Kay and I were discussing yesterday the vast amount of
Internet traffic and incredible number of Facebook posts regarding the death of
Andy Griffith. I have seldom seen anything like this. It got me to wondering
just what was it that attracted him to the general public. He did not fit the
typical actor mold. He was seldom political or out front on any contentious
subject. So, why all the interest?
While Andy Griffith had multiple iterations of his acting
career, including Shakespeare, outdoor theater, and a gig in comedy, he is most
well-known for the roles of Sherriff Andy Taylor and Matlock. His most famous
role was clearly the small town sheriff in the television series that carried his
own name. If you think about it, in many ways, Matlock was an older and even wiser
Taylor.
Still I ask, what drew people to him and why did folks feel the loss in such a personal level? I have tried to speak my thoughts on that question here. I know it was a part of many of our “childhood,” but I think it goes deeper.
Southern Cooking Made
Genuine
I am a southerner. I was born there. It was and is in my
blood. Now, I have loved living 1/3 of my life in the north. I love the people
here. I love my home here, I love my
various ministries here. However, even at that, they remind me often of where I
am from. I am not longer offended. I am proud of that piece of my heritage.
Having grown up in North Carolina, I remember being so happy to see a program
on the black and white television that was set in North Carolina, albeit a fictitious
town in North Carolina. It gave us a feeling of credibility I guess.
Andy was from the south. Why is that an important part of
his allure? For one thing, Andy could make fun of us southerners because he was
one. He could talk about the south with sincerity, because he was part of it.
There have been many actors who have played southerners, but deep down the
southerners did not really respect it. It was sort of like Amos and Andy
pretending to be African American to us. African Americans did not take them
seriously, because they were not black.
Andy poked fun at the folks in the south and our way of
doing thing and did so in a way that was not offensive, because he was part of
it. It was in his blood as well as ours.
Loving and Challenging
Acceptance
I think the real genius of Andy Griffith’s characters lie
here. He accepted peoples where they were and as they were but was not content
to leave them that way.
It did not matter if it was Otis, or Floyd, or Barney, or
Gomer, or Goober, or Opie, or Helen or Aunt Bea, Andy accepted them for who they
were and what they were. His character may not have approved of the other
character’s behavior (e.g. Otis and his alcoholism) but he loved and accepted
them. At the same time, there was this challenge to move and live beyond
whatever it was that needed addressing. It may have been oh so subtle, but it
was there.
This is an important lesson to me. As a Christian minister, is
that not how I should behave? Shouldn’t I accept people where they were, but
not be content for them to remain there? Is that not what Jesus does for me? He
accepts me as I am, but he is not content to leave me as I am.
If I learn no other lesson from the character that was Andy
Taylor, that would be enough. Enough indeed.
