Television has recently addressed many new family issues. The wide array of family structures are now common and accepted. Shows such as Reba and Two and a Half Men portray to the viewers that there are many types of family situations. Reba addresses issues such as divorce, single motherhood, and teenage pregnancy. Reba's son Jake, teenage daughter Cheyenne, Cheyenne's husband Van, and their daughter Elizabeth all live in Reba's house. Reba's ex-husband Brock lives right next door with their daughter Kyra, his new wife Barbara Jean and their young son Henry. This unconventional living situation is accompanied by the close relationship amongst ALL of the family members. This show is showing the viewers that the "mother, father, and children" idea of a household is no longer the only way to live. Two and a Half Men also share this message. Charlie is a jingle writer with a large house on the beach that he shares with his divorced brother, Alan, and his nephew, Alan's son, Jake. Charlie is a man that has had many women in and out of the house, while Alan is nearly the opposite from his brother. Their living situation as well as their lifestyles also contradict what society once viewed as the norm.
-Do you think these current show correctly depict the multitude of family structures current in our society today?
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Teenagers in the Media
While the family representation has changed over the course of television history, none can deny the pivotal changes that have been made when it comes to the representation of teenagers. Early in television, teenagers were seen as morally sound and well behaved. Over time however, more risks have been taken when it comes to their representation in prime time. The adage of “sex sells” has come into play and viewers enjoy watching their favorite characters take part in situations that are deemed “unsavory” by criticisms of the time.
Television began moving away from the portrayal of innocent teenagers starting more in the 1970’s. Shows such as ‘One Day at a Time’ dealt with issues of birth control and pre marital sex with the teenage girl Julie Cooper- far from the representation the Brady kids were giving off during the same decade. These were issues that teens were actually dealing with and that is what gave the ratings such a good boost, even if critics were not always counted as fans.
In the 1990’s, teenage television essentially got its own network with the formation of ‘The WB’. Every night there was a lineup of at least two shows that revolved around teenagers. ‘Dawson’s Creek’, ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’, ‘Roswell’, ‘7th Heaven’, among many others, consumed the teenage television market. Least not forget the ever popular ‘Beverly Hills 90210’ which was aired for ten years before its cancellation. Whatever the premise of the show, they all touched base on issues that people could relate to. Pregnancy scares, love triangles, fights, parties, all became a part of the sensationalism that became teenage life. Some wondered if people actually lived this way, some did, others didn’t, but no one could escape the popularity their story lines captured.
Currently, one of the most watched shows among teenage girls would be ‘Gossip Girl’. A show about Upper East Side teens, the main characters are often seen scheming to bring others misery while simultaneously trying to balance friendship and their love lives. This group of teenagers is a stark difference to how teenagers were portrayed when television started to become popular and mainstream.
Has television gone too far in their portrayal of teenage debauchery? –Has it become more sensationalized over time, breaking too far away from reality?
Why do you think that teens gained such a popular role in television? What, overtime, has allowed for the change to occur?
What show did you feel growing up captured the true essence of teenagers?
Television began moving away from the portrayal of innocent teenagers starting more in the 1970’s. Shows such as ‘One Day at a Time’ dealt with issues of birth control and pre marital sex with the teenage girl Julie Cooper- far from the representation the Brady kids were giving off during the same decade. These were issues that teens were actually dealing with and that is what gave the ratings such a good boost, even if critics were not always counted as fans.
In the 1990’s, teenage television essentially got its own network with the formation of ‘The WB’. Every night there was a lineup of at least two shows that revolved around teenagers. ‘Dawson’s Creek’, ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’, ‘Roswell’, ‘7th Heaven’, among many others, consumed the teenage television market. Least not forget the ever popular ‘Beverly Hills 90210’ which was aired for ten years before its cancellation. Whatever the premise of the show, they all touched base on issues that people could relate to. Pregnancy scares, love triangles, fights, parties, all became a part of the sensationalism that became teenage life. Some wondered if people actually lived this way, some did, others didn’t, but no one could escape the popularity their story lines captured.
Currently, one of the most watched shows among teenage girls would be ‘Gossip Girl’. A show about Upper East Side teens, the main characters are often seen scheming to bring others misery while simultaneously trying to balance friendship and their love lives. This group of teenagers is a stark difference to how teenagers were portrayed when television started to become popular and mainstream.
Has television gone too far in their portrayal of teenage debauchery? –Has it become more sensationalized over time, breaking too far away from reality?
Why do you think that teens gained such a popular role in television? What, overtime, has allowed for the change to occur?
What show did you feel growing up captured the true essence of teenagers?
Friday, November 13, 2009
Representation of the Family in Media
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?
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?
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Representation of Family in the Media: 1970's and 1980's
The 1970's
The Brady Bunch was a popular show in the 1970’s that tried to go back to the traditional family values. During the 70’s many shows were trying to show that certain social norms were changing, but the creators of The Brady Bunch wanted to bring people back to the traditional values of a family. The mother cooks and cleans, while the father is the one that goes to work and makes the money. It was very noticeable while watching this show that Mike, the father, was definitely the bread winner and the head of household. Mike was always the one to explain the lessons that the children should have learned after getting in trouble. He was the power figure, the dominant male. Although in the show Mike is a widower and Carol, the mother, is a widow that is not how it was originally written. Carol was originally written as being a divorced single mother; the writers changed this within the first episode. The Brady Bunch rarely addressed any political or social issues that were occurring in that time. When any such issue was addressed it was done so in a very subtle manner. When the show addressed women’s liberation and gender equality it was seen simply in the siblings fighting. African Americans were rarely seen in the show at all. The show may never have made the top ten lists of Neilsen ratings, but it had been viewed as one of America’s most important sitcoms in the 1970’s.
Discussion Questions:
Why do you think the producers felt the need to bring people back to traditional family values?
What do you think the reasoning for changing Carol from a divorced woman to a widow was?
Why was Mike always the one to punish the children or teach lessons while Carol just agreed with what he felt was right?
The 1980's
The Cosby Show sparked much controversy about race and class in America. The show aired from 1984 to 1992, it revived the television genre of situation comedy which saved the NBC network. The Cosby family was an upper-middle class black family. This show portrayed a black family in a way that contradicted how black families had previously been portrayed on television. Cliff, the father, was a respected gynecologist and Claire, the mother, was a successful attorney. Their two older children attended prestigious colleges, while their son had a wonderful relationship with his father and the two younger daughters mainly experienced Cliff’s “hilarious child-rearing routines”. The viewers saw the Huxtable home as “classy”. The producers actually brought in a psychiatrist to help them portray a family and a home that broke common stereotypes against blacks. Many other shows that were focused on black families at the time accentuated such as Sanford and Son, Good Times, and The Jeffersons.
Notice the differences between these two clips the first is from Sanford and Son and the second is from The Cosby Show
Just starting with the appearance of the house where the shows take place. The Cosby household is neat and organized the jazz music as a nice touch to the “classy” feel that the viewers got when watching the show. The Sanford household is cluttered and messy. The focus of conversation in The Cosby Show is educated; they talk of music and higher education. In the Sanford and Son clip the characters sound uneducated and speak with a stereotypical African American accent. This is how the black family was often portrayed to viewers, The Cosby Show was able to break that trend and give an opportunity for blacks on television in the future.
Discussion Questions:
Why do you think the producers of The Cosby Show decided to break the stereotypes of blacks?
What effects do you think the shows of this time that portrayed the black stereotypes had on the viewers and families?
Do you think that The Cosby Show was able to change any effects the stereotypical shows had caused on families and how they dealt with diversity?
The Brady Bunch was a popular show in the 1970’s that tried to go back to the traditional family values. During the 70’s many shows were trying to show that certain social norms were changing, but the creators of The Brady Bunch wanted to bring people back to the traditional values of a family. The mother cooks and cleans, while the father is the one that goes to work and makes the money. It was very noticeable while watching this show that Mike, the father, was definitely the bread winner and the head of household. Mike was always the one to explain the lessons that the children should have learned after getting in trouble. He was the power figure, the dominant male. Although in the show Mike is a widower and Carol, the mother, is a widow that is not how it was originally written. Carol was originally written as being a divorced single mother; the writers changed this within the first episode. The Brady Bunch rarely addressed any political or social issues that were occurring in that time. When any such issue was addressed it was done so in a very subtle manner. When the show addressed women’s liberation and gender equality it was seen simply in the siblings fighting. African Americans were rarely seen in the show at all. The show may never have made the top ten lists of Neilsen ratings, but it had been viewed as one of America’s most important sitcoms in the 1970’s.
Discussion Questions:
Why do you think the producers felt the need to bring people back to traditional family values?
What do you think the reasoning for changing Carol from a divorced woman to a widow was?
Why was Mike always the one to punish the children or teach lessons while Carol just agreed with what he felt was right?
The 1980's
The Cosby Show sparked much controversy about race and class in America. The show aired from 1984 to 1992, it revived the television genre of situation comedy which saved the NBC network. The Cosby family was an upper-middle class black family. This show portrayed a black family in a way that contradicted how black families had previously been portrayed on television. Cliff, the father, was a respected gynecologist and Claire, the mother, was a successful attorney. Their two older children attended prestigious colleges, while their son had a wonderful relationship with his father and the two younger daughters mainly experienced Cliff’s “hilarious child-rearing routines”. The viewers saw the Huxtable home as “classy”. The producers actually brought in a psychiatrist to help them portray a family and a home that broke common stereotypes against blacks. Many other shows that were focused on black families at the time accentuated such as Sanford and Son, Good Times, and The Jeffersons.
Notice the differences between these two clips the first is from Sanford and Son and the second is from The Cosby Show
Just starting with the appearance of the house where the shows take place. The Cosby household is neat and organized the jazz music as a nice touch to the “classy” feel that the viewers got when watching the show. The Sanford household is cluttered and messy. The focus of conversation in The Cosby Show is educated; they talk of music and higher education. In the Sanford and Son clip the characters sound uneducated and speak with a stereotypical African American accent. This is how the black family was often portrayed to viewers, The Cosby Show was able to break that trend and give an opportunity for blacks on television in the future.
Discussion Questions:
Why do you think the producers of The Cosby Show decided to break the stereotypes of blacks?
What effects do you think the shows of this time that portrayed the black stereotypes had on the viewers and families?
Do you think that The Cosby Show was able to change any effects the stereotypical shows had caused on families and how they dealt with diversity?
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Representation of the Family in the Media: The 1960's
This week we will be looking at how the media has represented the family in television shows. Throughout the week, we will post information on a given decade starting with the 1960’s. As you read, you will be able to see the changes that have been made over time and learn the impact the portrayals have had on family life.
Television shows in the 1960’s marked a time when the family sitcom began slowly moving away from the ideals of the 1950’s. There were still plenty of shows that represented the nuclear family that consisted of the father being the bread winner, the mother a stay at home housewife raising the children, and the children following the rules and never stepping out of line. Shows such as ‘Leave it to Beaver’ were still popular and included stories of white- middle class families that still practiced the racial and ethnic exclusion typically seen in suburban life. It was during this decade that we were able to see the rise of the suburban domestic comedy and shows that revolved around a supernatural “fantastic family”.
The nuclear family was replaced by a ‘counter programming’ trend that involved shows revolving around broken, single parent families. Even though the divorce rate was rising throughout the 60’s, censorship codes demanded that single parent households were not by choice, but were caused by death of the spouse absent from the family. These shows began to dominate the prime time line up along with the supernatural comedies such as ‘Bewitched’ and ‘The Munsters’.
Comparing nuclear vs. fantastic:
A popular show most associate to be the quintessential nuclear family was ‘Leave it to Beaver’ which aired from 1957-1963. Ward and June Cleaver were middle class suburbanites raising their two boys Wallace ‘Wally’ and Theodore ‘Beaver’. Ward was the breadwinner for the Cleaver family and was in charge of decision making and disciplinarian action with the children. June was the ‘dream’ housewife- always caring for the children, doing housework, and fixing dinner every night by the time her husband was home from work. She was able to do all of this while wearing fitted dresses, high heels, and a smile. The children were always polite and rarely got into trouble and when they did, they would always learn an important moral lesson by the end of the 30 min time spot.
‘Bewitched’ first aired in 1964 and was on until it was canceled in 1972. The premise of the show was a witch, Samantha Stevens, trying to live her life as a newlywed free of magic. Though Samantha was portrayed as a housewife, it was often shown that she would initiate and win arguments against her husband Darren. Feminine power is a recurring theme in ‘Bewitched’ and is portrayed prominently with Samantha’s mother, Endora. Endora never liked Darren and was often shown insulting him and casting unfriendly spells on him. She wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, whether that is because of her dislike of mortals or men, she never let situations change her personality.
‘Bewitched’ was a prolific show because it dared to show situations in a prime time comedy that were considered taboo before. Samantha and Darren were the first couple in television history to appear in the same bed together. Samantha’s mother and father were openly divorced and often insulting toward one another when put in the same scenes. Racism was also touched upon in multiple episodes. A story, submitted by a tenth grade English class, involved Samantha’s daughter Tabitha and her black friend alter their skin colors so their peers would treat them equally.
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