Post by mmderdekea on Oct 9, 2007 19:45:40 GMT -5
Hello, all,
Coming off of MyTatuo's thread on Saftlofton.org's analysis of TGAH and Bill Maxwell, it got me thinking. As Saftlofton is a communist, apparently, one of his inferences is that Bill, the commie hater, was portrayed as an underling goofball to Ralph, the liberal suit wearer.
While driving home thinking of this discussion, it dawned on me that in reality Ralph really wasn't that left leaning a liberal, so wasn't really that different from Bill in many ways.
As I AM a left leaning liberal, I feel I can analyze Ralph in this way with some expertise.
For one thing, in "Downhill" we learn that Ralph wanted real seal skin boots. Now baby seals being murdered for clothing is about as ANTI-liberal as one can get. The very idea that Ralph would be okay buying such boots is anathema to any anti-animal cruelty, pro-liberal person. Also, we learn he wants to trade in his station wagon for a red sports car; nothing about gas mileage is mentioned! Ralph is all about moving up financially in the world there. This is as conservative an attitude as one can get!
We learn in "Downhill" that Ralph had some liberal traits a few years back, perhaps after his inferred criminal youth, whereby he learned to hot wire cars ("Chicken"), and before he bought a house and wished to get ahead in life. Sam Brice refers to Ralph's liberal past, but it is SHE, the wackjob left leaning liberal that is made fun of in the show, not Bill and Ralph's more conservative views and ideas. Notice that Ralph has clearly moved past her belief systems.
Ralph also is not liberal in his food choices. He is as much into burgers and fries as Bill is, enjoying grilling regularly. He drinks the alcohol, pop, and coffee that Sam the liberal won't. He has no health food aspects to his diet, nor does he disagree with eating animals in any way.
In general, Ralph never speaks of "liberal" causes. In "Good Samaritan" he wants to use the suit to do good, but that is not particularly liberal. Many conservative religious people wish to do good in the world and be good people. Ralph no doubt got tired of fighting Bill's crimes, and wanted to make use of the suit to help others out. That is highly admirable. Notice that by the end of that episode, however, learning about Torchy Tanner torching the Monastery, Ralph gives up the idea and we don't really hear him discoursing on being a suit wearing do-gooder afterwards. So, that seemed more an experiment than an actual deep integral part of his personality. A real liberal would continue on, focusing on the success with rescuing the little boy, not the grand arson one allowed to happen to innocent monks. And the other time Ralph tried to do good for the janitor, in "Dream", that also back-fired for three of his teaching colleagues. It seemed actually, Ralph was safest and most effective with the suit when actually dealing with the federal crimes that Bill the FBI Agent brought to his door (or occasionally Ralph brought to his).
Ralph does want to help his students, and is very sincere and earnest in that attempt. Is that being liberal? After all, it's his job, his paycheck. But, he does seem to go above and beyond the call with them and his commitment to them is real. Yet, his devotion to them seriously wavers in "3-Ring" and who saves the day? Bill, Mr. Conservative, who called on the kids to come and tell Ralph they'll try again on the test.
Probably the most clearly illustrated aspect of libera/conservative is in home decoration in the series. Definitely Ralph's house is liberally decorated, with the infamous bake sale poster, and other wall hangings which proclaim liberal attitudes. Bill's apartment is indeed at the opposite end of the extreme here from Ralph's home--it is FBI decorated, with criminal mug shots, a large map of California (his work territory), pictures of conservative heroes, etc.
But, where they live is not truly who they are in the show.
Ralph and Bill are actually closer together in personality than one would think. In general though, after the first few episodes, even with Bill's bluntness, they worked great together and communicated fine. "No Accounting" is a wonderful example of them as partners. They both eat similarly as I've said. They both like baseball, sports in general, fishing, hanging out, grilling, guy stuff. Ralph isn't into culture as we see, outside of being more literary than Bill and being a doofus with magic; Ralph doesn't go to opera, or symphony, or plays, really. Ralph is more comfortable wearing his caring for others on his sleeve; Bill hides it and lets that out only when urged to (saving lost child, saving horses, helping Harlan, pairing Harlan with Ira, etc.). But, they both care the same. In fact, Bill calls Ralph his friend more times in the shows than Ralph is comfortable calling Bill (the most effusive time Ralph does that is in Desperado).
So, although Bill is an FBI agent, and self-declared Republican, anti-commie, Ralph is with him all the way in working to protect the USofA against Russian threats and Russian Agents, and Bill is right there all the way helping Ralph save Russian couples who wish to defect, and innocent Italian Raviolis. Ralph learns that in your face communication is necessary at times in "Hog Wild" and Bill learns that helping to save mustangs is truly a valid use of the suit and his own personal time.
If Ralph was very liberal, being around Bill has made him see the value of crime fighting and standing up face to face against those who wish to do harm in the world through violence or fraud or being a traitor. If Bill was very conservative, his hanging out with Ralph loosened him up, and made him less "by the book", more able to see others points of views and go with them.
In reality these two men have more in common I think than they are opposites. And they certainly are not in complete opposite ends of the conservative/liberal spectrum. Their relationship is more balanced than that, more complicated and much more integrated. They both had an innate flexibility that allowed them to take the rough edges off of each other and help each other become more integrated people, even if they had some rough patches together at first in "Hit Car" and in "DVS". The green guys chose well!
Mona
Coming off of MyTatuo's thread on Saftlofton.org's analysis of TGAH and Bill Maxwell, it got me thinking. As Saftlofton is a communist, apparently, one of his inferences is that Bill, the commie hater, was portrayed as an underling goofball to Ralph, the liberal suit wearer.
While driving home thinking of this discussion, it dawned on me that in reality Ralph really wasn't that left leaning a liberal, so wasn't really that different from Bill in many ways.
As I AM a left leaning liberal, I feel I can analyze Ralph in this way with some expertise.
For one thing, in "Downhill" we learn that Ralph wanted real seal skin boots. Now baby seals being murdered for clothing is about as ANTI-liberal as one can get. The very idea that Ralph would be okay buying such boots is anathema to any anti-animal cruelty, pro-liberal person. Also, we learn he wants to trade in his station wagon for a red sports car; nothing about gas mileage is mentioned! Ralph is all about moving up financially in the world there. This is as conservative an attitude as one can get!
We learn in "Downhill" that Ralph had some liberal traits a few years back, perhaps after his inferred criminal youth, whereby he learned to hot wire cars ("Chicken"), and before he bought a house and wished to get ahead in life. Sam Brice refers to Ralph's liberal past, but it is SHE, the wackjob left leaning liberal that is made fun of in the show, not Bill and Ralph's more conservative views and ideas. Notice that Ralph has clearly moved past her belief systems.
Ralph also is not liberal in his food choices. He is as much into burgers and fries as Bill is, enjoying grilling regularly. He drinks the alcohol, pop, and coffee that Sam the liberal won't. He has no health food aspects to his diet, nor does he disagree with eating animals in any way.
In general, Ralph never speaks of "liberal" causes. In "Good Samaritan" he wants to use the suit to do good, but that is not particularly liberal. Many conservative religious people wish to do good in the world and be good people. Ralph no doubt got tired of fighting Bill's crimes, and wanted to make use of the suit to help others out. That is highly admirable. Notice that by the end of that episode, however, learning about Torchy Tanner torching the Monastery, Ralph gives up the idea and we don't really hear him discoursing on being a suit wearing do-gooder afterwards. So, that seemed more an experiment than an actual deep integral part of his personality. A real liberal would continue on, focusing on the success with rescuing the little boy, not the grand arson one allowed to happen to innocent monks. And the other time Ralph tried to do good for the janitor, in "Dream", that also back-fired for three of his teaching colleagues. It seemed actually, Ralph was safest and most effective with the suit when actually dealing with the federal crimes that Bill the FBI Agent brought to his door (or occasionally Ralph brought to his).
Ralph does want to help his students, and is very sincere and earnest in that attempt. Is that being liberal? After all, it's his job, his paycheck. But, he does seem to go above and beyond the call with them and his commitment to them is real. Yet, his devotion to them seriously wavers in "3-Ring" and who saves the day? Bill, Mr. Conservative, who called on the kids to come and tell Ralph they'll try again on the test.
Probably the most clearly illustrated aspect of libera/conservative is in home decoration in the series. Definitely Ralph's house is liberally decorated, with the infamous bake sale poster, and other wall hangings which proclaim liberal attitudes. Bill's apartment is indeed at the opposite end of the extreme here from Ralph's home--it is FBI decorated, with criminal mug shots, a large map of California (his work territory), pictures of conservative heroes, etc.
But, where they live is not truly who they are in the show.
Ralph and Bill are actually closer together in personality than one would think. In general though, after the first few episodes, even with Bill's bluntness, they worked great together and communicated fine. "No Accounting" is a wonderful example of them as partners. They both eat similarly as I've said. They both like baseball, sports in general, fishing, hanging out, grilling, guy stuff. Ralph isn't into culture as we see, outside of being more literary than Bill and being a doofus with magic; Ralph doesn't go to opera, or symphony, or plays, really. Ralph is more comfortable wearing his caring for others on his sleeve; Bill hides it and lets that out only when urged to (saving lost child, saving horses, helping Harlan, pairing Harlan with Ira, etc.). But, they both care the same. In fact, Bill calls Ralph his friend more times in the shows than Ralph is comfortable calling Bill (the most effusive time Ralph does that is in Desperado).
So, although Bill is an FBI agent, and self-declared Republican, anti-commie, Ralph is with him all the way in working to protect the USofA against Russian threats and Russian Agents, and Bill is right there all the way helping Ralph save Russian couples who wish to defect, and innocent Italian Raviolis. Ralph learns that in your face communication is necessary at times in "Hog Wild" and Bill learns that helping to save mustangs is truly a valid use of the suit and his own personal time.
If Ralph was very liberal, being around Bill has made him see the value of crime fighting and standing up face to face against those who wish to do harm in the world through violence or fraud or being a traitor. If Bill was very conservative, his hanging out with Ralph loosened him up, and made him less "by the book", more able to see others points of views and go with them.
In reality these two men have more in common I think than they are opposites. And they certainly are not in complete opposite ends of the conservative/liberal spectrum. Their relationship is more balanced than that, more complicated and much more integrated. They both had an innate flexibility that allowed them to take the rough edges off of each other and help each other become more integrated people, even if they had some rough patches together at first in "Hit Car" and in "DVS". The green guys chose well!
Mona