A group of us boys were hanging out in the schoolyard at recess. We got to talking about girls. Not girls in our class or school or neighbourhood; let’s face it, THOSE girls were all, well, “YUCK”. Not one of us would dare to admit that we actually had a crush on a REAL girl. No, no. We were talking about girls on TV.
One guy liked Laura Ingalls (actress Melissa Gilbert) on “Little House on the Prairie”. The rest us sneered at that. After all, Laura was too much like the Mennonite girls in our area.
All the other guys (except Laura-lover and me) had the same crush: Marcia Brady (actress Maureen McCormick) on “The Brady Bunch”. The guys went on and on about how hot Marcia was, and how they all wanted to marry her when they got older.
Noticing my silence on the virtues of Marcia, they asked me: “Don’t you like Marcia too?”
“Nope.”
They were shocked. “Well, who do YOU like?” they taunted.
“Thelma Evans” (actress Bern Nadette Stanis) on “Good Times”.
“WHAT?! You can’t like her!” one of the boys gasped.
“Why not?” I asked.
“Because she’s BLACK!”
“So?” I didn’t understand what the guy meant by that statement.
He informed me: “You are white, and white guys can’t like black girls!”
This angered me and I retorted: “I’d marry Thelma Evans any day. You can keep your Marcia!”
Admittedly I thought then (and still think now) that Thelma was WAY better looking than Marcia. But going beyond just the outward, back then I didn’t know exactly what it was about Thelma that made her more appealing to me than Marcia ever could be. Now that I am older, I see those things that separate the two.
Marcia Brady is an over-achiever, top of everything. Highly competitive and outright whiny at times. She had almost everything handed to her. Her “groovy” attitude and way of dealing with things left her shallow in my mind.
Thelma on the other hand was also very smart. Unlike Marcia, Thelma had to fight hard for what she got. Her grades came with diligent study in a less-than-ideal setting. She was sweet and loving, but when older brother JJ gave her lip, she gave it right back. She was nobody’s doormat. And for all the squabbles, if someone wanted to mess with JJ or any of the rest of the family, Thelma would do everything she could to protect her family. She had a perfect balance of sweetness and sass, of intelligence and savvy.
Throughout my life I have only been interested in those women who have the characteristics of Thelma Evans, regardless of ethnic background. It is the person inside the skin that truly matters.
“where are they now”…wonder what came of Maureen and Nadette?
Maureen is married and makes occasional TV appearances. She has fought depression for many years.
Bern Nadette is also married, and has authored several books as well as doing loads of charity work.