From: kimi@newsance.att.com (Kimiye Tipton;ball of confusion)
Subject: Re: NX Premiere "Northwest Passages"
Organization: AT&T IMS, Maitland, FL
Distribution: na
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1992 15:16:07 GMT

In article <1992Sep29.195618.26122@u.washington.edu> iho@cac.washington.edu writes:
>kimi@newsance.att.com (Kimiye Tipton;ball of confusion) writes:
>
>> On to the details...
>
>Well, actually, I thinkg it fits very well.  She's been so preoccupied
>with it all along that this "milestone" is really no big deal.  I
>thought it was funny that it was Fleischman that had the midlife
>crisis.

You have a point there-- it does make sense that she's worked through it.
I expected Fleischman to have his crisis (precipitated by Maggie's),
and was really pleased with what he had to say about no longer being
a whiz kid.  To this day, people will tell me things like, "You're 
just so good at this for someone who's so young," and I have to blush
and tell them I'm pushing 40, and only making par for the course. :-)
Yeah, I could keep my mouth shut, but then the guilt....

>> by Ruth Ann's salient comment (POW!).  I don't mind hearing Maurice
>> air his prejudices as part of character development, but this little
>> dig bordered on gratutious.
>
>Hmmm...  I thought it was consistant with his character.  Ruth Ann's
>reaction was perfect.

Oh, it was consistent with his character, but I thought it was too
strong, and could have been easily replaced by one of his other
prejudiced, colorful and less outrightly offensive phrases.  It was
fine from Maurice's viewpoint, but not so wonderful for the rest of
us out here trying to convince people not to use those racial epithets
that don't get as much bad press as others.  It was too casual.

>> He doesn't use nasty terms to refer to
>> his own Korean-born son, does he?
>
>He referred to him as a "middle-aged Chinaman".

But that comment, offensive as it was, was an integral part of the
story.  It was necessary to show that Maurice was deeply prejudiced,
and how much he had to overcome to accept his son.  I'm not so foolish
as to think having a Korean son cured Maurice of his attitudes, but
I think the writers could still show how he retains his prejudice
without using certain inflammatory words at the drop of a hat.

Hell, my own father-in-law, ranting about our impending marriage
some 12 years ago, went around the house saying, "I bombed the Japs
during World War II, and now my son is marrying one of them."  Even
I find that comment amusing these days.  He probably still says
"Jap", and I know he uses every other racial name in the book, but
he sure doesn't use them around me, or my four-year-old son.

>> Marilyn's driving lessons were fun, and we got to see more of
>> Chris' own version of pomposity and Ruth Ann's impatience.
>
>I liked Chris in this episode more than in any of last season's episodes.
>He's back to what I liked.  He's no longer the narrator of the story.
>He's actually believable as a small-town quirky DJ.

Hear, hear.  I loved his quote, "Someone asked me to tell them the
time, and I showed them how to build a watch," or something like that.


Kimiye Tipton  kimi@kokomo.att.com or kimi@newsance.att.com  Maitland, FL
           "You get crow's feet, your nips start heading south, 
                     and your bum turns to yogurt."