Perry Mason, the 1950s ethos and the advantages of being a man with no nuts
Some, but by no means all, contributors to this website have a pronounced nostalgia for earlier historical periods. The 1950s in particular are an era many recall fondly. Some would like to see us return to prevailing mores and ideals of that period.
I myself have a special liking for some TV shows that might be seen as representative of a 1950s mindset regardless of when they actually aired. I put up a blog paying homage to “The Andy Griffith Show,†which was originally on television 1960 to 1968 but seems to me to have been infused with a kind of ‘50s feeling.
I’ve also put up an essay on “Leave It To Beaver,†a program on 1957-1963 that is often taken as indicative of a 1950s ideology as well as the generally accepted gender roles of the period.
Now I will discuss a very different sort of program of which I am a fan and which may be seen as representative of the 1950s ethos: the courtroom drama, “Perry Mason.†It was actually on 1957-1966. There was an attempt at a new “Perry Mason†series many years after the first went off the air as well as some made-for-TV movies of “Perry Mason†stories. I wrote the following poem that encapsulates my general view of the show.
I Like Perry Mason Best in Black and White
By
Denise Noe
I like Perry Mason best in black and white,
for such graphite shades are most evocative
of the Fabled Fifties, where Perry can live
in a boxed world, hermetically sealed tight.
Hardly Paradise, this world is Fallen indeed.
A place full of pride and lust and, most especially, greed.
To Perry Mason, Paul Drake, and Della Street,
crime is no stranger but an enemy they will often meet.
A handsome husband exposed as bigamous,
a trusted employee found duplicitous,
fraud and forgery, drinking and dice, theft and blackmail,
are the ingredients of a Perry Mason tale.
The Fifties were Newton’s universe, modified by Einstein:
the guilty would confess and the innocent would be just fine.
In Perry Mason’s cosmos, life invariably worked out right in the end,
for it was a world the Principle of Uncertainty had yet to amend.
I wrote another poem about the “Perry Mason†program that was inspired by a particular incident on the original black and white show. Perry and private detective Paul Drake were at a fashion photography studio. A pretty female model was being photographed. For one shot, the photographer had a fan blow her skirt up, showing off much of her legs. This may have been inspired by the famous scene in the 1955 “The Seven Year Itch†in which Marilyn Monroe’s dress is blown up to give the viewer a very revealing view of her.
The camera went to Perry Mason and Paul Drake standing side by side as they looked at the lady whose dress was blowing up to display her lovely legs. Paul Drake smiled goofily and looked utterly transported. Perry Mason looked bland.
It seemed to me that this pointed out a striking difference between the two male characters. Both were extremely masculine but only Paul Drake seemed to possess sexuality. As much as I deplore Rev. Jesse Jackson’s recent remarks about wanting to “cut [Senator Barack Obama’s] nuts off,†I do believe there are advantages to being asexual and tried to express that belief in this poem.
The Eunuch’s Advantage
by
Denise Noe
Now and then, a lovely lady happens by,
distracts Paul Drake, libidinous private eye;
but she arouses no lust in Perry’s heart:
in the program’s puzzle, she is but a part.
Equally oblivious to pretty men,
Perry’s not Raymond Burr; he just lacks all yen.
Catching each number, time, light, and shadow
for the inevitable imbroglio,
Perry Mason’s thoughts can swerve not one degree.
He was TV’s most powerful castrati!
However, when I showed “The Eunuch’s Advantage†to others, some people thought I had misconstrued the meaning of the scene that inspired it. They believed that the scene did not show that Perry Mason lacked sexuality but just that Paul Drake was a horndog. These people felt that a certain flirtatiousness sometimes crept into the relationship between Perry Mason and secretary Della Street. They may be correct.
Anyway, readers what are your thoughts – on “Perry Mason,†my poems, or the points made in them?
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Stumble It!
July 14th, 2008 at 1:00 am
I am led to understand that Raymond Burr was ‘in the closet’, but that is by the bye and just a rumour.
I see the ‘bland’ expression spoken off as a man not to be distracted from his quarry by a flash of legs (Hah ! Legs indeed
) His character sees past mere display to the very heart and soul of people, appreciating women for their criminal mind rather than their criminal taste in underwear. He is dedicated to the chase, not chasing skirt; seeking clues in the underworld not letting his eyes wander to the undieworld; trapping those in disguise, not drooling over disguising trappings.
We seem a tad short of honest lawyers on TV these days. Dodos too.