Norman Lear, the creator of Archie Bunker and a host of other sitcom staples of the 1970's died yesterday at 101. He hung on long enough to outlive Henry Kissinger, so good on him. It's hard to say which of them had a greater impact on American history. Kissinger was ubiquitous in the halls of power in the 70's while Lear was a fixture in the country's living rooms. Most of us invited Archie and Edith into our homes every week and came away with a mirror eye view of our national identity.
Virtually everyone knows one or more of the archetypes Lear created. The prototypical bigot, the newly minted feminist, the angry young man and a host of other middle Americans struggling for recognition each week on our televisions came from the mind of man who embodied many of their traits. His father called him the laziest white kid he had ever seen.
Lear's influence on popular culture continued long after his most famous shows went into syndication. Series like the Sopranos show that even criminals have a life outside their pursuit of ill gotten gains. Even Ted Lasso with its stereotypes poking fun at each other is a spiritual descendant of Lear's work.
In later years, Lear became a social activist who invested in democracy, unlike Kissinger who did his best to subvert it. On balance, Norman Lear lived a life far closer to the American ideal and I honor him for his example.
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