How did I Love Lucy get away with saying "sexy" in 1952?

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by OldSoul, Mar 20, 2018.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. OldSoul

    OldSoul Don't you hear the wind blowin'? Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    I asked this years ago, but no one answered and I thought I was going crazy, because I couldn't find the episode where this happened, but I just saw it. It's Cuban Pals.

    Lucy: I kinda wanted to ask your advice about a sexy Cuban girl that was here last night.
    Fred: Sexy Cuban girl? What about the sexy Cuban girl?

    Wouldn't this have been too inappropriate? I mean, they didn't even say "pregnant" the season after. Did any other shows from the '50s use this word?
     
  2. Holy Diver

    Holy Diver Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Maybe it just slipped through, or wasn't considered that bad. :shrug:
     
  3. goodiesguy

    goodiesguy Confide In Me

    Location:
    New Zealand
    I don't see what the problem is, but then this is the same country where having a fictitious couple in the same bed in The Brady Bunch was considered 'edgy', meanwhile the UK treated it (rightly) like it was nothing:

     
    John B, NaturalD and guy incognito like this.
  4. vamborules

    vamborules Forum Resident

    Location:
    CT
    No it wasn't.
     
  5. goodiesguy

    goodiesguy Confide In Me

    Location:
    New Zealand
    OK then, I was only going by what I read in a previous thread here, where some people mentioned that it was considered 'edgy'. Apologies for being incorrect. :)
     
    John B likes this.
  6. OldSoul

    OldSoul Don't you hear the wind blowin'? Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    That's what I'm saying. On the surface, it's nothing, but when you consider that the same show didn't say the word "pregnant" the year after, and once Lucy was "expecting," their beds got pulled apart, it seems kinda crazy that "sexy" was allowed.
     
    goodiesguy likes this.
  7. goodiesguy

    goodiesguy Confide In Me

    Location:
    New Zealand
    I guess so! I just find it a bit weird that there would be so much issue with saying "pregnant".

    Could it of been due to FCC regulations? I know that they are very strict in the U.S. I mean you can't even swear on Network TV after the watershed (normally 8.30 or 9pm), not that I think it makes something automatically better (just because you can, doesn't mean you should IMO).
     
    Last edited: Mar 21, 2018
  8. HenryH

    HenryH Miserable Git

    It's all about context, not the term in itself.

    Referring to a female, by a female, off-handedly as sexy to a man for an opinion isn't overly suggestive.

    You do realize that sex was a thing in the 50's, yeah?
     
    Dudley Morris likes this.
  9. OldSoul

    OldSoul Don't you hear the wind blowin'? Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    LOL, I'm not saying, "Oh my God, they thought about sex?!" I'm saying it seems silly that they could say "sexy," but not "pregnant." And I'm not saying anything about "pregnant" being too much, I'm just saying they thought it was at the time.
     
  10. Luvtemps

    Luvtemps Forum Resident

    Location:
    P.G.County,Md.
    Haaaaaaaaaa..the Fifties Ike in the White House and everything was-Puritanical and good,of course it was all an illusion but that's the way it was.
     
  11. Gordon Crisp

    Gordon Crisp Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    People were OK with "Meet The Wife" on account of they were so unnattractive that there was no fear of them inciting passion in the loins of their viewers.
     
  12. Muzyck

    Muzyck Pardon my scruffy hospitality

    Location:
    Long Island
    The "Cuban" modifier made it acceptable. :hide:
     
    Grant likes this.
  13. Otlset

    Otlset I think I am I think

    Location:
    Temecula, CA
    Desilu was cutting edge, breaking down stodgy and uptight societal barriers at every opportunity as this dialogue clearly shows!
     
  14. HiredGoon

    HiredGoon Forum Resident

    I still titter when old books / movies mention that a man is "making love" to a woman, meaning that he is wooing her, and not the modern meaning of making the sexy time.

    "I say, where's Reginald got to, Sebastian?"

    "The blighter is on the chais lounge making love to Dorothy, apparently. I do wish he'd hurry up; it's time for supper."

    --Geoff
     
    izgoblin, goodiesguy and OldSoul like this.
  15. antoniod

    antoniod Forum Resident

    People forget that the 50s had a seamy side, as shown by Confidential Magazine, Police Gazette, and Tabloid Newspapers. And just look at 50s Film Noirs.
     
    scousette and Grant like this.
  16. signothetimes53

    signothetimes53 Senior Member

    Harry Truman was the sitting President in 1952, FWIW...
     
    wayne66 likes this.
  17. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz did a lot to break down social taboos. They still played it somewhat safe, but they still did a lot.
     
    Dudley Morris likes this.
  18. antoniod

    antoniod Forum Resident

    The Brady Bunch aired in the same era as R and X rated films, "All in the Family", "Oh Calcutta" on stage, and the Sexual Revolution in general. And "The Munsters" showed Herman and Lily sharing a bed before Brady Bunch showed Mr. and Mrs. Brady in one.(And The Munsters wasn't the first US series to, contrary to myth).
     
    Grant likes this.
  19. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    They had enough clout to force it through the censors.
     
  20. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    Correct. It was the Dick van Dyke Show.
     
  21. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    Good point, and on the money.
     
  22. antoniod

    antoniod Forum Resident

    What taboos are you talking about? CBS might have been uneasy about an Anglo Woman married to a Latino Man on TV(They were afraid nobody'd believe it)but Esther Williams was ending up with Ricardo Montalban in films before "Lucy" aired without any backlash I'm aware of.
     
  23. antoniod

    antoniod Forum Resident

    What about the introduction of PLAYBOY magazine in 1952?
     
    Grant likes this.
  24. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    As @Muzyck upthread said: the "Cuban" modifier allowed them to get away with it. I can't say more.
     
  25. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    "Sexy" = okay. Pregnant = No way! Go figure.
     
    goodiesguy and OldSoul like this.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine