Watch this space…
In my Tuesday evening class, a remarkable thing happened. I was there early, sitting in my assigned seat eating my dinner, when a classmate, whom I know but not that well, came in and said to me:
“Is it weird that I read your blog?”
NO! For the love of Pete NO!! There is nothing weird about you reading my blog! I so appreciate it!
It turns out that he and his mother used to watch the Nick at Nite marathons when he was growing up. He told me that it was while watching The Facts of Life that he had his “I’m gay” epiphany. That entire exchange made me so very happy.
We are both progressives, and we chatted about what I’ve talked about before on this very blog – specifically, how progressive The Facts of Life is in actuality, regardless of its occasional ham-handed treatment of ISSUES.
Specifically, we talked about Natalie. We talked about how Natalie, despite being “the large one,” never wanted for boyfriends and her weight was never discussed. He pointed out that she was also the victim of a sexual assault, dressed as Charlie Chaplin.
Right then and there, I made it a point to make my next recap that episode, just for my friend. It is quite remarkable, that in 1981, a time when “she asked for it” was even more commonplace than it is today (and make no mistake – there’s plenty of it right this very minute), the show had a large woman, dressed as Charlie Chaplin, targeted. It drives home the point that it’s not what you’re wearing or how you look, and you’re never asking for it.
Unfortunately, the recap has to wait. I spent the morning on an airplane, and since my computer has about 20 minutes of battery life, I wasn’t able to blog on the plane. And now that I’m on a brief St. Patrick’s Day Weekend vacation in Colorado, there’s little to no chance of my being productive. Please do watch this space, though, the recap is coming soon. And I’ll make up for this missed posts during spring break, I promise.
Love,
Vikki
