.

I'm so hurt that nothing seems to have changed for me in the past six months despite networking where I can, volunteering with first graders and senior citizens. Even TRM's companies can't provide me with clear answers. I'm supposed to fly down there next week, but no, wait, we haven't heard yet from other divisions. Don't know when we will. Sit tight. We need you. No, we really don't.

[Flannista]

I'm not stupid. I know that many people with without clarity, especially those suffering from cancer or other life-threatening diseases. Frankly, I don't think many of us have much clarity about anything, period.

That being said, it's not easy to feel this purposeless, especially when you look in your files and see so many half-written stories. I feel guilty working on them because I need more paid work -- a back-up plan because it appears more and more like TRM's companies might let me go in December. There is no guarantee that I will make one red cent on any work I churn out that is truly my own. I know that's not why you write, etc., but I don't have enough to retire yet. I'm scared and weary at the moment. I've been working since I was 12. What happened to me?

[Matissta]

Nothing happened to you. The world and the economy changed. Everyone is reinventing themselves these days. Those I know who are employed are concerned about keeping their jobs, while the unemployed hope to find one.

Things are constantly evolving today. Employers list unrealistic expectations for less pay, because they know that there are so many looking for work. They're taking advantage of the times.

While the employees are constantly trying to stay relevant as much as possible. For many, going home at night doesn't mean time with the family. It means eat dinner and then continue to work or educate yourself in some capacity.

I read the other day that today's average employee stays with a company for 4 years and then moves on. No loyalty exists on either side. Everyone is out for themselves.

[Matissta]

I do think the main difference is that you are self-employed. Not only is it more difficult to keep the jobs coming in, but being able to cover your monthly expenses.

Almost all of my friends that were once self-employed have returned to working for companies, because they couldn't get enough work. They also weren't self-employed for as long as you have been, nor were they as experienced.

I don't know what the answer is. But I do know, I'm glad to be going through it with you rather than you facing it alone.

[Flannista]

These are thoughtful comments, Matissta. They help. Every once in a while, I just get overwhelmed by the lack of movement. Stasis can be a good thing when one needs to reinvent oneself . . . and it's not because I'm not good at what I do . . . it's because no one wants to pay for quality work. They'd rather pay half-experienced people half of what they would pay me. It's crazy. Companies are willing to pay for the education cycle for these less-experienced folks. I can come up with an idea in two hours . . . one that would take a less experienced and talented person two days or even two weeks to come up with.

"Reinventing myself" means doing precisely what I've always been doing -- but am now much better at doing because I've been doing it for nearly 30 years -- but doing it for half-price. That is what "reinventing myself" means. It's so insulting.

[Westsista]

I am so sorry, Flann, that you are experiencing so much pain in your work/career area. It sucks, as I know very well. I am grateful not to be facing what you are facing at the moment.

As far as Mayberry goes . . . well, I liked the show myself, but I think you had to be white to find it comforting, or to see the calm and quiet dignity of the sheriff. I only feel this way looking at it with hindsight, but I think shows like this feed into the fantasy that if we could only go back in time to some idyllic existence, everything would be okay. If only those troublesome minorities would just disappear, if issues of immigration, unequal pay for women, skyrocketing health care costs, high infant mortality, etc. would all just go away, then we could be happy again in our great country. Mayberry was a white fantasy world that too many people falsely remember as the way things were.

It would have been interesting if Andy Griffith had gotten into politics. Fantasy meets reality. Maybe he could have given Ronald Reagan a run for his money.