Introducing my very young children to Eddie Murphy’s comedy no doubt would have labelled me ‘a bad influence’ to many parents and scholars, so I never openly admitted I showed them clips from his stand-up routines. [Their favourite was “The Ice-cream Man Is Coming!”] Many would say I “polluted” their virgin ears. Which would have put me on the defence because I was very protective of what I allowed my children to watch, but I guess the magic of Eddie overpowered my parental judgement.
When SNL announced Eddie was hosting, we all looked forward to it hoping to see Gumby, Buckwheat, and of course, Mr. Robinson’s Neighbourhood.
The anticipation and joy that twinkled in my eyes was also present in theirs. Had I not introduced my kids to Eddie’s comedy, they would not have appreciated Eddie’s SNL return like the rest of us 50+ year old fans did.
Thank you Eddie Murphy for bringing a shared nostalgic moment into our home.
As I write this, commentary from Cosby is circulating in the news. I will just say this, remarks and judgements thrown at Eddie in the 80’s were precisely the reason I felt guilty introducing my children to his material. I admired and respected Crosby back then. He didn’t like Eddie’s swearing. He felt it wasn’t necessary. But we can’t deny what we feel. And I felt entertained listening and watching Eddie on-stage. If anything, Eddie was being his RAW self, unlike Cosby, who was only playing the good guy.
The brilliance of Eddie Murphy is being able to wrap a 35 year old joke up with a quick one-liner “whose the American dad now?” said it all.
~ Let’s try to judge less and enjoy more
Barb's Blog 