Norman Lear- Just Another Version of
You
By Eddy Friedeld
The first two people in my life who
taught me to think deeply about social and political issues and argue cogently
and passionately for what I believed in were my late father David and Norman
Lear.
Lear, the
94-year-old entertainment icon is the subject of a terrific American Masters
documentary: Norman Lear- Just Another Version of You, which premieres nationwide Tuesday,
October 25, 9-10:30 p.m. on PBS.
Speaking from his home in Los Angeles about both the documentary and his
masterful 2014 autobiography, Even This I Get to Experience, he still has an energy level
that would put people a quarter of his age to shame.
“People think when you’re over 90 you’ve
changed. It’s everyone else who’s
changed. Suddenly I’m extremely wise,†Lear says. Charming and reflective, he explains why he
wears the white hat that has become his favorite article of clothing and his
signature garment.
He has never lost
his childlike view of the world. “I’ve
never been in any situation, no matter how tragic, where I didn’t see the humor
in it. Human beings are all foolish-
that knits us all together.â€
When asked what the secret to creating
loving and enduring characters and family on television, he said: “My bumper sticker just outside on my car
reads “just another version of you.†I think the question is best answered by
that deepest of philosophies- I truly believe that as humans sharing our human
commonalities we are versions of one another despite our ethnicities, our skin
colors, or the country we may have been born in.â€
“It seems to me when I look at the LGBT
issue and see how far it has moved, whether socially, legally, or politically, and
then I look at divisions in between races and I haven’t seen the same movement. Maybe that’s the next big movement, that the
race movement leaps forward the way the LGBT movement has.â€
Lear and the late Maya Angelou shared a
concern that America was losing touch with its humanity. A national icon for hope, when asked whether
he was more worried about the American people 40 years ago or now, he said: “I’d
like to be the touchstone for hope that Trump is for lack of hope. He is gathering all of those people who are
suffering as a result of the fact that we have little if not a long way to go,
making for a culture where everyone has equal opportunity, and he is helping
those that do not enjoy equal opportunity that villains are keeping them from getting
and he is the hero.â€
“Donald Trump is the middle finger of the
American right hand- they do not have leadership in any direction. If you look at the auto industry, there is
the airbag problem, in pharmaceuticals, the EpiPens, if you’re looking at
banking it’s Wells Fargo, and if you’re looking at politics, it’s Donald
Trump. It’s a very difficult place to be
if you’re broke and out of a job or you have a good job and two kids in school
and can no longer afford to live where you’re living.â€
Born in
Connecticut, Lear learned to love America through the eyes of his immigrant
Jewish grandfather. “At nine, I was forced to become an adult,†he said when
his father went to jail. “But that kid
remained inside me for the rest of my life.â€
A World War II
hero, he started writing during the early days of television, for Dean Martin
and Jerry Lewis, Tennessee Ernie Ford, and Frank Sinatra.
He
was part of the transitional generation from American Jews to Jewish
Americans. Proud, fiercely loyal and
carrying a sense of purpose and cultural and religious commitment to justice
that permeated their work.
In the 1970s, Lear singlehandedly
changed television with All in the Family, which became a platform for social discussion and reform. Norman Lear revolutionized the sitcom, taking the
American family from the
antiseptic and idealized to the contentious and
dysfunctional. He was the first to hold
up the mirror and share social issues through the sitcom format. Until Lear, mainstream television did
not carry Vietnam protests.
Living in London,
his partner, Bud Yorkin sent him a tape of a show called Till Death do us
Part. “The father was conservative; the
son was progressive. I went with that
relationship and never lived to regret it.â€
That show became
All in the Family, which starred Carroll O’Connor as Archie Bunker, the bigoted
patriarch of a Queens New York working class family, who was constantly at odds
with his college student son-in-law, Mike Stivic (Rob Reiner), whom he referred
to as “Meathead†for his progressive views. The first show began with a disclaimer: “The program you are about to
see is All in the Family. It seeks to throw a humorous spotlight on our
frailties, prejudices and concerns. By
making them a source of laughter, we hope to show- in a mature fashion- just
how absurd they are.â€
The show
became a megahit. It was the top-rated show on American television, and
the winner of four consecutive Emmy Awards as Outstanding Comedy Series. All in the Family was not only one of
the most successful sitcoms in history, it was also one of the most important
and influential series ever to air, ushering in a new era
in American television characterized by programs that did not shy away from
addressing controversial or socially relevant subject matters and created an
intelligent discourse, couched against a comedic and satirical backdrop.
“Mike
Stivic spoke for me,†Lear said. Like
Archie, he didn’t know a lot about what could be done about the country’s
problems, the nitty gritty of the scholarly work that led to his opinions. He had those opinions reflexively. I am the same way. I think of myself as a bleeding heart
conservative. I think the most conservative
thing in America is to be devoted to The First Amendment, to The Bill of
Rights, to the notion that we are all created equal under the law, and we must
find a way to ensure equal justice. I
think that’s an extremely conservative point of view. The bleeding heart part is because I don’t
know enough to know how to correct it and I vote for the people who seem to be
closer to how to correct it and to making good on those promises. The problem
is that the people who do the best job at pretending that they back those
documents are the Right. But it isn’t in
actuality as the culture progresses.â€
“As for the career that followed,†he
said, “while the decision to cast Carroll O’Connor, Jean Stapelton, Rob Reiner
and Sally Struthers was my own, the four-way chemistry that resulted in each
player drawing comic strength from the other characters, at the same time
brilliantly playing against them to deepen the humor in every direction, was a
gift that I can only take credit for nourishing and using well.â€
Archie Bunker and his family was followed by Maude, The Jeffersons, Good
Times, Sanford and Son, One Day at a Time, as well as Fernwood Tonight, a talk show parody
dedicated to battling bigotry and social issues through art, and Mary Hartman,
Mary Hartman, a parody of soap operas. In
the 1970s, most of America was laughing and thinking because of Norman Lear.
The documentary
follows him around through recent and 40-year-old clips, discussing political
and social issues, and his battles with censors and censorship, which at the
time was called “program practices.†It also shows his influence on now famous
individuals, who have kept Lear’s activist flame burning bright.
He reflected on a few of his many
friendships, including Carl Reiner, with whom I was able to agree from own
experience: “Carl Reiner, a friend for some 60 years now is one of a kind. If no matter how good you may have a reason
to feel, if you aren’t feeling a little bit better for being with him, I would
call for a physician right away.â€
“You raised me,†Jon Stewart said to him. “Where I think I learned how to process
complex thoughts, issues that I cared about, through the lens of comedy, was
watching Norman Lear shows.â€
“What could make me prouder,†Lear replies.
“â€Good Times†was for white people,†Russell
Simmons said. “The Jeffersons†was for
black people. It was aspirational,
angry. George Jefferson taught me how to
walk- with confidence.â€
With appearances ranging from Carl Reiner, Rob Reiner, Mel Brooks,
and Amy Poehler, and directed by Heidi Ewing
and Rachel Grady and Executive Produced by American Masters’
Michael Kantor, the film offers a unique insight into a “Gadol Hador,†a giant of his generation and those to
follow.
Lear retired from television to devote
his life to activism. He created “People
for the American Way.†Fighting for
civil rights resulted in death threats. He also bought an original copy of The Declaration of Independence and
toured it around the country. “All men
are created equal [with the right] to life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness- The Declaration of Independence. The tour celebrated the founding fathers who pledged “their lives,
fortunes, and sacred honor†to make good on these words… But ironically, and
God Bless America, the last time I witnessed a reference to sacred honor was in
Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather.â€
“He had such a
responsibility to make sure kids saw it and knew what that meant,†said George
Clooney. When asked about what advice he
would give to students who are embarking on artistic careers, especially
comedy, Lear said: “Go with your
gut. Deliver on your intention and go
with it- it’s golden.â€
Cinema Retro Contributor Eddy Friedfeld
is the co-author of Caesar’s Hours with Sid Caesar and teaches film and
television classes at Yale and NYU