... finds an acorn now and then.
TV sitcoms seemingly must follow a formula in order to be successful these days. Consider:
"Home Improvement", "The King of Queens", "The Simpsons", "The Honeymooners", and the list could go on and on.
The common thread? The husband is sloppy, boorish, and stupid, but he was smart enough to marry a woman smarter than he, who is continually stressed while running around resolving problems he has caused in their lives.
(There is one VERY successful exception to this formula. Have you thought of it?
It's a sign of how society has changed that it's not been tried since TV's infancy.)
So there was something that surprised me about the following clip. See if you agree:
I have never seen "American Dad" so I'm only able to assume from this clip (and others I reviewed on YouTube) that the show follows the successful formula, with the addition that "Stan" is even stupider than usual because he's a gun-owning, homophobic, conservative. I'll freely admit to being dense now and then, but I'm not so stupid that I don't realize the show's producers are using their superior intellect to make fun of guys like me with the overall theme of the show, week after week. That's okay, we've been putting up with that attitude from TV shows for more than fifty years.
But admit it...
When Stan places that Glock on the table and commands it to "KILL!", didn't you nod your head and laugh? I did.
I've owned guns most of my life.
As a Deputy Sheriff I normally carried a .357 magnum in a visible holster, plus a .380 calibre automatic concealed in an ankle holster. In all my 61 years, with the exception of my time in Viet Nam, I have never even had to point a loaded weapon at another human being. So you can understand my bewilderment at Hollywoods attitude toward guns, playing forboding music every time a gun is even shown on the screen.
Have you seen this movie? I watched for almost two hours as an innocent, terrified family feared for their lives, shouting "Where's your gun?"
A gun is a tool. Any tool... a chainsaw for instance, can be used as it was intended, or it can be misused.
What I have never been able to understand though, is why many women, with their ability to resolve the problems we men continually cause, fear guns. A gun can be a woman's best friend:
...OJ shows up at the front door dressed in black, wearing his Bruno Maglis, and pulls his knife. Nicole, having learned from so many previous incidents, smiles, draws her Ladysmith, and makes the world a better place for all.
Still don't like guns? No problem. You know what you can and cannot do better than anyone.
Got kids in the household? You'll have to take special precautions to protect the kids.
But with proper considerations, a gun in the house can make you AND the kids safer.
Call the police.
How long will it take them to arrive? Got a way to protect yourself from someone two or three times your size?
Sara Jean does.
I'm a stupid, gun owning conservative. But I'm also a survivor.
And as a former Boy Scout I've known a couple things most of my life-
I need to "Be Prepared", and...
Common sense ain't so common as it once was.
8 comments:
1) Ever since Lucy divorced Desi, TV has gone downhill.
2) I don't watch "American Dad" either, but I love the occasional clips I do see. Including this one.
3) Outside of combat, you shouldn't HAVE to think about pointing a loaded weapon at anyone - but we live in a world where there are some dark, dark people. You must have had a charmed time in law enforcement.
4) Never saw "Fear" - didn't catch it in the theater, and have no interest in renting it.
5) Tools are only as safe as the operator. Any tool.
6) Titus is probably the funniest guy I had seen in a while, but I haven't seen him lately. This was a good one.
7) The Ladysmith is a good choice for those women who wish to arm themselves. As always, the lady in question should consult with a reputable dealer to make her final decision. Never go by what someone tells you, sight unseen.
8) The Second Amendment - because when seconds count, the police are only minutes away.
Good post, GB.
An explanation is in order-
My days as Deputy Sheriff were spent in the helicopter, flying over the heads of heroes protecting folks beneath me. I quickly learned I COULD NOT do the job they were doing.
Thanks Cary for giving me the chance to say a huge THANK YOU! to cops the world over...
They spend every single day in a combat environment, and we cannot praise them enough!
Well, the backup for the boots on the ground is always near the top of the list, too, you know.
Thank YOU, GB, for your service everywhere.
May you be able to continue as long as you wish.
I always liked the sticker "Why carry a gun?" "A whole cop would be too heavy..."
There is nothing quite like being in the middle of an armed confrontation, and being the only one not packing, to focus one's opinion on hand guns.
I wandered on in here from Diogenes's blog and I'm glad I did! You've got a great place here and I'll be back.
As a police officer in a small town in Michigan, I also carried a .357. It's an awesome responsibility but I made up my mind while in school that if I ever had to answer the question - me or him - it damned well was going to be him.
Guns are tools. Very effective ones. Thanks for saying that so well.
cjh
Sounds like an interesting story, NecT...
Care to share?
(Publish a blog post at your place and I'll send folks your way!)
I thought you might ask that. I'll see if I can put together a coherent tale and post it to my blog.
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