I was very saddened to learn, yesterday afternoon, of the death of Fess Parker. The tall Texan was most famous for playing Davy Crockett in three episodes of the 1955 Disneyland TV show. The show was so popular that the episodes were spliced together and made into a movie. From 1964-1970, Parker played Daniel Boone on the television show of the same name.
The Adventures of Davy Crockett was the first movie that I ever remember seeing. When I was in 2nd grade, my mom and I walked to Pleasant Plains Elementary where it was being shown as part of some sort of spring festival. I was impressed to the point of being moved. Here was a man: funny (the movie opens with Davy trying to "grin a barr" to death) and mild-mannered, yet when it was time to act, he acted. The movie closes with a dissolving shot of Davy swinging his rifle, "Old Betsy," on the parapet of the Alamo. Davy Crockett, whose real-life motto was "Make sure you're right; then go ahead," put his life on the line for what he thought was right. I felt awed as we walked home, through the warm, now dark evening.
Fess Parker was the perfect actor for the role, but as I reflect on his performance and the historical characters that he brought to life, I find that what I truly mourn is the death of an American ideal. No longer do we value men whose greatest strength and most effective weapon is their belief in what is right. We trade our liberty for the appearance of security, while our "leaders" trade their votes in order to improve their position at the public trough. We must be inclusive, sensitive, multi-cultural, and politically correct, but we can't ever be right, because that, of course, has become merely relative.
Rest in peace, Fess Parker and thank you for portraying an American ideal.
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