Political Messages in The Golden Girls

The Golden Girls, first produced and aired in the 1980s, continues to be a perennial favorite among many viewing audiences, currently showing on both the Women's Entertainment Channel and the Hallmark Channel. Although some might write it off as simple comedy, this revolutionary series actually has some very potent political messages that should be considered whenever one watches this series.

Many of the series' most powerful political commentaries focus upon the rights of women and the many challenges they face in a male-dominated world. In the first place, in focusing on the lives of four women, the series actually took its own path in an era when most female-centered shows were denied access to the networks. As those familiar with Susan Faludi's book Backlash no doubt realize, there were very few series on the air in the 1980s that were friendly to woman, which makes the fact that The Golden Girls focused on women so extraordinary. In fact, even today few series have quite the affirming approach to women's lives of The Golden Girls, which no doubt explains why it still remains so popular among female audiences.

However, the series political commentary is confined to women's issues. For example, in one episode Rose writes to the premier of Russia and to President Reagan asking them both to stop the nuclear aggression. Her letter, though child-like and rather simple, nevertheless exposes how truly simple the solution to peace can truly be, and how inter-country aggression and an air of war can negatively impact civilians, especially children.

Some of the series' strongest political messages dealt with the plight of the homeless and the elderly. For example, in one episode Rose discovers that her husband's pension fund has gone bankrupt and that she herself faces crippling poverty as a result. Although she avoids that fate, this case nevertheless shows how close many elderly citizens of the United States live to poverty. Even more poignantly, the series also shows how those who live in nursing homes frequently suffer inadequate treatment, due to the fact that neither their families, the government, nor the nursing homes themselves have the kind of money and resources necessary to provide them with adequate care. In fact, the series quite explicitly states that far too many elderly citizens fall through the cracks, and that something needs to be done in order to remedy the situation.

Perhaps the most overtly political moment in the series occurs when President George H.W. Bush visits the women at their Miami home and, prior to his arrival, Dorothy explains why she thinks that he has failed the country as a president, especially his failure to deliver on promises dealing with education. Although she doesn't actually confront the pseudo-Bush (he doesn't actually appear on camera,) her critiques are still quite potent.

Clearly, The Golden Girls is something more than just a quaint 1980s comedy. Indeed, it was and is a potent political object, due to the fact that it did not stint from addressing some of the most crucial issues of the period. We'll probably have to wait a while to see another comedy like it.