Martin Crane, an Example for Our Times?

            One of my favorite sitcoms to watch is “Frasier.” It’s one of those that I can easily see multiple times and still laugh at. It’s just good humor with great writing and characters, a show that still works since it premiered back in 1993.

            If you don’t know what the show is about, “Frasier” is the story of Dr. Frasier Crane, who moves from Boston (the setting of “Cheers”) back to his hometown of Seattle after getting a gig as a radio psychiatrist. It basically tells of the many adventures and misadventures of Frasier and his friends as he navigates his way through life, dealing with people who clash with his personality.

            One of the main and most memorable characters was his father Martin Crane, who moved in with him during the pilot episode and spent almost the entire run of the show doing so. This was because Martin was a former police officer and detective who had been shot in the hip while on duty. Thus he was forced to retire, and rather than live in a home for the elderly, moves in with his adult son.

            A lot of the humor of the sitcom comes from the constant clashes between Dr. Frasier Crane and his father Martin. Frasier had very little interest in sports beyond squash, while his father is a lover of basketball, football, and more. While Frasier has expensive tastes in wines and alcohol in general, Martin is more than happy with a simple beer. While Frasier is obsessed with making his apartment as perfect as possible, Martin constantly agitates his son with the sight of his decades-old recliner held together with duct tape. The list goes on and on.

            But of nothing else, Martin gave Frasier his sense of honor and right and wrong. While Frasier isn’t a perfect person by any means, he always strives to at least attempt to do the right thing, whether in his profession as a psychiatrist or just in his everyday life. Martin himself did his best to be an outstanding cop, and a good father, husband, and overall human being. While they have little if anything in common, and more often than not but heads with each other, both Frasier and Martin strive to be good people.

            I was kind of thinking about Martin Crane because of the outpouring of protests in response to the murder of George Flloyd. While there has of course been looting, many of the protests have been peaceful. For better or worse, the media has also responded by taking down films and TV shows. The new HBO Max streaming service has temporarily taken down “Gone With the Wind” until they can add a new introduction to it. In addition, the long running show “Cops” has been taken off of the air (in all honestly I’ve never seen a single episode of it, and didn’t even know it was still on television with new episodes). Even a kids' show called “Paw Patrol” is being targeted, with many complaining about the fact that one of the anthropomorphic puppies is a cop.

            It got me to wondering, if “Frasier” had been on the air today with new episodes, would people be rallying for Martin to no longer be a former police officer? Or maybe even for his character to be completely written off the show? What about other shows portraying cops as not only main characters, but as decent people? If “Everybody Loves Raymond” were on the air in today’s world, would people be upset at Robert Barone? What about “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood,” which had the character of Officer Clemmons?

            Look, I know that unfortunately there are a ton of corrupt cops out there. And I know it’s not just a case of “a few bad apples.” There’s something wrong with the very system that allows people like the murderers of George Flloyd to get away with deeds like that, and to do so repeatedly. Hopefully with the protests and demands for change going on now, there will finally be some reforms so that situations like this don’t keep happening.

            But do we really need to worry about the portrayal of a cartoon puppy that happens to be a police office? I honestly don’t have all the answers by any stretch of the imagination, but I have a feeling that getting rid of every single portrayal of a police officer on television and film isn’t the answer. If anything, maybe characters like Martin Crane should be used as an ideal for police officers to reach for.

Note: If you would like to check out my fantasy novel "The Princess of Infinite Tomorrows," you can currently do so at https://princessofinfinitetomorrows.blogspot.com/.