The Waltons
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- mikotondria3
I always remember my parents watching The Waltons from when I was just tiny tiny - looking back, Im kinda surprised, they grew up in urban and suburban england, and are entirely non-religious, and neither came from a particularly large family.. On the face of it, they had little in common with either the backgrounds or the circumstances of the characters who lived in rural west virginia in the 40s..
And yet we would always watch it, on our black and white tv, eating our dinner, rain beating on the window, itchy 70's brown clothes.
As a kid I loved the simple stories of genuine characters, and real family values - it was a simple yet true child-like view of an adult world, and it helped shaped my earliest views of the US itself.
It almost certainly influenced in some way, my decision to come to this country, and although I have a broader contextual cultural view of how the waltons fit, fundamentally my opinions are the same.
Recently they have been showing The Waltons on the old-tv type channel, and as I get my daughter ready to walk to school, we have been watching it and it's great to see her enjoying it in the way that I did when I was her age, now actually living here..
That thread yesterday asked for images that defined the US - I think The Waltons go a long way to describing the character of this country - family values of hard-work, fairness and opportunity, of rolling with life's punches and of striving for the best life possible, in whatever circumstances we find ourselves.All my friends back in the UK, and all except my daughter here laugh like Hyenas when I tell them I like the Waltons, but I don't care.
Ralph Waite rocks, and Earl Hamner should be carved into mount rushmore.
- mikotondria30
I knew KNEW someone would write that.
Truth is, suckaz, Johnboy's away in Charleston at college, as well you know.
- flavorful0
I watched the Waltons. It was a good show.
Got a little corny at points, but that happens to all shows in performed in different time eras.
- exador10
jez kiddin...i kinda know what you mean....
my family used to watch that show as well, along with stuff like Little house on the prarie...and like you, my household wasn't religious either...for some reason tho, those shows were big when i was a kid....also grew up endlessly watching the little rascals....
- Hahah, "The Kid From Borneo" still stands out as one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen!flavorful
- marychain0
I don't relate to the Waltons one lick....course I live in South Florida...I may as well be in Latin America.
- mg330
I remember my parents watching it too. I remember watching Little House on the Prairie too. The sincerity in Charles Ingles' eyes is enough to make a person faint.
- flavorful0
I think the family aspect is what most people relate to, or want to relate to. Doesn't matter that they were from Bodunk County in East Jabumfuck, West Virginia.