Addams Family and other TV Shows

by jws 11 Replies latest jw friends

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  jws

  I recently picked up a copy of the original Addams Family TV show on DVD because I loved the movies, but never saw the original TV shows because my parents would not let me for JW reasons (presumably for demonism, witchcraft, etc.). I'm about 12 episodes in and I don't know why this was banned. OK, there's Thing (a hand/arm), and a bear skin rug that growls. But other than those potentially "demonic" things, the Addams seem merely odd.

  On the other hand, my parents usually had no problem allowing me to watch the Munsters, which was a mix of the classic monster movies. We were allowed to see Frankenstein, but not Dracula because of his putting people under spells. We couldn't watch the Wolfman either because of some witchcraft tie. But Grandpa Munster was a vampire and the boy was a wolfboy. It seemed Grandpa was always cooking up some potion or another. Yet the Munsters were OK and the Addams weren't.

  This wasn't the only show they allowed that confused me. We could not watch Bewitched for the obvious reason of witchcraft, but watched I Dream of Jeannie all the time - with our parents. (Maybe it was the genie outfit). Jeannie obviously was working some sort of magic, yet this was OK for some reason. A search on wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genie) seems to talk about genies being spirits and such, according to legends. So rather than being a human commanding spirits through witchcraft (Bewitched), this show starred the spirit itself. Not only that, Major Nelson and Jeannie get married (sounds very Genesis, wicked spirits mating with humans).

  It seems any sort of monster was generally accepted as long as it didn't involve anything supernatural. King Kong, Godzilla, Frankenstein, prehistoric beasts, aliens, etc. - all OK. Ghosts, witches, vampires, werewolves - no way!

  What about your experiences? Was my family unique in allowing Munsters and I Dream of Jeannie? Or were those off-limits to most JW kids?
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  Gopher

  This reminds me of a post a couple days ago "demons here, demons there, demons everywhere!" , which sums up the superstitious fears embedded into JW doctrine, seeping through the conscious and subconscious minds of their rule-makers and parents.

  In our house - Addams Family was okay, nobody liked the Munsters, and I Dream of Jeannie was okay (actually my favorite of the 3 - I liked the Apollo space program and Barbara Eden''s outfits.) Bewitched was not allowed.

  Certain Disney movies with a spiritistic theme were disallowed too - like Bedknobs and Broomsticks. However "Freaky Friday" was okay, viewed as mere fantasy. And Love Bug was okay too, even though it was about a VW that seemed to have an internal human spirit.

  I suppose someone could look at almost any fantasy program as spiritism if they wanted to.
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  knock knock

  I guess because my mom was the jw and my dad not, we got to watch most weekly shows but not movies . Missed alot of Charlie Brown specials but the annual "It's A Charlie Brown Memorial" was mandatory.

  Then there was this one which was off limits. Shirley some of you remember it?

  
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  Wasanelder Once

  We weren't allowed to watch Combat, Rat Patrol, Outer Limits, Twilight Zone, One Step Beyond, Dark Shadows etc.

  I dream of genie was ok, wierd, eh?

  W.Once
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  lonelysheep

  It's funny (ironic) that shows I grew up watching with no problem, others were forbidden to see. Sorry to those of you brought up jw.

  I loved The Munsters, Bewitched, The Addams Family, My Favorite Martian, etc.....
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  Junction-Guy

  I think we were allowed to watch both Addams Family and the Munsters, in fact I get those shows mixed up. Bewitched was one of those shows that we could only watch occasionally, and then it depended on which dub family member we were with at the time. My Dad wouldnt allow it, but my mom would. My stepgrandma didnt like us to watch it, however her daughter(my stepmom) seemed Ok with it.
  
  I have the bewitched book and according to it, there was alot of religious backlash from the conservative christians at that time, not just the JW's..
  
  What's so odd is that there were several shows like Three's company that we werent allowed to watch, however even as a child we were allowed to watch Dallas with my Elder Dad and Stepmom every friday night.
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  Tatiana

  No Bewitched, Addams Family, Twilight Zone, Night Gallery, or Outer Limits. But, when I went to stay with my anointed uncle in Atlanta for a few months, we watched Outer Limits all the time.

  No Soul Train, but American Bandstand was ok. No Fantasia. No Solid Gold.

  My mom used to watch a horror fest that came on Saturday nights. And when the Watchtower came out with the whole soap opera ban, she quickly swtiched to Knot's Landing and Dallas, which were night soaps.

  As I sit here and read posts about this, and re-read mine, I am overwhelmed with the sheer lunacy of all this bullsh*t.
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  keyser soze

  My parents, my mother especially, were your typical dubs in this regard. They attribute anything they can't understand to demons. They have no imagination because this part of their brain is removed at an early age. We had a talk at a circuit assembly once by the district overseer who said people shouldn't watch the "Star Wars" movies because the "dark side of the force" represented demonism. He had to make it known repeatedly "of course I've never watched these movies".
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  kitten whiskers

  Your Addams family ban may have based on the mother of Morticia Addams, she called her "Ma Maw". There were episodes where "Ma Maw" would use a crystal ball and conjour spirits. It is played on "TV Land" on Comcast during the day, I have been able to watch it lately and was surprised when I saw her saw that episode. I didn't remember it from my youth. The Munsters is also played on TVLand.
  I was allowed to watch quite a bit as a youngster (mom jw, father not), Casper the friendly ghost cartoon, Twilight Zone, Ripley's Believe it or Not, Scooby Doo, I dream of Jeanie, Bewitched, Disney movies that included spells, but NOT Fantasia or Bedknobs and Broomsticks (still haven't seen those), Three's Company.
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  aoxo

  i wasn't allowed to watch the cartoon He-Man because he would stand on the mountain and say "I have the power!" and only jehovah had the power. i watched it anyway, just turned it down when he said that. three stooges was too violent, i dream of geenie was ok, i think the munsters were supposed to be dead people so we couldn't watch that but it was ok for mom and dad to sneak in an R rated charles bronson movie. don't ask, just accept it...