MovieChat Forums > Bewitched (1964) Discussion > Darrin was kind of a mysogynistic bigot ...

Darrin was kind of a mysogynistic bigot , huh?

posted 8 years ago by jayghani
30 replies | jump to latest

Let's pretend instead of a witch, Samantha was a genius or an heiress. So... Samantha was not allowed to use her wealth or genius to placate her husband?

Or better yet, let's pretend Samantha was either a full-blooded African or some other race female or better yet a black woman who can pass for white. Samantha is not allowed to practice her culture, speak her language and even WORSE , her children are supposed to be ashamed of their culture. The children can't play with mortal children for fear of discovery AND they are not encouraged to play with magical children either.

The woman actually gets SICK because she is not using her powers enough and her husband is still not understanding that she needs to practice her craft.

Let's pretend instead Darrin and Sam were a homosexual couple. Imagine NEVER coming out to your family. He did not trust his mother even once they started having children! Making his mother think she is crazy instead of telling her the truth. Granted, Samantha waited until their wedding night for a "crying game" confession, but he stayed in the marriage...

All in all Darrin did love her, but he always wanted her to stay in her "place"... I think the comedy would have still worked if HE accepted her witchcraft , but they kept trying to hide it from the world...

[–] gbennett5 8 years ago

Boy, another poster who simply doesn't get this series. Sam had hundreds of
years of "everything, every man, every desire" at her fingers. Guess what. It
left her lonely and bored. She meets an ordinary man, who works hard, possesses
ethics, and she tells/proves to him she's a witch on their wedding night. He has
trouble handling it, doesn't knows for days whether he can. But he DOES learn that
living a life where you can "zap this, and pow that" does NOT bring happiness.
She has realized that she, too, feels the same way, and happily gives up her ways
to live a normal, satisfying life.

The homosexual comparison is absurd. EVERYBODY knows gays exist. People do not
believe that real-life witches do (uh, except for weirdos, but that's another
story). It is only natural that Sam and Darrin don't wish to tell his parents.
It would be more than they could take. Besides, Sam and Darrin LOOK like a
standard, normal couple. A same-sex union would be obvious and HAVE to be
explained.

A lot of people don't like BW, understandably so. You seem to be one of them.
So don't watch it, and don't comment on it. Then we'll ALL be happy.

[–] jayghani 8 years ago

While I might agree with you that the homosexual comparison is a stretch (except for the fact that she kept her powers in the closet) I stand by the other comparisons. Any ethnic minority who had to subvert what is natural to them in order to fit in can tell you that.

HOWEVER,

I think perhaps you did not watch the show. What you are talking about are the reasons that SAMANTHA is in the marriage. I am talking about Darrin. The other characters have called Darrin a bigot and hinted at his unreasonable ways many times during the show. Even Samantha. To me, it was most apparent when it came to his children.

Those characteristics were funny and even endearing when Dick York was Darrin. He gave it a funny edge and it was something to play off of. The Episodes with Dick Seargent (ironically their first choice) were fun IN SPITE of him. When he was Darrin his anti-witch rants seems downright hateful at times. The episode where he not only forced his daughter to learn ice skating the mortal way but his wife as well because she did not do it the mortal way? Come ON!

Although Bewitched did bring in some socially conscious issue and changed with the times, the only thing that changed and became modern in Samantha was her clothes. She couldn't go to a wedding with her mother because HE was working and could not go with her? Please!

For Samantha, this whole exercise is a small time in her life and one day Darrin will die and she and her children will live on . So you are right, for the Samantha character, she just fell in love and is sticking it out. However, When Dick York was in the role, Darrin was a misogynist, but a lovable one. With Dick Seargent, Darrin was just a cantankerous jerk.

[–] tinkerbell_jonna 8 years ago

I sorta agree and thought Maurice had a point when he wanted to teach Darrin Witchcraft. Being a witch was Samantha's LIFE and she was expected to just GIVE IT UP to conform to Darrin's life, what would be the difference in Darrin giving up his mortal life and becoming a Witch to conform to Samantha's life?

[–] AdrianLePier 8 years ago

The only part of that I kinda/sorta agree with - on the surface - is the bit about coming out to Darrin's parents. In theory, they should have been in on what was going on, what Samantha actually was, and what was up with their marriage.

...but, consider his parents. Darrin's mother was incredibly judgmental, and was one of those types who liked to disapprove. She would have been even less accepting of the situation than Samantha's parents were, I can believe would have said something...I dunno..."witch-ist" towards Sam and the kids. That's if she didn't totally shun them from her life. And while Darrin's father seemed friendly, he also came off as a bit of a self-serving huckster, who probably would have continually bothered them for favors if he knew about Sam's supernatural abilities.

In the end, you have to take Bewitched as:

A) a product of its time. Where traditional male/female roles still applied. In the early 1960s, women were supposed to stand behind their men. To love, honor, and...obey. Being less powerful than his wife is threatening to a man like Darrin, so his position was that 'if I stay in this marriage, I need you to be the wife I want and expect.' Due to her love of Darrin, Sam not only accepted that traditional template, but wanted it.

B) A fantasy. For the sake of entertainment, there are supposed to be frustrating and far-fetched elements of conflicts that force viewers to use suspension of disbelief when it comes to things that aren't realistic and people in real life wouldn't/shouldn't put up with.

[–] tinkerbell_jonna 8 years ago

Ppl are forever accusing I Dream Of Jeannie of being sexist, but I found Bewitched to be a lot MORE sexist, for some of those reasons you stated, like the woman was ALWAYS expected to concede to the man. Jeannie pretty well did what she wanted and the whole "MASTER" thing was really just for appearance really.

[–] northernlad 8 years ago

I sort of agree about Darrin's parents as well. It bothers me a bit that they never told Mr. and Mrs. Stephens about Sam being a witch. I mean what were they going to do? Exploit her? Darrin didn't trust his parents.

Of course if they had written it in such a way...there wouldn't be much of a story there. So they tell them...then what? No comedy...no story.

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[–] phoebemunster 8 years ago

They do tell Mrs. Stephens in season six, when she catches Sam and Endora using witchcraft on the furniture. After Sam and Darrin confess, though, the Witches Council makes it so Samantha can't demonstrate her powers a second time when they want to tell Mr. Stephens. They then make Mrs. Stephens think she was on hallucinogenics to cover it up. I kind of wish they had been able to actually make it stick, but sitcoms back then didn't really do major storyline changes, besides having kids.

[–] northernlad 8 years ago

I don't really count that as them telling Mrs. Stephens because they then turn around and make her look like she was out of her mind on drugs. It's not one of my favorite episodes because of that alone.

American Horror Story Season 6: Donald Trump

[–] gbennett5 8 years ago

I disagree. Considering the type of person Phyllis (alone) was, it would've been
too much for her to handle. That is of course, looking at the series as though
everything were real. Looking at the series as just a TV show, same thing:
the general conflict involved in keeping Darrin's parents - like all mortals - in
the dark made for some marvelous scripts, and terrific tension between Endora
and Phyllis (who would've never been so brave in matching wits with Endora if
she knew the truth).

[–] 8 years ago

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[–] debtfull 8 years ago

A lot of women from that age suffered quietly in just that way. Men often did not even appreciate it.

[–] DontBogartMe 8 years ago

Bewitched was a fantasy not a slice-of-life dramedy. The posters here take the situation comedy premise more seriously than its creators ever did.

[–] gbennett5 8 years ago

Let's compromise and call BW a "slice of life COMEDY." In its early years,
BW was beautifully produced, and seasons one through four boast mainly
strong offerings. I think Asher, Montgomery and co. DID take BW seriously,
at least before it became just a cash cow in its last three years (and even,
here, there are some strong shows).

[–] DontBogartMe 8 years ago

A slice of life comedy is one based on everyday situations many families encounter--All in the Family, Good Times, One Day at a Time, even Father Knows Best, Andy Griffith. Not fantasies whose raison d'etre is cows appearing and disappearing in elevators.

[–] gbennett5 8 years ago

BW IS slice of life comedy because it dealt with its characters - witches included -
as though they were real people. Great acting helped a lot.

I have seen plenty of sitcoms that dealt with everyday life with no "fantasy"
element, and I didn't believe what was going on due to terrible writing and
lifeless acting. BW scored because ordinary people related.

[–] DontBogartMe 7 years ago

I Married a Witch and Bell, Book, and Candle, both of which inspired Bewitched, focused more on character and plot. The magic was more deliberate, realistic. On the other hand, the producers of Bewitched realized that pyrotechnical tricks were the hallmark of the series. Much of the magic was quick and outlandish and achieved by the twitch of a nose.

Still, I don't even think either theatrical movie could be described as "slice of life."

[–] gbennett5 7 years ago

I'm not fond of either one of those films (especially "I Married a Witch"). In
any case, you cannot compare a 100 minute movie to a TV series that ran eight
years, can you?

And BW DID focus on plot and character. Bill Asher even stated in the first
BW book that they focused on writing scripts that would've worked even if
there was no witchcraft involved.

As for "outlandish" "tricks", the special effects on BW were very primitive,
even in their time. Strings carrying ash trays, and actors standing still while
a witch "popped in" was hardly breathtaking. BW never relied on that.

Finally, there are a number of episodes that contain very little witchcraft.

[–] barrpub-115-548099 7 years ago

You knew what direction the series was going to take from the first episode. The story opened with that montage of boy-meets-girl and their courtship, marriage, and honeymoon. But the real focus was the hocus-pocus in this case the physical comedy with Sam exacting her revenge on Nancy Kovack's character. Much more fun than a slice of life series that would have lasted one TV season.

[–] gbennett5 7 years ago

Sorry, but you're wrong. We did NOT know which way the series was going, as
the first year (in particular) was very sophisticated in character and writing.
The more "witchy" stuff began in later years, especially in the Sargent
seasons. But even here, the actors stood out far more than the so-so
special effects. BW was never a show ABOUT special effects; it was a series
about a complex marriage.

[–] barrpub-115-548099 7 years ago

Typing all your post in capital letters wouldn't change the fact that much of the first season was devoted to Mrs. Kravitz losing her mind over magical trickery beginning with the second episode. Then there are the episodes featuring Shelley Berman, Jonathan Daly, Arter Johnson, Jack Warden, Ling Ling etc. in which magic was at the forefront. That element became so popular that it increased in subsequent seasons. But it was always prominent and dominant.

[–] mikwalen 8 years ago

I agree with GB about the early years. The "tone" was completely different. For one rhing, the Darren/Endora relationship was MUCH more nuanced, instead of the cartoony bickering of the later years. And the series seemed to take a more serious look at the challenges such a marriage would present.

[–] adamdurrance 8 years ago

I love the first two seasons and tend to re watch them the most.

Endora was so poised as well as whimsical. I get the feeling I'm seeing a Shakespearean character at times. The scene during the Caldwell soup EP where they were out front disappearing into the night was so mystical.

During the first season they tended to fight a lot like most newlyweds.

Also love that it's in black and white. Just sets it apart from the rest of the seasons with tone and original cast.

[–] 8 years ago

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[–] jumaward 7 years ago

FFS, it's a TV show! Chillax!