tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607471777855707790.post1096820214779120806..comments2023-10-11T03:49:53.934-04:00Comments on The Gold Puppy: An Earful from the Greatest GenerationReya Mellickerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13076092659507965666noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607471777855707790.post-17953283345645904062012-10-23T16:22:39.398-04:002012-10-23T16:22:39.398-04:00What I think was wierd was this total respect for ...What I think was wierd was this total respect for all the pockets of insular families with their children (usually three it seems!)where so much was dysfunctional but nobody outide that bubble, even extended family, felt they had the right to say . So much emotional damage was hidden behind those picket fences.<br />Now there are aspects just as damaging but people are held more accountable. <br />It's a subject I feel strongly about - don't get me started on men who came back from that war without counselling, and morphed into emotionally remote fathers who's new terror was a son who was not a "man's man" - the sort of father portrayed by Brad Pitt in the Tree of Life.<br />No doubt they were bringing up their children to have the toughness to face life as they'd seen it.<br />I loved the way this subsequently played out in the 60's when the generations clashed, and now seems to have come full circle to an understanding of why there were difficulties and mistakes by church and society at the time, and at least an effort to heal the wounds.<br />Yes, there were lots of positives but as you say, very strange and repressive aspects too. Things that were seen as straightforward in those days ie adoption have in time, shown that greater care and consideration is needed - a more intelligent approach than the<br />black and white '50's.<br />Wonder what future generations wil make of these first 12 years of the 21st century!! No matter the century, each would have been made better by 'right speech - and practicing a good heart'. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607471777855707790.post-39426411071869532072012-10-23T08:28:05.927-04:002012-10-23T08:28:05.927-04:00Angela, I have. When I was in Germany in 1979 I ta...Angela, I have. When I was in Germany in 1979 I talked to many Germans of about my age. It was really a revelation!<br /><br />Steve - critical mass made the 60s? I think it was a lot more complicated than that. We are in a moment right now that feels similar, the energy that is. <br /><br />Did we grow more conformist or did we try harder and harder? Before Ward there was the Donna Reed Show and Father Knows Best.<br /><br />What a weird decade! Good lord.Reya Mellickerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13076092659507965666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607471777855707790.post-18697876903517681312012-10-23T07:22:08.883-04:002012-10-23T07:22:08.883-04:00Well, being of the same generation but growing up ...Well, being of the same generation but growing up in after-war Germany, you might think we were very different, but we weren`t! No one spoke much about the war, we only heard rumors, horrible stories, but also denial. We saw tha ruins, the wounded people in the streets, with lost arms and legs, the fathers who did not speak - but there were we, full of hunger for life. We loved American music and tried to look cool and travel to see the world. In the 68 movement we turned around and for the first time asked our fathers - What have YOU done? It was a crazy, weird time, but we have tried to learn from the disaster which we had inherited. Talk with Germans, you will see what I mean.Angelahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06484336744673299416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2607471777855707790.post-68315188634064739452012-10-23T01:38:01.975-04:002012-10-23T01:38:01.975-04:00Ward Cleaver was indeed a caricature, but his show...Ward Cleaver was indeed a caricature, but his show didn't even appear until 1957, 12 years after the end of the war. It seems like American society actually grew more conformist as the '50s progressed.<br /><br />It wasn't until all those baby boom kids became rebellious teenagers and college students that the world really began to shake -- a phenomenon that I think was related more to vast quantities of young people than anything else.Steve Reedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11684120060438252945noreply@blogger.com