Compare And Contrast All In The Family

The television shows from 1950 to the present are connected in many ways. The characters showed in the 1950s television show called Leave It To Beaver all have white coloured skin and portrayed as a happy, perfect family. As the decades increased, the nuclear families turned into blended families, and the television shows started to have coloured characters. The families started to have problems and social situations. The viewer sees the conflicts inside the family begin as the years progress. For example, in the 2000's we examined a television show called Arrested Development. The show portrays the characters as if they are troubled and have problems. The children do not listen to their parents but instead have

As something people tend to hold the most dearly, culture can be a sensitive topic to discuss and engage in. Often, it is made even more difficult due to issues of the past and the way different cultures influence one another. Moreover, the concepts of cultural assimilation and mainstreaming have brought light on problems regarding the treatment of minority cultures within American culture, specifically with the use of stereotyped imagery and hijacking outside cultural ideas. The issues of cultural stereotyping and assimilation, as seen in South Park, have garnered attention due to the nature of offence and its subjective nature.

Living by the restrictions that society places upon us, humanity is constrained to follow rules. Television writers were forced to write a certain way and were forced to leave out information that society would deem as improper, rude, and even racist. However, in 1971, a groundbreaking American television sitcom broke through societal boundaries and transformed the way that the American audience viewed television. Engulfed by the Vietnam War, Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, fight for women's right, and the Watergate scandal, Norman Lear persevered through stereotypes and entertainment norms with his show All in the Family. This show approached its audience in a very blunt and crude manner; it made conflict the center of its comedy. It dealt with contemporary cultural issues in a relatable way, which blue allowed blue-collar workers to learn about their current everyday issues and concerns. Through his show All in the Family, Norman Lear highlighted sensitive topics such as racism, bigotry, and sexual relations to prove that they are still alive in our country; thus, Norman Lear is an agent of change by bringing awareness to social issues.

Suburban sitcoms coming out in the late 50’s early 60’s portrayed usually an average family with average problems it solves by the end of the episode, most sitcoms including “Leave It To Beaver” followed the same formula; two white parents, a mother, and father, and 2-3 children; every episode followed the same steps, there’s a problem, the problem is solved by the end of the episode, and a lesson is learned by the main character. This held up perfectly in the 50’s and 60’s society, but sitcoms needed to adapt to fit their society, as time progressed, more important issues showed up in the shows, and as the US became more diverse so did the sitcoms. Today suburban sitcoms couldn’t be more different. As society became more diverse, more sitcoms were made to cater to the new audience.

A sitcom is a situational comedy, which is when the same setting and same characters appear in every episode. In terms of sitcoms much has changed between time and a good example of that is, I Love Lucy and The Simpsons. I Love Lucy first premiered in 1951 and for television viewers of the fifties; Lucy and Ricky could have been well known neighbors from down the street. Many people are able relate to this young couple, the Ricardo’s, who were experiencing the hard times and trails of marriage as typical Americans were. They lived in a brownstone in Manhattan with common struggles such as paying the rent and affording household materials. The humor and jokes came along when ordinary situations were amplified as Lucy managed to get herself into trouble time and time again, and

Good Times and The Jefferson’s are well known sitcoms that premiered in the 1970s focusing on African American families living in poverty, while offering a comedic twist. The 1970s was in the heart of the civil rights movement, and these shows were based on the lives of blacks during this time (Deane, 2004). Both shows aired during the same timeframe, and it was evident that Good Times and The Jefferson’s aligned with the traditional stigma that society had of African Americans (there were often offensive stereotypical aspects present, such as mammy and sambo characters).

Leslie B. Inniss and Joe R. Feagin. The Cosby Show: The View from the Black Middle Class. Journal of Black Studies. Jul, 1995.

The census statistics during this period shows a distinct transition in family dynamics and the growth of blended families across the nation. The transition to a broader definition of what marriage can be is what arguably has led to societies social shift to a larger acceptance of marriage that maybe historically didn’t fit what the media portrayed as the ideal marriage; like blended families, interracial marriage, and in recent years the shift to acceptance of homosexual marriage and relationships that even in the 1960s was portrayed in cinema. The ideal shift of a “perfectly imperfect” television family that obviously have face trials and tribulations but still provides a loving home for children and a vessel for moral teachings is something that we still see today on television. Full House is arguably an outcome of the progression from The Brady Bunch era that expanded the idea of what marriage and family could be. Full house is a form of a blended family in a non-traditional way. Instead of a remarriage you have a widowed single father with three daughters and his two male best friends helping raise them. Without previous shows like The Brady Bunch paving the way for non-traditional families, shows like Full House might have never been given the avenue to tell these stories of non-traditional families that were actively living in the

African American viewers passed judgment on the show for not dealing with racism, prejudice, and discrimination. The Cosby Show depicted unrealistic characters, not just unrealistic black characters. Viewers believed the show did not portray the norms of the times. The series never addressed addressed black-white relations, poverty, crime, and the cultural aspects of being an African American family. The show was a prime example of least objective program (Croteau) Timothy Havens, a doctoral candidate in Mass Media/Cultural Studies , wrote in a journal, “ The Cosby Show’s appeal to non-white audiences were its representation of cultural integrity in the midst of material plenty. The Cosby Show offered viewers the comfort of seeing characters with whom they identified enjoy the spoils of Western capitalism for a change. Integral to their enjoyment was the show’s representation of a dignified blackness, which broke with centuries of popular Western images of blacks. The Huxtables’blackness plays an integral role in disseminating the ‘universality’ of this particular family unit”

When television shows were first aired, the majority of the main characters were white, if you saw someone of color they were most likely playing the role of a servant. According to pbs.org, in 1983 there was a shift in television when NBC aired an all-Black cast sitcom, The Cosby Show. The Cosby Show was the first show that did not promote negative racial slurs within the media. Sitcoms are affecting American culture negatively by promoting detrimental stereotypes.

Another example of racial stereo typing during that same period in television history in the

Since its start, the television industry has been criticized for perpetuating myths and stereotypes about African-Americans through characterizations, story lines, and plots. The situation comedy has been the area that has seemed to draw the most criticism, analysis, and disapproval for stereotyping. From Sanford and Son and The Jefferson’s in the 1970s to The Cosby Show (1984) and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in the 1990s, sitcoms featuring black casts and characters have always been controversial. However, their significance upon our American culture cannot be disregarded. During the 1950s and 1960s, 97% of the families were Caucasian. In the first five years of the

The television show Black-ish has caused many controversial discussion and opinions. The sitcom features three generations of an African American family, the Johnsons, which includes a successful executive Andre; his wife Rainbow, who is a doctor; their four kids: Andre Jr., Zoey, Jack, Diane, and Andre’s parents Pops and Ruby living in a predominantly white suburban neighborhood in Los Angeles. The theme centers around how Andre came from a poor black neighborhood and his kids don’t seem to realize their culture. With this being the basis of the show, it has caused an uproar, with just its name alone being said to perpetrate racial stereotypes, leaving some with feelings that the show should be canceled (Peyser). The sitcom has even received tweets from Presidential candidate Donald Trump about being racist. This is as far from the truth as possible. Black-ish is not only non-racist it, but it is also a great show, providing laughs, life lessons, and diversity. Therefore, Black-ish is a good family sitcom and meets several aspects to be judged as one.

Family sitcoms have been the most popular and positively influenced television shows watched since the 1900s to today. Many of these shows have consisted of African American, Caucasian, and Hispanic families who all play a role that we as watchers look up to or perceive as the right way to run our household. Over time there has been an addition to biracial shows and family role changes throughout these sitcoms. For example, now observing single parent homes, homosexual guardians and even the changing of social interaction has both positively and negatively impacted real families who are watching.

not be as good as we imagined. We are shown quick little images of all