Did the Brady Bunch Lie?
by Tyler Woods on Nov. 23, 2009, under Life
I was looking at an old episode from the Brady Bunch (Yes I admit it is a guilty pleasure it makes me laugh.) and I started looking at the family dynamics and values. One of the problems with being a therapist is I have to examine everything, I just can’t let it sit, it must be analized. As I was watching this show, it struck me as it always strikes me each time I watch it, which for the most part the Brady’s lied to us and it got me thinking…
The Brady Bunch was one of the few series that took its viewers back to the traditional family values. They steered clear of the political and social issues, rarely were non-white characters introduced so there was no racism, and real issues such as money, abuse, crime, war, and government did not exist. They were blissful and ignorant of anything that was happening around them.
They ate at the table for each and every meal. Mom and dad never fought much, the housekeeper Alice never asked for a raise or mentioned money for having to do all the work in the house and take care of six kids, several whom suffered from apparent mental health issues. There was never any sexual misconduct, the kids never got in any real trouble with the law, and real everyday issues just did not exist. I was sort of the Brady’s through the looking glass.
Indeed, The Brady Bunch taught America that everyone gets along just fine and each and every problem can resolved in less than 20 minutes even blended family issues. Mike and Carol Brady doled out love and affection for each child and no partiality what’s so ever. Carols kids were Mikes kids and vice versa. There was never an adjustment period for the family to be blended and if there was, it only took twenty minutes to get past it.
Mike once said on an episode, “We’ve got a wonderful bunch of kids, I mean really marvelous. They don’t play hookey, they don’t lie, and they’re not fresh. But they just won’t stay off of that phone.” This was the worse Mike could say about his children. I have to wonder what he would have said if cell phones were invented back then?
Carol Brady was not a housekeeper Alice was, so no one knows what Carol did all day while the kids were in school. She did not work, nor take care of the kids, nor do housework, so what was that woman doing? When the kids got home, she was always gleeful and happy and smiling. It is very possible that Carol was a prescription pill user. Mike was always in his study working at night leaving poor Carol and Alice to deal with the kids.
No matter how we look at it we have to come to terms that the Brady Bunch lied to America. That’s right folks, I hate to bust your Brady bubble, but there was not one thing on that show that even resembled real life. Still, we watched that show, and we watch the reruns, and we will continue to laugh at the antics of the Brady Bunch perhaps because they were so unreal.
November 23rd, 2009 on 1:10 pm
I love The Brady Bunch! I never get sick of it, really.
I wanted to be Marcia, although realistically, I was more Cindy’s age. I will never forget being about five or so, watching the Brady Bunch and my Dad looking at my Mom and saying, “That Cindy is the cutest kid!” My world was torn asunder! I was suppose to be the cutest kid in my Dad’s eyes…..
I remind him of that pivotal moment in my life every chance I get.
The beauty of The Brady Bunch was it’s unrealistic quality and perfection.
November 25th, 2009 on 8:00 pm
Yes they were a guilty pleasure and I never got sick of them, just loved the fact that it was a cartoon so to speak. i saw the Brady kids sing at the state fair, that was a hoot!
November 24th, 2009 on 11:01 am
I love that show, too! Watching old reruns a guilty pleasure for me.
Ah, the wisdom of Mike Brady and those lessons to be learned from every show. Actually, I saw Carol as a severely overactive community activist. She belonged to all the women’s and community groups and was always active in of some sort of cause.
November 24th, 2009 on 12:21 pm
Yes, Mike Brady always had some important little speach ready for every lesson learned.
Carol was kept quite busy being a busy-body! LOL You would see her on occasion giving Alice a hand in the kitchen. She just made everybody’s life better with a flip of her shag. Oh, and she was the main singer in the churches Christmas Pageant. Thank goodness unselfish Cindy (the cutest kid ever, according to my Dad) saved the day when she asked Santa to give Mommy her voice back so she could sing her big tune.
November 25th, 2009 on 7:59 pm
Mike Brady’s speaches remind me of the speaches at the end of South Park. Indeed some things never change.
November 24th, 2009 on 4:21 pm
Yes, it was a traditional comedy directed to a mostly white audience. It was clean and a moral lesson could be ascertained. If you want a gritty comedy, with lots of social issues like racism, abortion(usually for it in most Hollywood productions), homosexuality, promiscuity, and the promotion of Hollywood’s usual gutter values, you would have had to watch something other than the Brady show. Don’t fear. In today’s environment, many comedy shows and stand up comics stand tall for the free wheeling hedonistic and shallow values Hollywood writers really want for you and your kids.
November 24th, 2009 on 4:37 pm
True – Daddy was careful to stay in the closet
March 30th, 2010 on 12:08 pm
Well they touched on racism very briefly once in an episode called Kelly’s kids. They also touched on sexism in several episodes. I guess probably the worst social issue they touched on was smoking. I like the show because of its simplicity and it takes the troubles a way. It helps me to fall asleep.