While it may seem strange for the local paper in Prince George to be paying respects to the great Jean Stapleton, who died last Friday at the age of 90, it actually makes sense. We may not have known Stapleton at all but we certainly knew her greatest creation.
Edith Bunker remains one of American television's greatest women ever, the most lovable dingbat we've met. She is synonymous with her husband Archie, played to perfection by Carroll O'Connor.
Edith helped Americans (and Canadians) make the transition from the socially conservative post-war era to the Baby Boomer liberal-minded me generation.
All In The Family fearlessly tackled all of the day's social issues while being genuinely funny and overflowing with heart. It stands in sharp contrast to the almost universally bland and safe situational comedy that has prevailed on network TV since The Cosby Show.
Edith was a fantastic character. She was everyone's mother - caring and tireless but naive and oblivious. She was the smartest dingbat in every room she walked in, unwise to the ways of the world but holding a doctorate in love and understanding.
It was Edith's job, through Stapleton's stage timing and physical humor, to not only make herself likable but make us all like her wretched husband, too. It was only through Edith that audiences could tolerate Archie's open hostility towards women, blacks, Jews, homosexuals, other cultures and religions, Jimmy Carter and anything else that threatened his vision of an America where "they didn't need a welfare state" and "guys like him had it made."
The fact that Edith didn't have a hateful bone in her body helped make it easier to accept that Archie's heart was filled with hatred and resentment.
But Edith was far more than the antidote to Archie. The writers wisely made her character hurt and suffer just like the rest of us from time to time. While Edith may have spent most of her time at home, she wasn't exempt from the cruelties of life outside the front door of her home in Queens.
During All In The Family's eight-year run, she went through menopause (and boy were the tables turned on Archie when she did!), she questioned her religious faith, she hid the possibility she had breast cancer from Archie, she confronted Archie about his gambling and his affair and she lost her job when she stood up for her moral beliefs.
Stapleton's death is a reminder of how powerful a woman Edith Bunker truly was, both as a character in the history of television but also as a person. Edith would not be stifled, despite Archie's endless protests. She "pulled her weight" with dignity and grace.
While Stapleton is gone, she's left us an incredible source of strength and a bottomless pit of laughter in Edith Bunker.
Thank God for reruns because Edith's life lessons will never get old.
