In case you missed it, David Nelson died on Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2011.
Huh? Who?
Well, David Nelson was the eldest son to Ozzie and Harriet Nelson who from1952 to 1966 had a wonderful television sitcom about their family along with younger brother Ricky. David Nelson portrayed a fictionalized version of himself alongside the other family members. The show was about the ideal American family of the 1950s (and in my opinion, of any time). The situations that David and his brother Rick got into were a far cry from today's dysfunctional and over-sexed television sitcoms. Their problems seem minor today, but spoke volumes to the viewers of the time. As the family fumbled through one misunderstanding after another, the audience would learn humorous lessons about life in a cleaner, more gentle way.
Today, when America's youth spend an ever-increasing amount of time watching television, the shows have lost the innocence; the family values; and the simple, clean humor. The images of a loving family are replaced by a constant bombardment of bad role models and ever-decreasing morals. Young viewers today are more likely to walk away from a television show with lessons of deceit and exploitation, rather than lessons about friendship, family and doing the right thing no matter what.
There have certainly been exceptions over the years, even in the past few decades with shows like Happy Days, The Cosby Show, Full House, Home Improvement and Family Matters but I still wish classic shows like The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Father Knows Best, The Donna Reed Show and many others would be shown regularly instead of back to back nightly episodes of the "pathetic character" sitcoms of the past twenty years. If I had my own television station, those mostly forgotten shows would be regular viewing and the passing of David Nelson might be more than just a quick news blurb. That's just my middle aged opinion. David has now joined his mother, father and brother to continue their adventures in heaven.
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I'm almost embarrassed to admit this, but my wife and I watch American Idol. If you enjoy hearing new, talented, (or sometimes terrible) singers then I guess this is a harmless way of passing some time, but what I want to touch on here is how fanatical people get towards these singers and celebrities in general. At the end of each American Idol season, the final contestants go back to their respective home towns to meet some of their fans. Well actually, they meet thousands of their fans. It's unbelievable how many people show up to see someone who has done nothing more than sing on television for a few months. I realize idol/celebrity worship is nothing new, but it has always seemed a bit strange or wrong to me. I think admiration of this magnitude should have to be earned by doing great deeds along with living an honorable and respectable lifestyle. That's something that many celebrities, sports figures, and politicians do not do. Yet, they are still put on pedestals by so many. Too much idol worship can doom an entire civilization. We need to keep our priorities in order, and swooning over the American Idol should be way down the list. That's just my middle aged opinion.
