Tv Representation of Families and Society - 1950s to Present

In this week’s application project essay, I would like to compare an older television show that projected family life as it was in the 1930’s as compared to how family is viewed from a sociological viewpoint today. “The Walton’s” may not have been an idealistic portrait of family, but the series did portray family as it really was in that era, since it was based on the autobiographical writings of Earl Hamner, Jr.

Deviance is a behavior, trait, belief, or other characteristic that violates a norm and causes a negative reaction (Ferris & Stein 154). The television Jane The Virgin embodies this sociological theory and is intended for an audience of young and older adults. Types of deviance that is featured is that Jane Villanueva who has hopes of being a teacher and author goes to the doctors for a routine physical examination. However, while there she accidentally gets artificially inseminated. The intended specimen was intended for a patient in the next room, the situation becomes even more shocking. In fact, the donor is Jane’s boss Rafael Solano whom she had a crush on a few years prior.

How many people today watch family sitcoms to imitate or compare values with their own? Probably not as many as there were in the 1950s. In Stephanie Coontz's "What We Really Miss about the 1950s", she discusses why people feel more nostalgic towards growing up in the 1950s, and how she disagrees that 1950s wasn't the decade that we really should like or remember best. Apart from economic stability, family values played an important part then. Through television sitcoms, such as "Leave it to Beaver", "Father knows Best", families watched them to make sure they were living correctly. It was like guidance and somewhat reassurance. However, values of families have changed, and this is shown on sitcoms today. We watch sitcoms today for

One show that is an American iconic and still watched today is titled “The Rugrats” written by Arlene Klasky (Ebert 1). This show is known for its life filled with rambunctious kids and is made to be watched by kids. All main characters hold traits such as pale skin, and colored hair of primarily European descent. In fact, The Rugrats only have one differently oriented character, who is an African-American girl that rarely is featured. As one can continue to imagine, think solely concerning every colored child's psychological development as they watch this American television show. Begin to picture not being able to see an accurate representation for themselves; it can make a child, that doesn’t know any better, think there's something wrong with who they are. Through what’s displayed on television shows that a majority cannot relate to and has been hurting America in the long run. Many children develop the mentality that they are somehow not normal which leads to mental disorders, and thinking they don't belong. Race doesn’t have to be lost in the media, for example in India. India’s writer Naif Al-Mutawa has written the underappreciated cartoon “The 99” (Crinos 2). This cartoon is in the prime standard for India’s broadcast system. The 99 tells adventures featuring

The 1960’s was and important time in American history. Television became popular. John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as president and a few years later was assassinated. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was introduced. The psychedelic movement 1960’s. The Vietnam War. Despite all the things that was happening in the 1960’s it was still a great and bad time of that era.

     What role does television play in society? For decades we have seen many parts of our world rapidly going through changes in technology. Today’s society has been transformed by means of communication and the available information through mass media. Most Americans rely on television for news, sports, and entertainment. Television is just one of the many examples of how technology has changed our lives. Since the invention of the television in the early 1900’s, it has played a very important role in our lives. Having a television set in the home has become very essential in today’s society. We depend on it to entertain us with its sitcoms and to inform us about current world issues. The

In 1971, New York Times columnist Fred Ferretti wrote an article about a new television series called All in the Family. Ferretti asked, whether or not if racism and bigotry were considered funny and he concluded that it was not and as a result believed that the show was lacking good taste. Apparently, the television viewers of America disagreed. Running from 1971 to 1979, All In The Family wasn’t the first television series to tackle major issues on a major network, but what was innovative about the series, was that is that it hewed its situational comedy from topical issues, and it explored them through characters we got to know and cared about every week. Simply put, All in the Family wasn’t just a great situational comedy; it as was an ongoing national conversation rooted in well-written, well-acted and multifaceted characters.

Television. Such a simple nine letter word but this word alone is most likely to be one of the most well known words in the universe. According to the latest Nielson report, on the consumption of television, the average American watches a minimum of five hours of television per day. If we were to estimate that the average American does get at least the recommended 9 hours of sleep then we can conclude that it is about 1/3 of their day being spent glued to the tube. Also if we continue to estimate that the average American lives to be 78. Then that is about 142,350 hours of television or tallied up to

The Brady Bunch were the ideal families in the 1960's and 1970's, and in the 80's, it was Family Ties. When the 1990's approached us, television shows took on a whole new outlook on American Families. There were shows such as Full House, which was about a single father raising three daughters with the help of his brother-in-law and his best friend. Roseanne was also another show that showed the "dysfunctional" side of families. American Families keep changing, and they will continue to change in our future.

During the process of producing a television series, the demand for the producers to introduce their characters with only their highlighted traits make it impossible for viewers to gain a deep understanding of the community that the characters represent. One of the stereotypic traits that is usually seen on movies and television shows is societal difference that each race is placed into. Michael Omi in his article In Living Color: Race and American Culture stated that “in contemporary television and film, there is a tendency to present and equate racial minority groups and individuals with specific social problems” (546). There are many films and television shows found today that ground racial minorities into a specific social problems that are related to the color of their skin. It can be inferred from the current popular culture that this stereotype still persists.

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

As early as 1950, television families have depicted not only the way we live today, but also the way we ought to live (Tueth, 2003). Hence, television has continued to present comedies about family life that ranges from the didactic model of domestic conventionalist and gradually to non-conventionalist ways of life. By conventionalist, I mean the depiction of the “nuclear” family that consists of clear roles, responsibilities, and gentle lines of authority that flow from the wise dad and understanding mom to the obedient children (Kutalas, 2005). Examples of these types of shows between 1947 to 1990 that constructed more than 60% of family sitcoms included: The Cleavers, The Cosby Show, Father Knows Best, Family Ties, and Growing Pains

There is quite a big difference in families from the 1960’s, and the families of today. Many of the changes from back in 1960 have to do with the parents and keeping family together. These differences have changed since then and will

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.

The ‘Golden Age of Television’ is what many refer to as the period between the 1950s and 60s when the television began to establish itself as a prevalent medium in the United States. In 1947, the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), and the Du Mont Network were the four main television networks that ran stations with regular programming taking place. (Television, 2003) While regular television programming was a new innovation, the television itself had been commercially available for over twenty years prior to the 50s. It was conceived by many worldly innovators and went through several testing stages before it was finally completed in the late twenties. The