Mayberry Morality-- or Mountain out of Molehill

On another board I got a lot of negative responses to something I said about The Andy Griffith Show. This was that, even though I like the show, the characters sometimes go too far in their hypocrisy to 'keep from hurting someone's feelings.' This was in response to a latter season's episode in which a couple of phone messages are confused and Andy, having already had a spaghetti dinner, goes to accept an invitation to dinner which had not been offered. When the hosts realized there was some kind of mixup they cook another dinner (spaghetti). Then Andy gets the word that it was not they that invited him to dinner, but his 'girlfriend,' who had still another spaghetti dinner prepared, for which he is way late, to her indignation, and then she angrily admonishes him, "Eat!" when he appears uninterested.

Other posters derisively replied with "So you're not a fan?" and "You don't enjoy the show, do you?" and "That's the great thing about Mayberry-- people try not to hurt each others' feelings!"

It has come to mind to make a post like this on this board before, and now I finally had a little spurring on. Should we go to such an extent to please different people? (and there's no need to remind me it's 'only a show'). But, more significantly to me, is hypocrisy always a sin, even if it's meant to spare someone's feelings? Jesus certainly attacked hypocrisy, including under such circumstances-- such as when he accepted an Pharisee's invitation to a meal, didn't do the expected ceremonial handwashing, and directly insulted him for that practice. And TAGS does present lying in a justified way, such as the sheriff and deputy saying they like Aunt Bee's homemade pickles, which they really think are awful.

How far do you go hypocritically, dishonestly, to please people, or how far do you think is acceptable?

 

No, mine are rather thick.

 

I really meant for the subject here to be more generally about lying and hypocrisy to 'keep from hurting somebody's feelings.' A lot of polls have been taken and they show that most people think lying is acceptable if it's done for that reason. And I've always disagreed. Maybe the classic question often spouted today is a wife asking her husband "Does this dress make me look fat?" Being a lifetime single, I don't deal with that, but I might say, "if you look fat, it ain't that dress that does it." But if it is right to please other people by insincere words and actions, I think Jesus' words and actions at that host's home would have been quite different.

Another Mayberry example is when Aunt Bee agrees to do a daily live television cooking show and is worried about Andy and Opie being without her to cook supper for them. Andy lies and tells her he has hired a cook that she doesn't know, when he is tending to that chore himself, to the boy, Opie's, frustration (IOW Andy is not a very good cook). Can this possibly be morally acceptable?

 

That's probably so. The show to check that out with is more likely I Love Lucy, the show defined the American sitcom. And at first it did go largely the way of comedy shorts seen in theaters-- ridiculous situations that strained for the big laughs. But as the show settled in, it did become humorous over more believable situations. And certainly these involved misunderstandings and hypocrisies. I think it's one of the first episodes in which "Ricky" brings home a very expensive fur coat, which Lucy thinks is for her, and she tells him it's great he didn't forget their anniversary. So he goes on letting her think the coat is hers, even staging a burglary to have it "stolen," rather than telling her the truth. When she does find out the truth, he sends her all kinds of anniversary gifts, lying and saying he bought them a week ago, "but the store forgot send them." Otherwise in the series, they frequently talk derogatorily about certain friends, and the friend shows up and they smile big and are so glad to see them (they say).

Even though I don't watch any new shows on television, I'm sure lying, hypocrisy,and miscommunication still makes up a big part of the plots (along with sexual humor and blasphemy). But is there anything left in the world that's funny? Maybe we've just done it all, and there is no direction to go but more and more outrageous by dishonesty-is-fun.

 

Does that mean you approve of lies and hypocrisy with your family and friends?