Take away the flag and the Dukes of Hazzard was a left-wing TV show.

[Jetboy]

It was set in the South yet Jefferson Davis (Hogg) was the greedy all white wearing fat cat Republican villain. Abraham Lincoln (Hogg) wore all black and was JD's pious polar opposite. The only law man who was both competent and a man of integrity was Sheriff Little from the next county over, a black man.

The Dukes were always on the side of the poor and disadvantaged and proved it by donating to a worthy cause at the end of most episodes. Two quotes sum up what the Dukes were all about. Uncle Jesse said, 'A stranger is just a friend the Dukes haven't met before', and Deputy Ennis Straight said, 'I'd never want to not protect the innocent.' The Dukes had very little but they shared what they had with anyone who was in need.

I'm glad that the Confederate flag is coming down all over America, it's long past time. I just wanted to point out that beyond the car chases and jumps the show was about poor folks helping each other in the face of a greedy and corrupt system.

Some people grew up in the middle of nowhere where most everybody looked the same. I was one. But I learned that a stranger is just a friend I haven't met before from the Dukes of Hazzard. I'm betting that others did too.

[alcibiades_mystery]

1. Rebel libertarians against corrupt big (boss) government?

C'mon now. It was Reaganism at its finest, which is why it flourished at precisely that moment in our history.

[Jetboy]

2. Greed is bad.

That was the main point of the show. The greedy Boss Hogg was the villain. There was nothing right wing about the show except for the flag.

[yeoman6987]

4. Well it's gone. No use trying to excuse it.

[HooptieWagon]

6. Libertarian, very true.

The general theme of many movies and TV shows in the 70s was anti-authoritarianism, and the Dukes had that in spades.
Understand the culture at the time...there was Main Street America beginning to find out the govt had been lying to us about the war in Vietnam. There were revelations about CIA shenanigans of all sorts. Watergate. Then there was the OPEC embargo, which raised gas prices, and necessitated lowering the speed limit from 70 to 55...enforced primarily by local sheriffs (who were often corrupt, especially in rural counties). So Hollywood generated a plethora of anti-authority movies and shows, featuring the freedom loving protagonists vs the corrupt authority antagonists.

[Jetboy]

7. Any libertarian streak in the Dukes was the good kind like Robin Hood had.

Their house was a rundown shack with nothing of value not even a tv. They wanted nothing but a small farm and a hot car and gladly donated every extra penny to worthy causes.

[HooptieWagon]

8. Yes. Personal freedom, not Ayn Rand corporate freedom.

There is an intersection between Liberals and Libertarians inre personal freedom.

[Jetboy]

9. Libertarian Socialist

I kind of fit in there. I believe in Socialist economic policies to a degree and mind-your-own-business policy when it comes to personal choices. Help your fellow man and live and let live. I think that's about where the Dukes were too.

[raouldukelives]

13. Haha. Yep. That is right about where I am.

I don't care what folks do as long as it isn't hurting others, myself or five generations of our families ahead.

I recall it also being one of the last of the "weekly moral" TV shows. Where Uncle Jessie at the end would kind of tie together why they had to defy the law in the interests of justice and liberty to the viewers at home and to the police they would always save from themselves.

Kind of like the old TV shows like Beaver and Ozzie and Harriet that always had a positive moral arc to them.

I don't catch much TV these days but what I do, as in most things in this life today, seem to be almost diametrically opposed to the viewpoints and morals I grew up with and mostly agree with.

[pepperbear]

3. the show in and of itself was certainly not racist.

Last edited Sat Jul 4, 2015, 02:37 PM - Edit history (1)

it is genuinely getting caught up in the backlash of the unfortunate significance of the symbol.

[Jetboy]

5. Totally agree, thanks. n/t

[Midnight Writer]

10. Was there ever a black person on the show?

Or a Latino? Or a woman that was not sexy? Or a gay person? Surely in poverty ridden Hazzard County, there were more than a few of these.

I don't pretend to be a student of the program, but I have seen a few episodes and don't remember any of these.

Of course the show was an American Southern NASCAR fantasy and was a product of it's time. And Southern and small town culture has many positive sides. The plots were just an excuse for the fun-lovin' Dukes to race around recklessly and flirt with (never capture) American sex fantasy women.

And yes, I realize the same questions can be raised about the modern Marvel Avengers movies, or any number of modern films and TV shows.



Can anyone who knows more about the show enlighten me about this?

[Beartracks]

11. Sheriff Little was African American.

He was the competent, non-corrupt sheriff in the neighboring county, played by Don Pedro Colley:

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3419271936/nm0171824?ref_=nm_phs_md_4

He was only a recurring character, however; IMDB notes he was only in 10 episodes.


P.S. Any number of background characters on that show COULD HAVE BEEN gay, but since homosexuals look like everyone else, there would have been no way to know.

=======================

[Bluenorthwest]

14. In the period in which 'Dukes' was made for TV, there were virtually no gay characters on TV

1979-1985. There had been Jody on Soap, and for a short time a coupe on 'Hot l Baltimore'. But I can attest to the fact that networks were still very actively removing gay content and characters presented in pilots or in shows being adapted from film or stage.
Dukes was very much not the sort of show that was going to break new social ground, but the fact is that even shows that were doing that on some levels were still hotly avoiding LGBT issues. Hotly.

[awoke_in_2003]

15. What was funny is Paul Lynde was gay...

maybe no one talked about it, but every one knew. And the line he delivered on Hollywood Squares- the guy was a genius.

[davidpdx]

12. I have also thought about it since the episodes were pulled

I totally support the removal of every Confederate flag from a federal, state, county, and city building (and any other types I may have missed).

That having been said, I also don't feel the Dukes of Hazard was about racism. Yes, the General Lee had a huge Confederate flag on the top of the car. But as the OP said the Duke family were always trying to help people and that is why they often got into trouble (which is what made the show so funny). Boss Hog was the emulation of what was wrong with the South. Bribery, abuse of power, violating people's rights, etc. The story worked because Boss Hog always ended up being duped showing what an idiot he was. If the show was a new one that hadn't been aired, I might be inclined to say it would be in the best interest of the studio and the public not to have it shown. The problem is the show was aired well over 30 years ago and is part of the culture like it or not. Keeping it off the air in the long run is short-sighted. I can see the reasoning for keeping it off temporarily (for the rest of this year) because of the shooting and the current controversy over the flying of the flag in southern states.