Thanks to Amazon Prime (shout out: Binge Fest) I've begun to re-watch episodes of Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman, a show I loved growing up. I'm pretty sure Sully was one of my first childhood crushes (who am I kidding...I have a whole new way of seeing Sully as a 30-something....helllloooo).
I digress (it's Sully, who wouldn't).
So I've been re-watching episodes and have come to the conclusion that we, as a country, never seem to learn from our past or remember our histories. Dr. Quinn was on television over 20 years ago, but the show was based a hundred years before that. Yes, the show is sometimes cheesy and sometimes too sugary sweet, but it was an early 90's show....television was different.
However, they were dealing with the same issues and topics that we still struggle with today: Poverty, Immigration, Women's Rights and our places in society, treatment of People of Color, Addiction, Native Rights, Privilege (though it's never directly called that), Gun Rights, death penalty, Equality, Environmental protection and so on...
Every episode I watched really resonated with me because it seems so silly to me that nothing has changed. Every episode is still relevant in today's world. It's odd, but I actually remember quite a few of the episodes from before and have come to realize that I learned a lot about history and social issues from that Medicine Woman. When they did an episode on the US Army killing women and children Indians, I learned about Native Americans and the history we don't teach in our classrooms. When Dr. Mike ran for office, I learned that women are still not seen as equal and capable beings in our society (Also to note, some of the quotes from the episode are almost direct quotes being said about Hilary Clinton). When Robert E. and Miss Grace were attacked for buying property in town, I learned that people of color have always faced structural racism. When the mines and railroad came to Colorado Springs and a company started dumping waste into the river, I learned about corporate greed and responsibility. When Ms. Dorothy's son comes back from war, addicted to pain medication, I learned that we still don't take enough care of our returned vets.
And as much as I love the show, it is kind of cray that it still speaks the truth. I hate that we still can't seem to understand the rights of all people. How we still on a daily basis hear hateful words on Immigrants in this country. How women, still have to fight to be seen and heard in today's world. In an interview a few years ago, Composer Lin-Manuel Miranda said, "All of those fights back then are the fights were having right now on the news. To write about then, is to write about now."
And he is so right.
But all is not lost. Like every episode of Dr. Quinn, there's always some sort of ray of hope. Though we can't seem to figure it out, I'm proud to know that there's good people still trying to.
In honor of my binge watch, re-education fest, I took a hike around Paramount Ranch, where Dr. Quinn was filmed. A lot of the town's structures are still standing, and still used as sets today. It was a pretty walk and really cool to see some of the buildings in person.
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