Tuesday, July 15, 2008

ARMY WIVES Episode 6 of Season 2: Derogatory Reference to Gypsies

In episode 6 of Season 2 of Lifetime Television’s ARMY WIVES there was something that bothered me very much: Betty, the owner of the Hump Bar, uses the word “gypped” to mean “cheated.”

It amazes me that the writing staff of ARMY WIVES did not realize that this is a derogatory word based on the word Gypsy. The use of this word as a verb is very offensive to Gypsies.

Many people may never have seen real Gypsies. When my husband and I were stationed in Munich, Germany (from September 1970 to May 1972), the tram line ended at our stop. Sometimes Gypsy wagons would camp there overnight.

Yet my image of Gypsies – that is as clear today as it was the moment I saw it – comes from a visit to Dachau, a concentration camp near Munich. Dachau was established in March 1933 as a political prison camp only two months after Hitler became chancellor of Germany. And although many people died in Dachau, it was not a killing camp like Auschwitz and other concentration camps.

But in Dachau there were ovens that burned the bodies of the dead prisoners. Standing in the main camp, I chanced to look towards the gate separating the ovens from the main camp.

Silhouetted against the sky were three Gypsies, a woman and two men. For only a second I was startled – focused as I was on thinking about the six million Jews killed by the Nazis. Then I remembered that Gypsies had been another group designated for extinction by the Third Reich.

Those three Gypsies were doing exactly what my husband and I were doing – visiting Dachau in memory of our people’s murdered victims.


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5 comments:

micheal said...

well i was looking for a site for the latest information about
army wives
episodes and came across your site.Thanks for sharing this wonderful topic here.

Andy said...

I am also a USMA grad. Unlike a previous poster, I served in Iraq and Afghanistan instead of "rear detachment." Also, unlike him, I am a woman. The problems posed are fairly accurate, especially the problems between the lieutenant colonel wife and her civilian doctor husband.Catch all eps Download Army wives Episodes here..

Anonymous said...

Army Wives is such a wonderful show. The plot of the show is good and I just love this show.

Anonymous said...

Army Wives Season 2 Episode 6 Thicker Than Water...Denise’s behavior begins to create gossip on post. Betty gets news on her cancer and makes a dream she has had for awhile come true. Roland wants advice on becoming a dad.

Anonymous said...

I have seen this season. This is a good show. You can watch Army Wives Season 5 online. Its also very interesting season.