Were PDA’s Missing From Walton’s Mountain?

[flossieskid]

I was talking to a friend recently who is definitely on “Team Prince Harry” and brought up the point that every single time you see Harry and Meghan together they are holding hands and you just know they love and care for each other. But, the only time she has ever seen Prince William and Kate show any Public Display of Affection was the kiss on their wedding day, holding hands the next day and hugging each other when Britain did well in the Olympics held in London. It is, of course, much different with the Royal Family and maybe most Britains, but there seems to be such great debate about whether it is appropriate to show any type of affection in public.

I was thinking about lots of TV shows where you never see married couples affectionately holding their spouse’s hand or rubbing their shoulder or giving them a hug or kiss. I remember once in a great while John and Olivia would kiss and Grandpa was always trying to get Esther to give him a hug or kiss him. I know a lot of it was the storyline. But, I don’t remember a lot of affection between couples who were characters on the show. Am I remembering correctly? Or maybe my memory needs some help!

Of course, I realize standards were much different then and perhaps any PDA was frowned upon. Or maybe, during the Depression people were much more concerned about other things than a hug or kiss. But that saddens me.

I always thought it so odd that Corabeth called her husband Mr. Godsey and don’t remember ANY affection between them - ever! Why did they stay married? Did I miss something? Another example was Reverend Fordwick who seemed resistant to showing his new bride any PDA after their marriage. But, as I said, I guess people didn’t do that kind of thing very much in real life, so that behavior was reflected in the storylines.

My husband and I have been married almost 50 years and we still hold hands and he still opens car doors for me and walks on the outside on a crosswalk. I never knew, until he told me, that men should do that in case a car comes up on the sidewalk, I would be protected. Perhaps I was just blessed with a wonderful husband. But I remember that the little expressions of love seemed missing in most of the Walton shows. I do understand that each show had a specific plot, however I can’t imagine that any small PDA would distract from the storyline.

Obviously, the Waltons couldn’t show hot and heavy sex with anyone
on the show and maybe I am being unrealistic in wanting characters on TV to show their affection. It was very clear John and Olivia loved each other deeply as did Grandpa and Grandma. But, I have learned that children mimic behavior they see in their parents. So holding hands, small gestures of physical touch will teach children that it is okay to show affection. I do think each Walton child grew up to find their own true love. However, it would have been nice to see more PDA on the shows. Although, now people on television perhaps show far too much inappropriate PDA. If you want to tell them, “Get a room!” - that should be their clue to KNOCK IT OFF!

I would welcome any Forum member to refresh my memory about any examples of PDA on the Waltons I missed.

[Easton]

Just this week, I watched 'The Celebration' in which John Walton is finally completely free from debt when he makes the final payments on the saw mill. In order to do so, he takes on a seemingly impossible contract for fence posts. The entire family pitches in, including Olivia. She becomes the driver to deliver the posts to Rockfish. She appears ready for work with her hair in a kerchief, plaid shirt, and overalls. She and John approach the truck, John gives Olivia final instructions as she opens the door, and when she lifts her leg to climb into the truck, John gives her a very audible and visible smack on the bum.

Does that count?

By the way, I, like your husband, am 'old school' when it comes to manners and etiquette.

[patriciaanne]

Honestly, I recall quite a bit of affection between John and Olivia. Not just physical affection, but subtle innuendo -- a wink, a smile. Michael and Ralph had electricity between them!

And as Tracey pointed out, Grandpa was often extending affection to Grandma. If they were alone, she usually accepted it. If it was in front of other people, she'd fuss but you could tell it tickled her.

Ike and Corabeth had their rare moments, and they were rare. But I do think there was an underlying love there.

Tracey, it's so lovely that your husband is so chivalrous. We have sadly lost much of that in society. I think it's because we have done so much to de-masculinize men, which I think is a very sad thing indeed. No soy boys for me, thankyouverymuch. 😁

[Easton]

^ I agree that the moments were rare between Ike and Corabeth, and they usually came out only during a personal crisis when Corabeth was at her most vulnerable and she would call him Ike. The rest of the time, as part of her fantasy persona, he was Mr. Godsey. I firmly believe that Corabeth loved Ike very much, almost as much as Ike loved Corabeth, but being the wife of a General Mercantile never fit into her imagined 'status'. She always believed that the store was beneath her, which is why she added expensive dolls, haute couture hats and clothing, perfume, and a tea room to the store. It was all part of her imagined lifestyle. But, in the end, her love for Ike Godsey was genuine.

(Ronnie Claire Edward's portrayal of Corabeth Godsey made Corabeth one of the easiest Waltons character to figure out. Part of that goes to the writers and directors, but Ronnie made Corabeth real to us.)

[patriciaanne]

^^^ I've always thought Ronnie did a magnificent job with that character. She made her a very layered, multidimensional person.

Corabeth could have easily become a one-dimensional shrew who was easy to hate on. Instead she evokes many emotions -- frustration, annoyance, anger, occasionally disgust and equally occasionally, sympathy.

That's some mighty fine acting.

[Johnny]

From the title I wasn't sure what the acronym PDA meant. In my grad student days, it stood for potato dextrose agar, a common growth medium we used for fungi.  Similarly the acronym IPA which you see referring to Britain's India Pale Ale, in our lab stood for isopropyl alcohol.  Thanks for teaching me a new meaning for PDA.  

[tommyc]

I forget what episode it was, but I always chuckle when Olivia tells the story of how when she and John were newlyweds she would put a flower pot on the porch and that was a signal that she and John were having some "alone time".  Toward the end of the episode Olivia starts the tradition anew and she puts a flower pot on the porch.  John notices right away and grampa does too.  He takes the last kid with him so John and Olivia can have their fun.

The grin on both Olivia and John's faces make it clear what they are going in the house to do. 

[Easton]

^ It was 'The Inferno'.

[Easton]

One PDA was played for humour times 2 (or 6, depending upon how you look at it).

In Season 5's  The Go-Getter', the main storyline involves Sheriff Ep Bridges and Sarah Bridges while John and Olivia try to play matchmaker. Meanwhile, in the secondary storyline, Ben gets a job selling used cars and falls for the boss's daughter and they start seeing each other.

As part of their matchmaking efforts, John and Olivia join Ep and Sarah for dinner in Rockfish and, later, a movie. Of course, Ep guides Sarah into the row of seats first, followed by Olivia and then John, with Ep taking the seat on the aisle. Meanwhile, the camera pulls back to show Ben and Darlene sitting just a few rows in front of them. Ben swings his arm over Darlene's shoulder and turns his head to look at her. Out off the corner of his eye, he notices Mama and Daddy sitting between Sarah and Ep. The arm comes back and settles into Ben's lap as he slumps as low as he can into his seat. Every PDA was unintentionally spoilt by everyone else.

[kazk]

I think John and Olivia seemed very affectionate towards one another, but it's one scene from Grandma and Grandpa that I love. I can't remember the episode but the couple are sitting side by side on the mountain. Grandpa keeps putting his hand on Grandma's leg as they are talking and in typical Grandma faahion she pushes his hand off. As they are finishing the conversation though, Grandpa seems to have given up and Grandma picks up his hand and places it back on her leg. It's such a sweet moment.

I think it's where they are reminiscing their courtship and early marriage and Grandma says when she became pregnant she was so scared she just ran up onto the mountain and Grandpa found her there and she just knew everything would be alright!

[carol]

Jan 20, 2023 23:15:12 GMT -5 kazk said:

I think John and Olivia seemed very affectionate towards one another, but it's one scene from Grandma and Grandpa that I love. I can't remember the episode but the couple are sitting side by side on the mountain. Grandpa keeps putting his hand on Grandma's leg as they are talking and in typical Grandma faahion she pushes his hand off. As they are finishing the conversation though, Grandpa seems to have given up and Grandma picks up his hand and places it back on her leg. It's such a sweet moment.

I think it's where they are reminiscing their courtship and early marriage and Grandma says when she became pregnant she was so scared she just ran up onto the mountain and Grandpa found her there and she just knew everything would be alright!

I remember the scene. It might have been in The Heritage when John was contemplating selling the mountain. Another part of that scene is when Grandpa while he doesn't say it in so many words he hints that they shared some um...intimacy up there when they were young. Grandma says "Zeb you shouldn't remember such things." And Grandpa says "Why not? We were married weren't we??

[Easton]

Jan 20, 2023 23:15:12 GMT -5 kazk said:

I think John and Olivia seemed very affectionate towards one another, but it's one scene from Grandma and Grandpa that I love. I can't remember the episode but the couple are sitting side by side on the mountain. Grandpa keeps putting his hand on Grandma's leg as they are talking and in typical Grandma faahion she pushes his hand off. As they are finishing the conversation though, Grandpa seems to have given up and Grandma picks up his hand and places it back on her leg. It's such a sweet moment.

I think it's where they are reminiscing their courtship and early marriage and Grandma says when she became pregnant she was so scared she just ran up onto the mountain and Grandpa found her there and she just knew everything would be alright!

Someone here is a Keeper of that relationship with that scene (from the back) in their signature.

It was a happy moment for me, too.

Another moment I like happens in the Christmas episode where Grandma and Grandpa visit Maude Gormley in the retirement home and end up having to sleep in the lobby of a hotel. Sprawled out on a sofa, Esther uses Zeb as a pillow.

[flossieskid]

Thanks to all the Forum contributors who helped jog my memory about how often Public Displays of Affection appeared on the show. Now I easily recall the episode with Olivia and the flower pot. So cute! When I started my PDA post, I wondered if I should clarify PDA, as I thought some people may not know what it meant. Although I did spell it out in the body of my thread, I should have done that in the title of the post. But I sure loved hearing about some of the other things PDA meant to other members!

As I look back through years of watching friends get married, with such high hopes, but divorce within years, I have the tendency to blame the husband - I really don’t know why! That is very sexist on my part, I know. But, maybe I felt that way because the person in the marriage, most of the time filing for divorce, was the wife and they were my friend! But, sometimes PDA is desired from a husband just as much as from a wife.

My friends went to couples therapy and the husband’s big request to improve their marriage was he wanted a hug and kiss from his wife each night when he came home from work. Simple, right?! What could have been easier than that? But, sadly my friend just couldn’t seem to do it every night and her husband thought if she was not willing to make the effort to do that ONE thing - and a very easy thing as that - what hope did the marriage have? They divorced within the year. I hated to admit it to my friend, but I agreed with her husband!

It is my feeling, that unless you are French kissing your spouse while trying to undress them, ANY expression of affection should be public and nobody should care or judge you! So I’m glad to know Grandma would not always “pretend” to spurn Grandpa’s touch. And yes, Easton, John’s smack on Olivia’s bum counts as PDA as long as it results in a smile from Olivia and not a lawsuit for assault!