Times May Change But People Don’t Change
Brady Bunch Lesson: Marcia and Bug Enthusiast, Harvey
“Going, Going… Steady” is the title of Brady Bunch episode 5, Season 2.
Marcia, thirteen, believes that the way to a young man’s heart is to show interest in what interests him. Harvey’s interest is bugs. Harvey marvels at Marcia’s bug knowledge and is indeed interested.
As Marcia and Harvey start to hang out a bit, Harvey’s worldview also seeps into Marcia’s way of thinking and she tries out a few “Harvey” theories on her Mom. Carol, the Brady Bunch matriarch, is not so keen on Harvey’s theories of life. Harvey posits that a girl of thirteen today is like a woman of twenty back when their parents were teenagers. Likewise, a boy of fourteen is like a man of twenty-two back in the day.
Marcia dutifully recites this specific theory to Carol when caught at her Mom’s makeup table helping herself to false eyelashes. Carol’s reply to Marcia are words of wisdom that have stayed with me for 35 years.
Carol sagely replies, “Only times have changed, Sweetheart, people haven’t.’’
This Brady Bunch episode aired October 23, 1970 when I was three years old. It was later in my adolescence, when the sitcom was in re-runs, that I fell in love with the show. I watched it so many times that I could tell in every show’s very first moments which episode was about to air.
Carol response in this scene, in this episode, has always stayed with me.
Why do I love Carol’s words? Why have they stayed with me for all these years?
With all the chaos in the world, surrounded by things that we cannot control, it’s comforting to think that people, their essence, their want and needs, don’t change.
Throughout the history of the world, every human being has what humanist Abraham Maslow termed “a hierarchy of needs.” Once basic human needs are met, we yearn for connection, relationships - friggin’ love. Once we have loving relationships, we long for self-actualization, the opportunity to do our best in the world, to use our unique talents, to contribute and to be fulfilled by the expression of our talent.
All of us have these needs, no matter what time to which we were born. Our common needs as a human race are what connect us. Our common desire for basic needs, love, connection, and self-actualization is also what might help us to understand each other better. There is comfort in knowing that applying a bit of understanding to one another may lead to unraveling some of that chaos I mentioned earlier. We may not choose to use that common knowledge to come to a better understanding of each other to make the world a bit better place to live but it’s nice to know that it’s a viable option.
What do you think?
Do people truly change with the times or times change while people stay the same?
Type in “Harvey” or “Carol” in the comments.