Monday, December 9, 2019

Quote of the Day (Jean Shepherd, on Real-Life vs. Theatrical Marital Strife)


“Real-life man and wife, mother and father battles rarely even remotely resemble the Theatrical or Fictional version of the Struggle between the Sexes. Homes have been wracked by strife and dissension because of a basic difference of opinion over where to go on a vacation, or what kind of car to buy, or a toaster that made funny noises, or a sister-in-law’s false teeth, not to mention who is going to take out the garbage. And why.

“In all my experience I have never known homes that had the kind of fights that appear in plays by Edward Albee and Tennessee Williams. It would never have occurred to my father to bellow dramatically in the living room, after twenty-seven Scotches: ‘You bitch! You’re not going to emasculate me!’

“The Old Man would not have even known what the word ‘emasculate’ meant, much less figure that that’s what my mother was up to.”—American humorist, radio and TV personality, and writer and actor Jean Shepherd (1921-1999), “My Old Man and the Lascivious Special Award That Heralded the Birth of Pop Art,” in In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash (1966)

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