Anti-Vaxxers Seize on Brady Bunch Episode to Promote Their Dangerous Agenda
Some former cast members of 'The Brady Bunch' are upset the show is being used in 2019 to bolster arguments against vaccines. https://t.co/LXc8q992io
- NPR (@NPR) April 29, 2019
* measles, once believed to be eradicated in 2000, has been on a nationwide rise due largely do the anti-vax movement.
* anti-vaxxers believe the concern over measles outbreaks is overblown and point to a 1969 episode of The Brady Bunch as "proof".
* in the 1969 episode "Is There a Doctor in the House?", the whole Brady crew gets the measles and must stay home from school, much to their delight. At one point Marcia says (while playing Monopoly), "If you have to get sick, sure can't beat the measles" which anti-vaxxers have jumped on.
* for example Del Bigtree, a producer who hosts a YouTube show critical of vaccines: "We were all giggling and laughing because the whole family in the Brady Bunch got the measles. Where is the sitcom that joked about dying from AIDS or joked about dying from cancer?" (Truly one of the dumbest things I've ever read.)
* Maureen McCormick is not happy her image is being used for anti-vax memes: "As a mother, my daughter was vaccinated." & "Having the measles was not a fun thing."
* while the sick Bradys were fine the next episode, measles can result in pneumonia, brain swelling, and deafness.
* son of The Brady Bunch creator was upset as well: "Dad would be sorry, because he believed in vaccination, had all of his kids vaccinated."
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