O Homem Bicho

I remember seeing the original Our Gang Comedies (the silent films) on television in the Fifties. Joe Cobb, the little fat kid, was the leader at that time just as Spanky MacFarland became in the Thirties. Mary Kornman was a pretty little blonde girl who preceded Darla Hood as the sweetheart of the gang. Freckled faced Mickey Daniels was Alfalfa's predecessor and Farina was the only black child in the gang. Later would come Stymie and Buckwheat. The gang used to build soap box derby cars that would actually run and they had their own clubhouse. I think it was the inventiveness of the kids that actually appealed to the kids in the Fifties. How many of them had actually built a soapbox car with wheels that they took off the Irish Mail (Say What, it was an early scooter) or their sister's baby carriage. If their father was watching with them, perhaps he would recall building something like this as kids did back then. They had tree houses or club houses with signs that said "No Girls Allowed." Remember the Women Haters Club that Spanky started and Alfalfa couldn't join because Darla talked him out of it. That is what made the series cute and entertaining. The politically correct critics always look at everything in a modern sense. The stereotype was not meant to be mean, just a reflection of the times.