The 1990s
Throughout the 90s Full House was extremely popular television show especailly among families. Other than it's positive family messages and helpful advice, the show pushed the boundaries of how families were represented in the media during this time. The show consisted of a motherless family and a father left to raise three children on his own. Danny Tanner, the father, cooked, cleaned, and financially supported his family. Danny played both roles of mother and father, and found help raising his three children from his brother in-law, Jesse, and best friend, Joey. The only motherly figure of the show was introduced a couple seasons in when Jesse married. She acted as the female presence the growing girls needed during their time of adolescence. The show dealt with average issues teenage daughters deal with such as relationship problems, problems at school, breaking curfew, so on and so forth. However when the male perspective was not sensitive enough, the show had Jesse's wife, Rebecca, give Danny advice on how to deal with his daughter's issues and sometimes dealt with the daughter's problems directly. At the end of every Full House episode was a message to help families similar to the tanners deal with their family issues. The show was also a great representation of how an unconventional family with conventional problems can be as supportive and functional as the "traditional" family was and is decades ago.
Discussion Questions:
How does this modern family differ from the stereotypical "traditional" family?
In your opinion, why do you think the writers of this show chose to use a single father opposed to a single mother?
Do you believe that a family with out the presence of both mother and father is as functional and supportive as a family with them?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Well i think it was awesome though to show a single dad because at the time when it came out there were not a lot of shows like that. I dont know i feel like Danny did an amazing job at playing both the role of the dad and mom. It is interesting to consider though, but I always thought Rebecca would talk to the girls just so they would be more comfertable. I felt the family had excellent communication
ReplyDeleteKimberly Wabik
I'm really glad you guys posted about Full House. When I was younger, I watched the show on a regular basis. I always thought the "sensitive" and "serious" speech at the end of each episode was a little cheesy, but in terms of depicting a functional and supportive family, these life lessons speeches were very insightful and informative. Full House typically preached the correct, safe way to approach struggles in life which, although sometimes coming off as corny, were effective ways to fit in important messages within a family sitcom.
ReplyDeleteI had never thought about the fact that the Full House family setup was completely unconventional at the time, yet they still worked together as a loving and supportive unit. I believe a family is unified by the genuine love they have for one another, regardless of whether or not they include both a mother and a father. But at the same time, in order to operate effectively, the family will have to function differently as opposed to a "traditional" family. An example of this is in Full House, at several points throughout the series, the young girls would approach the adults about the death of their mother. It was of course a stressful and sensitive topic, but it was a reality and therefore had to be confronted. I remember Danny, Joey, and Jesse would often say things along the lines of although the girls did not have a mother, they had three "fathers" who loved them dearly and would be with them throughout their lives. They reassured the girls that even without their mother, they had a strong family who would always love and care for them.
-Michael Esclana
it's interesting because i don't think it's opposite of a traditional family on purpose, it's just a situational issue. the mother died -- therefore people watching didn't have the idea that -- "omg look at this man going against real family values and ways of doing things". what is interesting though is that the father had his two brothers living there, as well as their studio in the basement, and girlfriends coming in and out all the time.
ReplyDeleteparenting style would be a very interesting aspect of the show to analyse if you really wanted to.
thought the family looked like a hectic one, they looked awfully comfortable to me.
that was ashley brocker. i'm terrible at this.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mike; while I watched Full House quite frequently, I never stopped to think about the setup of the family. The Tanner family is a perfect example of the modern definition of a family. They are a group of people living together who love and care about one another and consider themselves a family. Although most of them are related, they don't have to be. The Tanner kids are lucky to have so many caring adults taking care of them, and I distinctly remember in one episode DJ and Danny talk about her mom and how it's different for her to grow up without her mom. Danny handles this really well. He is a super-dad, taking care of everything for his kids, but he also has great help from Uncle Jesse and Joey.
ReplyDeleteCassidy Freed
On one hand, many children are raised by their grandparents or aunts/uncles. they are in a very functional family which is supportive and may be even more supportive than the parents, especially if the children were left with them.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, foster children are continually a problem becasue they dont always have a stable family or a supportive one. many foster parents are in it just to get some money out of the system.
-Nichole Smith
In response to the last discussion question, I typically think that a single family can function, but not to the extent that a stable, two parent family can provide. In the case of the Full House television show, the single father had the help and support for himself and his family that he needed, in order to maintain that stable environment. Where in most cases today single parent families, the financial income is not adequate, and there are many more stresses and much less support for that parent and family. So, I do believe that in ideal circumstances a single parent family can survive and be stable, but according to today's family standards and reality, I feel that this is a very difficult task.
ReplyDeleteThe last post was made by Nicole Schuller.
ReplyDeleteI watched full house, (like most people on this blog) and I never quite noticed how it was unconventional compared to other shows. One comment above made me view it in a different light because Jesse did have women entering and leaving the house at all times, and I'm not sure if it would have been appropriate at that time for three men to be raising three girls at the time.
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed how it showed some difficulties in the family (although they usually got solved in the thirty minute episode). It wasn't as perfect as other shows tried to be.
-Lisa Rodriguez
Lisa Rodriguez