"Jeannie" haters are the ones who are "politically incorrect"

Today is Thanksgiving Day, which it might surprise some people to know that it was the subject of some controversy in the early days of this country. The pre-Civil War South loathed to recognize it as a national holiday, because it was seen as a “Yankee” affair, given its northeastern origins in the heart of abolitionist territory.  It did not become officially “official” until the FDR administration—selling it as a way to mark the start of the Christmas buying season—when it was decreed that every fourth Thursday of November would be designated a national holiday.  

But for me, Thanksgiving Day is just another day on the calendar. I’ve had to work the past seven such days; such is the lot of life of one who works in the transportation business.  I have just one small regret about having to work this time around, and that is that I’m going to miss the “I Dream of Jeannie” marathon, being aired on the “oldies” station Antenna TV. When I was a kid in the pre-cable era, syndicated shows like “Leave it to Beaver,” “The Beverley Hillbillies,” “The Munsters,” Gilligan’s Island,” Bewitched” and “Jeannie” were force-fed on the afterschool and weekend public whether it was good for them or not. Most of these shows were little more than live-action cartoons, with incredibly silly dialogue and inane slapstick, and just plain fun. 

To today’s PC, narcissistic audience, these shows vie with each other for dumbest, most “incorrect” on the planet; but then again, if you don’t enjoy the antics of The Three Stooges like I did, you’d never “get it.” I happened to encounter on the Internet something that aired on bottom-feeding TMZ, which ambushed Barbara Eden (still looking good at 82, at least from the neck up—by natural or unnatural means) at the Los Angeles airport, where she was obliged to answer silly questions and flash (off-camera) her infamous navel.  

The real story, however, were the comments of panel members on the TMZ program, who complained about the alleged “sexism” of a half-dressed woman calling a man “master,” who was a virtual “slave”—and a “sex slave” at that. I mean, how dumb can you be to take a fantasy show literally? Now, I realize the social mores of the 1960s were in some respects “backward”--such as in the anti-civil rights South--but on the other hand there was some progress on that front amongst the younger generation. In some ways "Jeannie" was ahead of its time; one first season episode featured a black airman trying to teach a white woman how to drive a jeep, which Jeannie proceeds to wreck. The airman runs up to the jeep in exasperation, soon to be joined by a group of onlookers, all white female military personnel in skirts; the military may have been integrated by then, but I suspect that even in 1965 some in the white audience were not ready for that.

And let’s face it: Most sitcoms were and still are mostly situated in “domestic” settings. Anything outside the home is there to freshen up a gimmick growing stale; in the case of "Jeannie," these escapades were more frequent and outlandish after the second season. But to defend Jeannie, it should be pointed out that in her “genie” costume she was only “half-dressed” from the waist up (her legs were covered), and that there wouldn’t have been as many comic complications if the “genie” had been a sourpuss male; after 2,000 years stuck in a bottle, it wasn’t “strange” that Jeannie would have that many years of pent-up desire to “please” the first man who “rescued” her. It may be said that she was also a victim of arrested development, say at 16 years of age.

In regard to those whose “opinion” is based on a superficial idea of the show, they obviously don’t know that Major Nelson (Larry Hagman) was a “straight man” who for most of the show’s run was a reluctant “master” who continuously tried to discourage Jeannie’s affectionate nature, which always seemed to lead (often with the not unwitting “help” of Major Healey) to disastrous situations. When he wasn’t “cooperative,” Nelson often found himself the victim of Jeannie’s vindictive side. The truth of the matter is that “I Dream Of Jeannie” remains popular among some demographics not because it is “sexist”—which it isn’t—but because of its premise that an all-powerful female can make a man’s life “hell,” even with the best of intentions. Hagman’s adeptness at physical comedy made it all palatable—and yes, Eden was “easy” on the eyes, which made her often exasperating behavior forgivable.

While I will miss the “I Dream of Jeannie” marathon today, I’m not particularly disappointed. I have the entire series on DVD, so I can conjure up my own "magic" and view my own “marathon” any time I want.