OK. The premise of this episode is that Dorothy, Rose and Blanche all get straight up stood up on Valentines Day. Except for Sophia who has a mystery date with - get this - Julio Englesias! ah cha cha cha.But no one believes her because she is a compulsive liar a la the boy who cried wolf. Shes the senior who cried "We're all out of salami! hahaha.
So out comes the ice cream and candy (What? no cheesecake? They always have cheesecake on hand!!!) So they start thinking about Valentines Days past, where - surprise surprise - they have also been dateless. I am really bad at remembering the order of things but there were like 3 memories I think. I think the first one is when Rose books a vacation for the girls over Valentines Day (You fools! Don't you remember what happened last time Rose went to her travel agent??? We've gone OVER this! Are you really too busy substitute teaching, Dorothy, that you couldn't plan the trip? Or Blanche - As far as I can tell you "work" at a museum, maybe doing something insignificant like re-calibrating the turnstiles or buffing the bronzed asses of the statues. Anyway. All I am saying is, sure go ahead and yell at Rose, but really take some responsibility for what ensues, because you KNOW that vacation planning is not a strength of hers. Oh, so they end up at a NUDIST resort (tee hee hee) blah blah blah decide to embrace their nudity and attend the valentines day dinner nude. Uh oh! the only time clothes are required is during meal time - total embarrassment, but ALSO something you would think that would mention at the front desk. Just saying. NEXT!
oh some shitty memory of Sophia's when she was young (note to tv producers - slapping a brown wig on an elderly woman doe not convince us that someone is like, 60 years younger.) NEXT!
um. Im not sure if there was another one... But the last memory is the BEST. trust me.
So the ladies have longtime gentlemen friends who they are going on a cruise with on Valentine's day. They are as giddy as school girls while at the drugstore buying the necessary items. Sunscreen. check. um. I don't what else they bought. um. Tums, maybe? Fiberlax? I don't know. So anyway. They get to the check out and Some one suggests that they buy "protection" oh boy. You just have to see it for yourself. Trust me!
Haha. What, did you just get out of prison? HAHAHAHA.
OK. Relevance time. Remember that this episode aired in 1989. And actually relates quite a bit to a cause that is seriously very near and dear to my heart. So pay attention dammit!
A hem.
Prior to the 1960s and the advent of other forms of birth control, the condom was it. But then things started to change and there were other, more serious risks when knocking boots. Here we go.
1981 was the year that AIDs was first recognized in the United States. No one knew what the hell was going on for many years, and little was being done at first to fund because it was considered to be a result of being a homosexual. Some scientists actually viewed the disease as a sort of "natural selection" with beneficial results - ridding the world of homosexuals. Makes me feel sick...
Enter the Hemophiliacs and the Haitians and the straight men and women and children. Oh, I see. Now the disease matters. Ryan White became a public figure in 1984 when he was denied access to public school due to having AIDS as a result of a blood transfusion. Some serious foot dragging ensues and finally in 1989 AZT drugs became "available" to the public. Not that anyone could afford them.
I remember people being very very scared of AIDS. It took quite some time to even figure out how it was contracted. Then it was a death sentence, no medications, no idea of what it was.
Also! STDs. In 1980 alone, eight new STD pathogens were recognized in the United States.
Condoms became lifesavers and I am quite pleased that this show recognized that the need to use them transcended age or other demographic categories
So big props to the Golden Girls on this one. And thank YOU for being an educator on social issues.
That is hilarious!
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