Michael Stivic—the fictional hippie college student who marries into the Bunker family in the revolutionary blunt 1970s’ TV sitcom “All in the Family”—and the actor who portrayed him, Hollywood royalty and respected filmmaker Rob Reiner, seemed one and the same. Reiner was a lifelong unabashed liberal Democrat, carrying on the presumed future of do-gooder social worker Michael Stivic. In the TV show, Stivic always argued against the ignorant racist and bigot Archie Bunker, his father-in-law. Just a kid back then watching the “Family” every week, I assumed Stivic was right to counter blatant racist and prejudiced opinions as well as offensive rantings by Bunker. And I’m sure all these decades later, the irony was not lost on Reiner that all along, Stivic was living off Bunker’s blue-collar manual labor earnings.
Today watching “All in the Family” is a visual time capsule into the 1970s and a hotly divided America: centered on Vietnam War angst then worries about the economy, pollution, the future, and then breaking away from racial segregation, sexism, and later ageism which impacted Bunker, at 50, who had to take on a second job driving a cab to make ends meet.
Back then young Americans really felt the way Stivic did while the older generation still shared the outdated views of Archie. The nation ended up progressing socially probably because of this single show as we got to see and hear real-life family arguments about how many white people viewed the broiling political and fast-changing times—often with fights ending by Archie’s all-loving wife, Edith, tying the family back together with a bow of common sense. To paraphrase one of her classical gravelly-voiced scoldings to Archie: “God’s God, and you ain’t!”
Homosexuality came up in an earlier episode when Archie assumes Michael’s friend is gay because he doesn’t meet the masculine standard. Then Mike finds out that a former football player buddy of Archie’s is gay. The tall strapping athlete sits tall and manly at a table chatting with Archie at their neighborhood bar. The subject of the athlete’s confirmed bachelor status comes up as Archie pries. But his friend responds: “Tell me, Arch, in all the years you’ve known me, have I ever once mentioned a woman?” Archie shrugs, saying bachelors are private people. “Exactly,” the man replies with a smile.
As Archie softens through the ’70s, so does Mike. He never believes for one minute that Archie’s right to put down minorities while maintaining the white culture is supreme. But he starts to understand Archie and his generation. An episode not featuring Mike explains a lot about Archie when his brother comes to town. His younger brother was the family favorite, the one who was sent to college, the one who didn’t have to quit school and go to work during the Depression to support the family like Archie and so many young teens had to do. And then the same young men served in World War II. The brother talks to Archie about why their parents favored the younger son and not Archie, the hard worker who always provided for his family. The younger brother turns out to be an alcoholic who’s lost his wife, kids and home. He tells Archie it dawned on him why their parents favored him over the hard-working brother: They were just crazy.
Mike’s character is actually an orphan in childhood who is raised by his uncle, a contemporary of Archie. So in a sense, Archie and Mike had something in common: having to make their way best they could without their parents’ guidance … and love.
Boomer-rang
Reiner started as an actor in the 1960s, usually playing big guys who were tough but with a soft heart, guys who were judged by their size instead of what’s inside their hearts. His role on the “Family” was intended to counter—in volume and fury—Archie’s defense of the white man, that white men are getting the short end of the stick in order to give minorities and women a leg up.
And how could all that Archie spouted about during the very liberal 1970s—that a woman’s place is in the home, men are the providers and rulers of their families, white men are smarter than every other ethnic and racial group, couples should marry instead of live together, ‘queers’ are immoral, great comedy has slapstick, the only God is white and Christian and so is the USA, and English is the only language in the U.S.—make sense to tens of millions of Americans who now more than ever believe exactly the same way? Back in the ’70s, we called such beliefs ignorant, racist, prejudiced, misogynist, sexist, closed minded, and against common decency. In “All in the Family” the debate seemed between the educated and the uneducated. But there were many Americans who were changing their views and opening their minds due to just living life itself.
A lot can be said about what is known of Reiner and his son who struggled with addiction and mental illness. No doubt Reiner helped his son in every way possible. That is the generation of Reiner/Stivic: altruistic, understanding of drug use and abuse, compassionate with the mentally ill, maintaining an open mind to various therapies. All you need is love. Love is all you need.
And critics of Liberals like Reiner/Stivic (and me) would quickly point the finger and say, “See?!” The Liberal way of dealing with problems like drug addiction simply does not work. And they would be hypocrites. Everyone knows addiction lands in every home, every family, every race, every religion, every socioeconomic status, rich and poor.
No doubt like every parent of a child with addiction and coupled with mental illness—or maybe stemming from it—Reiner deeply loved his son … but couldn’t save him. Reiner stayed true to himself, a worldview molded long ago by a barrage of conflicting forces political, societal and generational. Like Stivic, Reiner ultimately strived toward love whatever the cost.