Mad #230 (Albert Feldstein) - Moral Majority Issue - April 1982

The Moral Majority was a Christian evangelical group established in 1979 and led by fundamentalist Baptist pastor, Jerry Falwell (1933-2007).  The movement influenced a significant number of voters who helped to elect Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) as President of the United States in 1980.  Mad writer Stan Hart did a great job of identifying the beliefs and biases of Falwell's group in his seven-page article, "The Model Majority Manual."  There is not much humor in Hart's article.  In fact, the manual could be used today to describe the "Tea Party Republicans."  The right-wing, evangelical folks represent about 20% of the electorate and their message has not changed in my lifetime.  Mad editors also sent Lou Silverstone to write a soap opera parody ("DeGenerate Hospital") that is invaded by a Moral Majority representative ("Mucus Wellby") who attempts to apply their restrictive values to the disco-dancing actors of the daytime television serial.  The cultural history of the Moral Majority lasted for about a decade and there was nothing funny about it.

The best article of the issue was "The Star Wars Log" by Frank Jacobs.  This parody of the George Lucas syfy series was written after two movies had been released: Star Wars (1977) and The Empire Strikes Back (1980).  Jacobs was not far from the truth with his projection of a 12-film series including prequels.  Lucas decided to stop after six movies that covered episodes I-VI although many subsequent stories exist in print and animation.  The description of plots and coincidences and relationship twists by Jacobs is almost as preposterous as the actual stories.  However, I have found all of them to be very entertaining as escapist fare.  Mr. Lucas set standards in film special effects that caused all who followed him to improve their processes.

The issue also saw the debut of writer/artist John Caldwell who drew the back cover.  The urology joke was rather tame compared to the Caldwell jokes to come.  In my opinion, his jokes are usually crude and his artwork does not reach the level of the great Mad artists.  [JAM 12/3/2010]

The patient has a ketchup IV on page 46 of "DeGenerate Hospital."

Reader Neil Wahlert noticed that artist Jack Davis confused the Rolling Stones with Led Zeppelin in "Only a True Rock Fan Would ..." by Chris Hart (son of Stan).

Departments:
Blip Schtick - Video Games Based on Real Life
Don Martin - One Fine Afternoon While Skydiving; One Fine Afternoon at the Dentist; One Not So Fine Afternoon Downtown
Putting 'Em on the 30-Second Spot - Questions We'd Like to Ask Some TV Advertisers
The Buck Flops Here - The Mad "Cost of Living" Index
Berg's-Eye View - The Lighter Side
Fan Belts - Only a True Rock Fan Would ...
Right Wing-Nuts - The Model Majority Handbook
Uttered Nonsense - Quotes You Can Bet Were Never Said
Joke And Dagger - Spy vs. Spy
A Sequal Opportunity Employer - The Star Wars Log
Satisfraction - It's a Small Victory!
Soap Du Jour - DeGenerate Hospital

Fold-In - Corkscrew