European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 7, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page in the stars and stripes monday. July 7.1985 columns & comments a Little respect for Dangerfield by Russell Baker Back to school has Rodney Dangerfield and a pp-13 rating which meant the movie House will Lei kiddies in though parents Are strongly cautioned that some of the show May be inappropriate for people under the age of 13. This usually Means actresses will appear wearing no clothe. Does anybody know Why looking Al nude actresses May be inappropriate for people under 13,but appropriate for 14-year-Olds? haying attained the age of 14, and then some went inside. And yes there was nudity. But i was t there for the nudity. For me the draw was Dangerfield. He is the closest we have to the Bur Lesque comedians of the Early half of the Century who refined vulgarity to a delicate an. Ben Lahr he ii not nor . Fields nor grouch Marx. Comedians like those made body movement an Art. They were like great dancer whose every step an gesture had been painstakingly perfected to my the characters they  finished this kind of comedian. He was meant to be seen As Well As heard on radio where you were unseen Only words mattered. Verbal Wil and timing became everything and we had the age of Jack Benny Fred Allen and Bob Hope. Great funny men they were but they could move. When they went to Hollywood their pictures were More like radio shows than  today s stand up nightclub comics who seem to be training for old Lime radio with their Fusil Lades of snappers Dangerfield is not entirety � prisoner of gag writers for he has also created a Strong comic character Complete with gestures. These make his Gagi often not very funny by themselves  character is inspired coming As it does in the Golden age of the Slickter the con Man the Smoothie and the Macho Diablo whose merest glance makes Tyr Anny tremble headwaters fall to their Khee an women turn to Jelly. In an age that gives its respect to men who Are scarcely Worth contempt danger end Hsihe Man who gets no respect. In a world of custom tailored slim jims he is Swol Len with excess poundage in an off the rack suit he s been wearing since High school graduation. His Eye balls bulge with incredulity Al the contempt heaped upon him by everyone he encounters. His Collar never fits his Necktie is out of Date his voice is too loud for the occasion his manner too timid when it should be arrogant and Loo noisy when it should be discreet. He the in Ordinary Man marooned in the age of the smooth Man. As such he is likable to All who secretly know they Don t deserve no respect either and laughable because no matter How inferior the audience eels in a world that routinely pushes them around danger Field is even More inferior. This makes people feel Good therefore eager to laugh. His character is not Well exploited in Back to school whose premise is that Rodney is so Rich he can buy the respect of a Craven society. Wealth also makes him charming enough to win the leading lady from the movie s bad Guy whose villainy consists i arguing that a University should t sell out for Money. All this is pleasantly subversive and even reassuring. Attorney general de Meuse s pornography posse May be hounding Playboy out of the 7-Beven stores Bui thank heaven nobody is trying to keep the kiddies from gelling an honest lesson in the value of Money. I was. However shocked by a subversively comic scene on the nature of business. Rodney the Success Ful businessman is listening to a business professor Tell the class How it s done. His lecture is so absurdly theoretical that Rodney can t sit still. He hat to interrupt to Tell the class How it s done in the real world. The professor he says completely ignores certain inevitable costs of doing business the Cost of bribing the teamsters of paying off the mafia and of bribing various government inspectors. The professor is shocked by Rodney s laying such information before the Young. So was i professor. If movies had been this candid when i was 13,1 might be enjoying the 1980s As much As everybody else. C nil Voltl Tow would your Boss pass the test by Andy Honey if gov. Mario Cuomo has his Way doctors will detested every sit years in new York to make sure they re still Good enough 10 practice Medicine. The trouble with testing doctors is the doctors whore Best Al passing tests Are not necessarily the Best at diagnosing and treating their Pali Colv problem. Tak ing tests involves an expertise air its own. Other doctors. This is probably wrong. Certainly a 1for basses should not be administered by other Bosi this idea of examining people occasionally for com r ,.b probably should t be limited tothe medical profession. Why Don t we re examine pretence in their to probis Bosses for example to see if they re still Good enough Bosses get away with murder. Half the Bosses i business Don t know what they re talking about. There Are a Tot More incompetent Bosses than there Are in competent doctors. Furthermore we Only see � doctor once every couple of years if we re Lucky. A lot of shave to see our Bosses every Day. If those lawyers who sue doctors for malpractice fora living want 10 gel really Rich and do the rest of us a favor Al the same time they ought to Start suing Bosse for malpractice. Bosses Are among the biggest Raal practice of All Lime. They can do the same kind of damage an inept brain surgeon can do. If every Boss in the country had to take an exam once every six years i la bet half the Bosses would be barred from the practice of bossing. I be had As Manyas 10 Bosses in my lifetime who would have flunked if they d been tested. Some of them should never have been granted a License to Boss in the first place. The tests for doctors Are usually administered by a test. , like doctors. Slick together. They lend to protect the incompetents in their ranks. They d probably never bar one of their numbers from bossing. There Are several questions i d put to Bosses do you remember Back to the Days when you were not a Boss do you remember what your Boss was like when you weren t one which do you like Best working or bossing do you think people have to be bossed full timer can you let them alone sometimes can you do what you Tell other people to do do you enjoy firing someone once in a while if you did t come in tomorrow would it mat Ter if you had to give up your reserved parking place in the company lot would you cry what s the most important thing about being Aboss Power or Money what would you like to be when you grow up there Are a great Many other people in our society in addition to doctors who should be tested for competence periodically. There Are always some teacher who need to be checked. I think automobile mechanics and television repairmen need in. The Only people i d exempt from these periodic checkups Are newspaper columnists. Not knowing Whai it re doing is part of the business. 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