Soothing the Savage Beast in Your Man. . . K Matthews

It all started because Davion (who is 11) made the comment that he thought James Evans, the father figure from the 1970s sit-com Good Times was mean. When asked why, he stated that James was always yelling - on every show, and "every five minutes" he stated.  This started a lively discussion between myself, my husband Clay, my brother Karlton and his wife Krishna, who all grew up during the popularity of the show.

Clay commented that he didn't believe James was mean, but saw him as a provider and protector of his family, facing the hard economic and sociological barriers that black men faced during that decade. He expressed that these factors contributed to what I described as unfavorable behavior.

In my opinion, James often times took his frustrations out on his family. Several times his entrance onto the show was coming into his his home and slamming the door, and when greeted by the people that loved him the most, his response was almost always negative. He often threatened to take his belt off to manage the kids, and several times had Florida nervously apprehensive of discussing some important details of the day with him. 

Karlton's view was interesting as well and close to mine, feeling that his disciplinarian role greatly overshadowed any other emotion or action.  He also brought up that James only barked at the outsiders who threatened his family, but never seemed to take true action . . . but it was a different story with his kids. Ironically - we had just watched the episode when Sweet Daddy Williams, in full pimp attire, barraged his way into the Evans home, much to James' and Florida's disapproval to offer J.J. a one-man art show.  Karlton mentioned instead of James taking a stand to protect his family, he barked then gave in.

To Karlton's point, watch the clip below, and see how James reacts to J.J. regarding Sweet Daddy, then watch how James reacts when Sweet Daddy and his henchmen walk into HIS home - HIS space - HIS territory.  

Good Times Minisode - Sweet Daddy Williams by Crackletelevision

Hmm . . . Interesting indeed. Granted this is an edited a clip - but we did watch the whole episode; not much is missing.

Also in this episode, Sweet Daddy "gifted" the Evans with a beer-filled refrigerator assumed acquired by illegal means, before James had come home from work. Immediately, Florida began wringing her hands, wondering how she was going to tell James. In true James Evans fashion - he came home, angry and frustrated from something that happened at work, and slammed the door, and when Florida attempted to tell him about it, he yelled something like "I don't wanna hear nothing about no refrigerator!"

Krishna's thoughts were that James loved and supported his family, and was a hard-working man. She agreed with Clay that there were several understandable factors that attributed to James' often disgruntled attitude. Which I am not denying. Then she said in regards to Florida,  "A woman needs to know how to soothe the savage beast in her man. She should have known better to approach him when she saw that he was upset," meaning the slammed door.  Hmm.  I'm all for encouraging your hard working man and all that, and I'm not saying that James didn't love his family - but my thing is, did he have to come home as a beast almost every single night?

Then I found this book today just rummaging around online. Maybe Florida should have read it.  What is your opinion of James Evans?

How to Get Any Man to Do Anything You Want! by Dusty White. $4.99 from Smashwords.com
How to Get ANY MAN to do ANYTHING You Want! is a humorous--and effective--look at dating and how to get the men you want in your life and quickly & easily shoo away creeps, stalkers, disasters, and jerks who will cost you time, money, and sanity.

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