Daughter Judy

When I was growing up in Belgium, we watched American cartoons with great enthusiasm. Since television hours were limited, and most cartoons only played on weekends, we as children would anticipate these shows with a lot of excitement. One of our all time favorites was the Flintstones, because of all the outrageously clever technical devices, like the monster under the sink, who took care of the garbage, the bird whose sharp beak took the role of the phonograph needle, the elephant whose trunk was used for the shower, it was just such a fun show. I really liked The Jetsons and all their futuristic gadgets. I loved the instant hair do machine, the rolling walk ways, the flying cars. But most of all, I wanted a dress like the one Judy wore,and I loved her hair do. It was not just the cartoons. Shows like Star Trek, Daktari, Flipper, I love Lucy, Mannix, Hawai-Five-O, were part of our fascination with everything American. It was where I wanted to be, and I am sure it started the dream in my heart to want to move to America before it actually took on a more pragmatic shape when I became a foreign exchange student to Dallas, Texas in 1976. I find it fascinating that the cartoons especially had this ability to fire the imagination,drawings coming to live,starting aspirations and longings in us as children.The humor in the relationships in The Flintstones, with the antics between Fred and Barney, the friendship and trials of Wilma and Betty, the cuteness of pebbles and Bam-Bam, stayed with us as we grew up and we would at times recall how fun it was to watch these shows together as a family. Once I had lived in this country for a number of years, I became fond of some shows that spoke to me specifically of the American experience. To this day, my all time favorite is All in the Family, with Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton. I recently saw a rerun of the series, and was amazed at how current the issues remain that this show from 40 years ago dealt with: political corruption, economic stress, racism, sexism, religious concerns,all these things in essence have changed very little, especially in view of a trend to reverse the clock in extreme right wing circles.Another show I loved was Three's Company, because it was just plain fun. And I loved Sanford and Son, the dynamic between Demond Wilson and Redd Foxx never got old, I loved the relationship they had as father and son and it allowed me a peek into black culture and comedy before I made lasting friendships and connections through black friends in college, through neighbors and through my so far going on 18 year membership at a black Baptist church.Television can intrigue, can encourage, can unite. It was a positive thing for me, because it started a dream, that is still going on, the pursuit of happiness.