My Wife and I have begun watching the 5 dvd set of the first season of "Leave it to Beaver". I've been struck by the shows in ways I didn't expect.

I grew up with Beaver, Wally, Ward, June, Eddie, Whitey, Larry, Judy, Lumpy, Tooey, Old Gus, Ms. Canfield, and all the other residents of a town you’d of liked to know...well, except for that weasel Eddie. I continued to grow up watching the reruns. Then they stopped altogether, and since I’ve never had cable t.v., “Leave it to Beaver” became a memory from as much as half a century ago. Last week we began renting the dvds. The visual quality is top notch... but that’s not why I mention it here.

From the very first show, they hit the road running – it was a high quality character based family comedy and drama. No, NOT the sort of comedy OR drama we think of now. No one is the wacky drug addict next door, no one is blown away, and no one dies of an incurable social disease. It’s a softer look at life, and frankly, more accurate as far as life seen through the eyes of flawed but decent, protected children and their flawed but decent parents, relatives, and friends. I was the same age as Beaver, and Wally would’ve been an okay older brother to have, if I'd had one... but that’s not why I love this show – and I DO love it, perhaps more now than ever.

I love it because it has Heart. It’s not a sit-com, not a gag-a-minute, and isn’t full of dirty words, slapstick junk, and caffeinated action. It’s an extremely well-written weekly story about people who try, fail, succeed, fail, try again, and keep on moving forward and growing up with a certain amount of faith that, with effort, things DO improve for you and those you love...and some of it is even fun.

If I had children in the house, I’d own this full set of dvds, and we’d watch it as though it was airing new and at the same time every week, just as it was intended. It would be a family thing. It would bring all of us pleasure, that
I know.

The show has become an Icon, that's for sure, but its "image" has been stripped to a mere portion of its reality. It's much more than what people seem to now choose to remember or notice about it. That's a shame. Ward didn't always wear a tie, and June was not a robotic servant... but the entire neighborhood DID drive 1957 Fords. (Ford was the sponsor. Talk about early, blatant "product placement"!)

You know, if we NEED Icons, but in the process of our creating them, we strip away anything that doesn't support our current (social/fashion) need of limited truth, we're pathetic.

It's a messy world - admit it, learn to live with it, and maybe even be mature enough to find a wise and forgiving relationship to its true nature.

I recently heard on the NEWS that during Mother Teresa's life, she'd had many, MANY doubts about religion, faith, and God - and, her doubts increased as the years passed. This has The Church very concerned and doubting her qualifications for Sainthood.

Good God!

Complexity and truth upset many people. It's not what they want. They want concocted, simplistic "heros". They are pathetic.

Instead, why not be grown ups about it? Use the facts about great people to help your children understand that flaws and doubts do NOT cancel the good created by these heros. They worked with, through, above, and around their doubts and problems. They lived with flaws, and still reached goals. Why should we deny them their humanity? It strikes me as insulting to those people. And, why should we make kids think they are excluded from doing great things through the implication heros have no flaws... and children WILL come to this conclusion, because they KNOW they have flaws.

Finally, how do we approach our heros in a COMPLETE fashion without sensationalizing the "dirt"? We stop pretending it's unusual or exciting. It's common. We ALL hold potential for good, dull, and evil.

ALL.

Let me say that again: ALL.

And THIS is written into "Leave it to Beaver"... in a softer manner.