I always liked watching the grand adventures of Sky King and his niece Penny.
What a life they lived! I was just some kid on a farm doing chores and living a most boring life. But these people were flying around in an airplane catching criminals or finding people who were lost.
And everybody always looked so .... happy.
But there were other heroes to watch, too. The Lone Ranger always fascinated me. The idea of doing all sorts of wonderful things for so many people but no one knowing who you were seemed quite mysterious.
My best friend as a child always pretended he was Roy Rogers. I never cared much for Roy Rogers as I thought he was too much of a sissy. I am sure he was not but he always sang songs with Dale Evans and just seemed too ... clean cut.
I wanted to be Marshall Dillon. I liked him much better as he was tough and strong and never sang songs and drank whiskey in a bar. Roy Rogers was very nice but when I grew up I hoped to be just like Matt Dillon.
I wanted to wear a gun on my hip and walk down the dusty Main Street making sure the bad guys went to jail. No songs for me, thank you very much. Or silly clothes.
If I could not be Matt Dillon, well, I guess I could grow up to be like Ben Cartwright. He had three sons and they were all good men but could handle themselves in a fight. And they always did the right thing.
Yes sir. Matt Dillon. Ben Cartwright. Sky King. The Lone Ranger. Even Roy Rogers. These were role models who I looked up to and respected.
I can't comment on children's role models today as I do not know what children watch on TV or who their heroes are. I only hope the ones today are at least half the men and women we got to watch when we were kids.
Every generation has their own role models. I am glad I had the ones I had.
Thanks for stopping by.
3 comments:
Sky King was one of the very first TV shows I ever saw! I love it, the adventure, the romance, the good clean fun. And we never missed Gunsmoke. Ever.
As to the role models of the kids today, I think they have few. Very few. Most of the sports stars aren't good role models, although there are some wonderful exceptions out there, and the same goes for the musical idols. Oh, I know there have always been the bad influences out there, but media today puts them right in your face constantly.
To put it bluntly, I am glad I grew up in Iowa in the 50's!
Great post.....brought back so many memories. Have a great weekend. It's going to be cold down here in Florida this weekend.....lows in the 30's!
I still love cowboy movies.
I went up in one of those small aircraft and it was so scary. I just can't imagine putting your life into the hands of an engine this way.
This was one of my true adventures in life. lol
I'm older than you, Russell, but my role models were the same. I loved westerns and cowboys when I was a kid. Must admit...Roy was my favorite until I became a teen-ager. And then I fell in love with Little Joe Cartwright. Still love to watch Bonanza reruns.
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