The Proud Family Satire

For example, Lorraine's mother always tells her “you’re not a pretty girl Lorraine.”, she also always calls Lorraine fat and ugly. Lorraine’s mother does not set a good example for Lorraine because she bullies her. Another example is John’s father likes to lie which rubbed off on John, one time John’s father went around bragging how he phonied up a car insurance claim to get a hundred dollars to replace a piece of aluminum on their new car, which he had really replaced himself. John’s father taught John that lying was not bad without even knowing. John’s family also had other issues because John’s father was an alcoholic and did not care if John drank beer. John was not old enough to drink beer but his father did not care because he was an alcoholic. Both families show that they have bad family values because they are mean and

Use the guided analysis exercises within the lesson as a model for this part of the assignment.

Released in 2001, Disney Channel’s The Proud Family was a Black cartoon frequently watched by children who grew up during its airplay. Not vulgar or satirical, The Proud Family centered around Penny Proud and her family as she grew up through her years. As a child, I innocently watched this show, but picked up on unintended implications based off of the character’s skin color. The main character Penny was a lighter skinned girl, who appeared to possess “more Eurocentric phenotypic characteristics (Steele),” exhibited more intelligence, wealth, and virtue, as opposed to her darker skinned best friend, Dijonay, who was associated with deviance and sassiness, while speaking with a more Ebonic style of talking and possessed a more “ghetto” name. Although the show attempted to provide an accurate representation of a “traditional African American family,” it still regardlessly instilled these stereotypes of the African American community into my mindset, which were not disproved in my mind until later in my life (Steele).

As society has continued to evolve socially, politically and culturally, so has the persona of television. Societal transformations have shape and reshaped television throughout its history. Programs ranging from ethical series to variety shows to family sitcoms mirrored not only the audience taste of entertainment, but also the change of values within society during the increase in television use. Gender roles and a strong sense of family intimacy were among the most prominently highlighted transformations reflected in television. Women and family contribute significantly when analyzing the antiquity of the television. Television programming was designed to emphasize family togetherness through illuminating the importance of domestic household maintenance. Domestic sitcoms, such as The Donna Reed Show exhibited these liberal roles in which women were expected to subjugate to subordinate statuses and confine their

“Televised events like the Super Bowl, the Olympics and the World Cup give us a rare opportunity to share a moment in time with the world,” proclaims Tim Leberecht of www.designmind.com (Leberecht). With our busy lives, we almost never take out time to spend with our loved ones, and these televised events are when the majority of people meet up and have fun. “Millie? Does the White Clown love you? Does your ‘family’ love you, love you with all their heart and soul, Millie?” Montag asks Mildred (Bradbury 77). Guy Montag is questioning his wife out of desperation, and is extremely curious to know if she believes that her fake TV family really loves her. From this we can see that he is truly disappointed with life and his wife’s immoral addiction to television. We must keep in mind that our society today is not as dumbed down and obsessed with fake parlor shows that spread real, tangible people apart as Mildred is. TV today is a source of knowledge and learning, and creates the perfect circumstances and settings for the getting together of the people that really matter the most. One of the most important aspects of television is its ability to strengthen democracy and teach the law. “Seventy-two percent (of the US population) learn about elections and candidates from TV news,” states www.designmind.com (Leberecht). TV brings us information that is essential to maintaining our freedom and our guaranteed

The media creates television shows that appear to be reality however they are not and when looked at, it is easy to see. I will be discussing the relationships between reality and reality TV, satire, and documentary.

Wide, sunny beaches, yellow sand and clear water paints the picture perfect Sydney. Cut to Mount Druitt, a town filled with graffiti, garbage, and government housing, where the controversial new documentary Struggle Street is set. This borderline ‘mockumentary’ aims to show a side of Sydney that is rarely seen, but unless the producer – David Galloway - set out to do this in the most depreciating manner possible, the documentary has missed the mark. Although the audience duly tries to feel sympathy for the shocking stories “uncovered”, the mocking undertones undermine all seriousness, removing almost all chances for the audience to feel legitimate, heartfelt compassion.

This genre is typically modern, perky and upbeat, but the common narrative in all of them is that it features a woman who is strong and she overcomes adversity to reach her goals. There is also a message of empowerment that also struggles with a romantic predicament and using comedy to poke fun at the male characters. Industries are still producing soppy romantic comedies for the female audience but the divide between the standard chick flick and romantic comedy is slowly disappearing. Similarly to the beginning of this essay it is evident that institutions are moving in the direction of women’s place in culture in relation to this film genre; women are usually shown as the super power since they are made to appeal to the female audience. However

Prior to this encounter, the only films the family is permitted to watch is that which they have recorded themselves. As a result, watching home movies becomes a reward for good behavior, and the children mouth along with the dialogue, as if they’ve watched them hundreds of times. This is, in a way, a manifestation of egotistical tendencies – but, without exposure to different stimuli, there is no real way to distinguish the “self” from the “family”. This concept is further explored in The Wolfpack, as well. As the eldest watches the movies, her personality changes, and begins reenacting scenes from them at odd times.

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.

The video communicated with its audience by using clips of videos, a specific music selection, voice-overs, and written text. It made the assumption that the audience would have already seen The Shining. It also made the assumption that the audience was familiar with the archetype of wholesome family movies. I came to these conclusions because without having watched the movie The Shining and without being familiar with popular archetypes, the intended audience would not have found the video to be humorous, which was clearly the intention of the video’s

The simple lives of these children brings about many questions: Why are the characters children in the show? Why is the show in a suburban setting? These thoughts bubbled up as I rewatched the episodes, replaying the memories of my past as I took note of every quip and gag. Then, I realized the important aspect

Provide supporting evidence from the texts to support your responses to these questions. All answers should be in the form of complete sentences.

Entertainment comes in many forms in this day and age. In the early 1950’s entertainment in many homes was sitting together as a group in a room, listening to the radio. Only the wealthiest families could afford the luxury of televisions. We have evolved into an entertainment oriented culture where families have several televisions and many people have come to own tablets and smart phones that keep entertainment very close at hand. It is common to see people in various places, such as restaurants, bars, train stations, work break rooms, airports, and hospitals, just to name a few, ignoring the people they are with, only to be entertained by television. Entertainment fascinates the masses. They immerse themselves and are captivated by their favorite shows. One of my favorites is House. House demonstrates that going by the rules isn’t always the best way, but going with your gut feeling, even though it might not be the normal thing to do is the best way. The main character, Dr. House, assesses his patients by reviewing how they came down with their bizarre ailment, and what may have instigated it. This storyline encourages one to think outside of the box.

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