Recently I saw a popular tv show - Tyler Perry's House of Payne. Well, honestly, I'm not sure how popular it is, but for me it is fun to watch. I have an African American friend that doesn't like it because she said it is too stereotypical of her culture. Well, I'm not the judge of that, but I will say that in my mind it is stereotypical of what happens in real families. The father and mother really yell at the kids. Sometimes the kids get a little whack on the rear when the act up, as opposed to some of the other shows that portray children as running the show. Not on this show. In fact, the uncle continually finds joy in threatening to kick his nephew and children out into the street.
Anyway, in one episode the little girl says "What the heXX?" over something that shocked or surprised her. Her aunt goes into a tailspin and reprimands the little girl for using poor language and quizzes her on where she learned to speak this way.
Enters the uncle after work.
Something gets him spun up on the homefront and he blurts out the "What the heXX?" phrase. Everyone spins around and realizes he says this phrase all the time around the house.
Enters the nephew (father of the girl) and he has some other issue that comes up and he proceeds to "What the heXX?" to the people in the room.
A few minutes later a crisis occurs in the kitchen. The aunt, who has been coaching the entire family (throughout the episode) to use proper language, blurts out "What the heXX?"
Do I even need to have a point in sharing this? Ha.
It was too funny because it was too real. I heard a child say something the other day and I immediately knew what her parents talked about, how they reprimanded her and what exact words they used. Luckily, it was funny and the big words always sound even bigger coming from people that are four years old and two feet tall.
On a broader note, it is interesting to see the power of example and the influence of our surroundings.
No comments:
Post a Comment