From: lebrun@ll.mit.edu (Steven F. LeBrun)
Subject: Doogie Howser M.D.
Organization: MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Lexington, MA
Distribution: rec
Date: Thu,  1 Oct 92 09:08:45 -0400
Expires: 1-Nov-1992

Last night, 30-Sept-1992, on the television show "Doogie Howser M.D.",
Doogie persuades his date to go skinny dipping after she expresses a
desire to go swimming but does not have a swimming suit.  In his 
discussion about not needing a swim suit, Doogie states some ideas
that are often seen in rec.nude.  He states that it is a shame that 
this country (the USA) with respect to the rest of the world can be so 
advanced in so many areas and be so backwards about nudity.  I believe
that Doogie's short monologue about nudity had a stronger impact on
accepting nudity than the actual skinny dipping scene.

I really enjoyed the symbolism in the show.  Soon after Doogie and his
date jump in the pool, his mother comes home and finds them playing in
the pool.  Kathryn, Doogie's mother, was appalled to finding her son 
"naked with a woman" (Kathryn's words).  Her actions and words implies 
that what happened at the pool was wrong.  During the course of the 
story, Kathryn realizes that it is not the nudity that appalled her, 
it was the fact that her son had grown up.  At the end of the story, 
Doogie walks into the living room to find his mother watching movies 
of Doogie, when he was a toddler, playing in a kiddie (inflatable) pool.

In my interpretation,  Doogie represents the heathy concept of body
acceptance and self image, i.e. nudism.  The interplay between the
Doogie and his date while he is convincing her that it is alright to
swim without clothing starts out with romantic overtones (romantic,
not sexual), after all, they are on a date.  The situation quickly
becomes more child-like (child-like as in innocent instead of immature)
when Doogie says "I won't look if you don't".  The actions in the pool
are also innocent play.  They are splashing and laughing in the water
like friends of all ages, regardless of gender, would playing together.

Doogie's mother, Kathryn, represents the typical USA attitude towards
nudity.  Kathryn finding Doogie and his date skinny dipping represents
the many conflicits between CO and CM (clothing mandatory) socities.
[Notice that it is the CM (Kathryn) party that causes the trouble at
the pool by making both Doogie and his date feel like they have been
misbehaving.]  

Kathryn's discovery that Doogie is growing/grown up forces her to realize 
that she has to accept this change in her life whether she wants to or 
not.  Kathryn's acceptance of Doogie growing up parallels society's
need to accept behaviors that it may not like that are not harmful.

It is good to see shows like this make a positive statement about nudity.
Hopefully, this will become a trend on TV and in the movies.

--

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| Steven F. LeBrun             |      MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Group 91     |
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| lebrun@ll.mit.edu (Internet) |          Lexington, MA 02173-9108         |
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|"Hard as lightning, soft as candlelight;                                  |
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Newsgroups: rec.nude