Though I grew up in the 1990's, I sometimes feel like I missed out on a significant chunk of the culture due to the overprotective nature of my mother, who wouldn't even let me watch The Simpsons until I was about fourteen. She was concerned about how disrespectful Bart was to Homer.
In recent years, perhaps due to fatigue or the fact that she can't win this battle anymore, she's lightened up on my kid brother Conor; he's fourteen now and he's been watching Family Guy (*way* cruder than the Simpsons) for several years. Where am I going with this? Well, my mother's restrictions also included a whole library of great movies rendered unsuitable for my naive and innocent mind. A little blood here, the "f bomb" there, a creamy tit or two--all these meant I would be spending the next couple hours in my room.
Over a decade later, I'm slowly discovering some quality movies made during my childhood. Last weekend while flipping through the TV channels my mother stumbled on the movie "Tombstone," which I'd never heard of, and a lengthy discussion of the film's merits ensued between her and my father. My father then explained to me that it's a western based on the true story of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday and the gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
I cringed--westerns aren't really my thing.
"You'll like it," he promised. "It's good."
"When was it made?" I asked.
"Early nineties," he told me.
Ah. Of course. The Dark Ages. Naturally we had to watch the film, and I've been pissing my roommate off pretending to be Doc Holliday ever since.
Don't feel too badly about the T.V. programs contradicting the way that you and your brother were raised. I have two younger sisters and the same things happen.
ReplyDeleteAnd, would it make you feel more "normal" if you knew that my mother would not let me watch Rugrats because she thought that they were brats? LOL
A few years later I soon became obsessed with Rugrats and began collecting many Rugrat branded items.
While, on the other hand, my mother's sister would let her 2-yea-old watch violent movies and t.v. programming that my mother would not allow my, then, 9-year-old sister to watch. (Although she had a boy and we were a family of girls.)
I really, truly think that it is the times and that society has just become desensitized. There is something to be said about the phrase: "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em." Also, younger siblings always get it easier, in my experience.
Furthermore, I still feel uncomfortable watching anything that even says the "s," "b," of "f"-word variations with my mother now. (This was never a problem with my father.)
I guess some people are just more sensitive.