Since episode one, Madison’s goal has been to point out the very NON-politically correct world of old time radio. But even saying “politically correct” isn’t fair. These shows aren’t casually saying outdated terms or being insensitive to marginalized groups out of some “political” position. These shows, starting in the early 1930s – so literally 90 years ago – are actually reflecting the common attitudes of the era. And kids, they are frightening. The “of course” nature of punching down on every group of people that weren’t… well… white males, is startling in its raw form. So the question is, what is our take-away here in modern day?
Why do people say “Remember the Alamo!” or “911, Never Forget!” Because as far as history goes, we as the human race are very quick to forget EVERYthing that came before breakfast this morning. Your history teacher told you if we don’t learn history, we are “doomed to repeat it!” I don’t think that’s our main issue. I think when we don’t remember our history, we can’t appreciate how far we’ve come, and spend too much time demanding the world be perfect TODAY, instead of understanding that how we got to today took a hellovalot of work.
Yes, I have been smacked in the face by a lot of sexist comments and characters throughout old time radio. Madison was designed to be the foil for this. For as much as we celebrate the Girl Fridays, they are portrayed as women who need men to save them and only hang around the detective because they are desperate to fulfill their life’s purpose and get married. Gag. Likewise, the Femme Fatale. She’s the strong woman whose strength is in her manipulation of the men around her. She is dangerous and wicked because she’s so hot that the men can’t resist wanting to f*&k her. (And you know that’s not the men’s fault!) But in the end, the fatale is always put in her place by the male detective who is stronger and smarter and blah, blah, blah…
So let’s look at “Chandu, the Magician” and the episode we did called, “The Dressmaker.” What makes this level of sexism so unique is its audience. This outrageous level of sexism was written for children. Little boys following their hero learn that women aren’t as smart as men. That women literally are not capable of intellectual thought. That women are frivolous in their shallow interests, and will never appreciate how hard men work to provide for them. And since this show was written for children, nothing was masked in attitudes or sly comments. The writer hit the points hard over the head. There are two stories the narrator tells. I left them in word-for-word. Jeremy, while doing his end of post production, could not believe I didn’t write those outrageously sexist stories to prove a point. Nope. They are 100% genuine. Now imagine being a little boy just learning about the world. Talk about indoctrination. And what if a little girl was listening? Well, it was great preparation to join mommy in the kitchen to learn about your place in the world servicing men.
How far have we come? We can listen to this and be floored that there was a time in our not-so-distant history that all of these attitudes, these stories, wouldn’t even have caused a single listener to bat an eye. Because it was everywhere. It was accepted as the way the world was. However… being in modern day, we know not everyone sat still and accepted the world like Chandu’s writers told them. And every single step towards progress came from struggle to be able to reach a place where my husband, a white male, could hear this show and have his first reaction be utterly appalled. We can’t make change instantly. We need to remember where we came from, who got us here, and to continue to change attitudes. And, yes, learn your history so you can truly appreciate those who have made a difference to get you where you are today.
-Chrisi (aka Madison)
