Essay On Representing More People In Television

In conclusion, the show Modern Family reveals several of these social issues that can be looked at in a sociologist perspective, like stereotypes represented in the family ideology, gender roles contradicting societal norms through Mitchel and Cam’s relationship, the pressure society puts in order to be accepted, and the impact of technology in our society. There are many social forces in television shows that have the capacity to influences the norms of society. These social forces can be looked at through a sociological perspective, whether that is by examining one’s sociological imagination, relating individual problems to social issues or through gender roles and social class. Although sometimes media can have negative consequences, it

Since television came into existence, it has evolved into a useful tool to spread ideas, both social and political, and has had a great effect on the generations growing up with these heavily influential shows. To these younger generations, television has taken the role of a teacher, with the task of creating a social construction by which many of us base our personal beliefs and judgments on. This power allows television shows take the opportunity to address problems in a manner that many audiences can take to heart. Many television shows present controversial topics in a comical matter, in some ways to soften the blow of hard-hitting reality at the same time bringing attention to the issue being addressed. In the television show,

Equally important would be to stop reinforcing negative stereotypes of women on television. Television still represents traditional views of society. Women are often still generally represented as inferior to men on television. Television shows have to stop representing women as being neurotic like Monica on Friends, or difficult and bossy like Amanda on Melrose Place, or ditsy like Phoebe on Friends. Women should be represented as more than the standard stereotypical negative and simplified character viewers generally see.

American television today has drastically changed from the first appearance of the television in the 1920s. Currently, television is nothing but sitcoms poking jokes at the disabled, the LGBT community adapting to the American family standard, and even late night television poking fun at our 2016 Presidential candidates.1950s television depicted America’s heterosexual, patriarchal society in which an “ideal and acceptable” family consisted of a generous working class father, an accommodating and good-natured mother, and a few respectful children. Whereas 1950s American television required the audience to accept television families without question, American networks today understand that times are changing and just like mass communication, adapting to the millennial generation of technology is a must for television families to appeal to the growing masses. But when did television families first start to step away from the cultural ideals of its time? From the 1920s through the 1960s television upheld the Father Knows Best standard of television with shows such as ‘Father Knows Best” and “I Love Lucy.” Well, fast forward 30 years, and in came the Bundy’s. The Bundy’s were television’s first dysfunctional, on screen family to undermine the idea that an ideal family must function perfectly all the time. Married with Children reminded us that it was ok to not conform to society’s cultural norms. “…people want to watch a family that

Stronger bonds of affection and shared interests would form whenever the family gathered around the television sets. Media Historian Lynn Spigel states that,” Not only was it shown to restore faith in family togetherness,” Spigel notes, but TV did it “in splendors of consumer capitalism.” (Edgerton, p. 92) Postwar television promoters pushed the new “family togetherness” that TV viewing would generate within the family. The era of viewing TV in public setting did influence stations' early programming decisions and civic discourse about the new medium and its audience but it was brief. As stated by Edgerton, “By 1950, 45 percent of families who lived in those areas in which TV was available had purchased television sets. The camaraderie of watching in a bar was outweighed for many men by the convenience of watching it at home.” (Edgerton, p. 97) This supplements the social change of family togetherness in the early period of

Throughout the years of TV, it has done a good job of capturing some of the world’s most dominating issues and topics in a variation of angles in order to bring light to ones that can divide and unite many. These issues range from religion, gender, sexuality and social class.

Television, since its inception, has had a knack at being a mirror for the current state of society. Through this medium, one is easily able to spot the changes our culture has gone through since TV was first created. One example of this social shift, is that of the woman's role in television starting from the 50’s to the present. In 1950’s

Since its inception in the 1950s, television has become an integral part of American society. Television has always been a means of entertainment, but it has developed into something further. Television is a tool that can reflect and nurture values and morals. Throughout the years, television and our society have had a symbiotic relationship. Our culture influenced television, while television influenced our society. When The Truman Show came out, it embodied our media culture from the past, but it also predicted what was to come after the movie was released. When television networks first came on the scene, they consciously stayed clear from

It is common knowledge that the first and most important goal of a television show is to entertain its audience in order to increase viewership and in turn increase revenue through commercial advertisement. The average American citizen understands that a fictional TV shows is usually not a true representation of reality and is meant for pure amusement, but is criticism warranted when a TV show propagates itself as a show that represents a progressive society and attempts to break down outdated social norms but does not fulfill this portrayal? Modern Family is a show that has won countless awards since its debut in 2009, including Emmy awards, Teen Choice awards, Screen Actors Guild awards, Golden Globes, and even NAACP awards. Its combination of witting humor, dynamic

Gender representations in television bear immense weight within society as they either: reproduce or critique societal values, address injustice or uphold mainstream beliefs, and perpetuate stereotypes or initiate change. Today, the problem with gender representations in the television medium is not a lack of visibility of women, as multiple genres include women characters, but rather the problem lies in the portrayal of women. Are the images of women displayed in a positive manner? Does the television medium accurately represent women? Although questions of accuracy and positivity in representations seem minor, these questions have major implications as people use television shows as windows for broader cultural practices. We must realize that the people we see on television programs

In many films and modern tv shows there are a lot of gender stereotypes, but many of the racial stereotypes are in front of our faces and we do not even notice. For example, in the movie “Caucasian Chicks” directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans most people do not notice that the main characters are trying to be a stereotypical Caucasian female. When you watch the movie for the first time, you may not notice all the racial stereotypes in the movie; you just see a comedy movie starring two African-American males. What we don’t notice is that the movie is based on the stereotypical Caucasian female and how they act, how they are more “privileged” then everyone else, and the portrayal of their beauty standards.

We have decided to conduct this study with the focus on three sitcoms from the 1980s which are Fresh Prince, The Bill Cosby Show, and Full house. In addition, focusing on three sitcoms for comparison in todays time, 2000s which are Full House, George Lopez and Family Matters. Each of these research samples display a variety of roles played, race, gender and change in family perception. There will be significant differences in the family structures as a function of time and race/culture of sitcoms aired in the 1980’s versus in the 2000’s. More specifically, it is expected that there will be a significant differences in the portrayals of family size, social class, locations, origin, and gender roles.

Can T.V. shows be the reflection of our society or influence the behavior of the members of our community? Since 1936 when television broadcasting begin, it priority was to inform and to entertain our society; subsequently, a massive amount of rules and regulations were created to control the material presented in TV, which principal goal was to safeguard the moral and ethical standards of it time. Nevertheless, from its beginning to the present home entertainment television standards contents have change; likewise, the moral an ethics values of our society have change and continuing changing from generation to generation. TV shows from the 50’s, 80’s, and the present exposed many changes in the way human role are exposed, the language

As Television sales increased in the 1940s, more homes in the United States included TVs as a common accessory in the family room. Since then, televisions have become another tool for socialization individuals use to try and make sense of the world around them (Riesman, Denny, & Glaser, 1950). Furthermore, the combination of romance and mass media produced narratives continues to be a prominent form of entertainment where TV writers and producers construct a picture of what love should look like.

The television is also a very important aspect of popular culture that affects the American Identity. Watching television is such a common part of contemporary society, that most Americans adopted it as a part of their daily routine and watch television for at least an hour a day. Stanley Crouch, a poet, music and cultural critic, writes that whenever people pretentiously and proudly announce, “I don’t watch television,” they should follow it up with “I don’t look at America either” (Masciotra 79). Television has become a part of many people’s lives. When the mass population watches the same TV shows, movies, etc. they can all relate to each other, and thus unite them as an American. We look to TV shows to see how other people like us act