My parents split up just before my 14th birthday, and my mom was granted primary custody. I felt like my family had been broken. One thing that helped me reframe my views and accept my new reality was watching shows about teenage daughters with single mothers. Though they were fictional, seeing that those characters could be happy and loved made me more accepting of the changes in my own family’s dynamics. Shows like Gilmore Girls and Parenthood helped expand my definition of what a family could be. In this paper, I’m going to compare and contrast the mother-daughter relationships between Gilmore Girls’ Lorelai and Rory Gilmore and Parenthood’s Sarah Braverman and Amber Holt. Gilmore Girls was a series about Lorelai, a 32-year-old single mother, and her 16-year-old daughter Rory (although, technically, her name was also Lorelai). Due to the relatively small age gap between mother and daughter, Lorelai and Rory were extremely close. Rather than a traditional mother-daughter dynamic in which the mother acts as an authority figure, their …show more content…
One of the reasons for this is the chemistry between the actresses in each show. I once read an interview with Lauren Graham in which she explained that her near-constant bodily contact with Rory’s portrayer, Alexis Bledel, in Gilmore Girls’ early episodes was because she was physically leading Alexis (who had never acted before) to her marks. Though it served a practical purpose, it also came across as very maternal to viewers, and made their relationship even more believable. In Parenthood, the powerful chemistry existed not only between Graham and her TV daughter, who was played by Mae Whitman, but among the entire cast. The realistic dialogue in Parenthood is likely a significant reason for this: the characters often used filler words and spoke over each other, making the conversations much more
No matter what actions or words a mother chooses, to a child his or her mother is on the highest pedestal. A mother is very important to a child because of the nourishing and love the child receives from his or her mother but not every child experiences the mother’s love or even having a mother. Bragg’s mother was something out of the ordinary because of all that she did for her children growing up, but no one is perfect in this world. Bragg’s mother’s flaw was always taking back her drunken husband and thinking that he could have changed since the last time he...
Chelsea, the daughter of Ethel and Norman, is at a very difficult stage in her life. She has divorced already and is back in the dating game, this time her partner is a dentist named Bill who has a 13 year old son, Billy. Billy stays with her parents while her and Bill travel around Europe, and elope in Brussels, consequently causing her boyfriend’s son to become her step son. Step parent/step children families are becoming increasingly commonplace now. Divorce and remarriage rates are higher now than ever in the past, and with that comes a rise in the blended family. The relationship between Billy and his step mother, Chelsea, seems quite amiable. Though she is an adult now, her father’s acceptance is something that Chelsea has always craved. After returning from Europe, much to her delight and dismay, she learns of how well Billy and her father got on while she was away, despite the initial
In the last fifty years television has evolved tremendously, especially sitcoms. For example, in 1969 The Brady Bunch aired a show that featured two broken families coming together to form a seemingly ‘perfect’ blended one. The television show emphasized the importance of appreciating your loved ones, as well as surmounting challenges that teenagers face in everyday life. In 2009, the perhaps ‘modern’ Brady Bunch aired on ABC, Modern Family. This show focuses on three families, and highlights non-traditional families, illustrating that there is no ‘perfect’ family. In the forty nine year gap between the two programs, social and cultural issues such as gay marriage, adoption, and multicultural marriages have made
All five had issues stirring within their families. Whether it was neglect, abuse or domineering parents, they dealt with it in their own way. Some viewers or critics may say they didn’t b...
According to Murray Bowen’s family systems theory, the family subsists in an arrangement, whereas the individuals are inseparable from their network of relationships, but continue to strive to be individualized. Consequently, various forms of these networks are grounded in the domestic structure and the “normal” or “ideal” family and its development is derived from the interaction of the family members as they remain differentiated, anxiety is minimal, and partners have beneficial emotional communication with their family members (Nichols, 2014). Subsequently, the idea of achieving individuality while remaining in a cohesive family unit may cause stress. Concepts such as differentiation of self, triangulation, emotional cutoff, and anxious attachment may aid in the elucidation of the family system. This theoretical concept along with these coinciding terms will be explored through one episode of the television series The Goldbergs called Rush.
The creator of Gilmore Girls, Amy Sherman-Palladino, thought mother-daughter relationships would make a compelling television series. She had always been fascinated by the “everyone knows each other’s business” characteristic of small towns. When she decided to combine the two, Gilmore Girls was born. On the surface, it is a simple show about a self-absorbed single mom trying to raise a daughter while coping with her own overbearing mother. By more closely analyzing each character’s witty banter, one can see the philosophical aspects of the show. One of Sherman’s main goals was to create unique characters. As a result, she gave them all extreme personalities. Lorelai, the single mother, usually only thinks of herself. Her daughter, Rory, exhibits the voice of reason. She employs logic in her every day life and uses it to counteract Lorelai’s impulsiveness. Emily, Lorelai’s people-pleasing mother, engrosses herself with society’s views and rarely considers her own or anyone else’s happiness. When examining these characters, one can see that they closely relate to conflicts that arise in our own mind on a day-to-day basis. The main characters in Gilmore Girls parallel Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis of the mind.
It’s not easy to build an ideal family. In the article “The American Family” by Stephanie Coontz, she argued that during this century families succeed more when they discuss problems openly, and when social institutions are flexible in meeting families’ needs. When women have more choices to make their own decisions. She also argued that to have an ideal family women can expect a lot from men especially when it comes to his involvement in the house. Raymond Carver, the author of “Where He Was: Memories of My Father”, argued how his upbringing and lack of social institutions prevented him from building an ideal family. He showed the readers that his mother hide all the problems instead of solving them. She also didn’t have any choice but to stay with his drunk father, who was barely involved in the house. Carvers’ memoir is relevant to Coontz argument about what is needed to have an ideal family.
The situation between a single mother, Patty, and her pregnant teenage daughter, Amber, connects to many different social and cultural contexts. A social context that the mother and daughter faces together is single parenting. Patty, a single parent of three, struggles to support her children (Duan & Brown, 2016). Being raised by a divorced or single parent creates new situations that the parent and their children must work through. When I was in 6th grade, my parents went through drawn-out divorce. Connecting my situation to Ambers situation, Patty is trying her hardest to have amber be successful in school/ her life. Yet, no matter how hard she tries, patties past gets in the way. Patty’s former experiences with guys created the poor relationship
Jase being three and Emma being one. The goal for being a parent is to teach your kids how to love people and God Shannon said. To Shannon family mean people who love each other with all their heart. If Jase and Emma could talk what would they say about Shannon I think they would say is cool, awesome, amazing, smart, and so much fun. Shannon descaibe herself as a fun parnet to each one of her child. In what way have Shannon parents influenced her the most is being consistent in each one life and still getting to stay in each one life. What Shannon relationship with her parent her mom is her best friend and they tell each other everything that's going on. Shannon is most close to her little sister Emily.
Ideas and views of families have changed drastically throughout time. Along with these changing views, so have the ideas of why they exist. These changes have been driven, socially, politically and culturally that vary based on different ages, races, genders and societies that a person identifies with. To observe how some of these ideas and attitudes have changed over time, I looked critically into television shows to see which messages are being constructed as a reflection of our societal values. The images and values of family that were constructed through these television shows explain traditional roles while exposing the challenges of an nontraditional family.
Amy Sherman-Palladino, the creator of Gilmore Girls, essentially wrote the show about nothing. After not having a job for years, Sherman had writer’s block. On television, everything she saw seemed the same, identical characters and paralleling plots, she desired to create something different. Once, she had visited the small town of Washington, Connecticut and loved the “everyone knows everything” idea. So she thought, “Why not make a show about it?” After tweaks by the production company, Gilmore Girls was born. Although it is a show about a single mom, by nitpicking through character’s witty banter, one can see the philosophical aspects of the show. One of Sherman’s main goals was to create no analogous characters. In this attempt, she made them all have extreme personalities. Lorelai, the single mother, usually only thinks of herself. Her daughter, Rory, is what keeps her in check. Rory is logical and uses reason to contradict Lorelai’s carelessness. Emily, Lorelai’s people-pleasing mother, is engrossed with society’s views and hardly thinks of her or anyone else’s happiness. When examining these characters, one can see that they closely relate to conflicts that arise in our own mind on a day-to-day basis. The main characters in Gilmore Girls parallel Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis of the mind.
Every parent has different methods in raising a child. The way a child is raised has a tremendous influence on his or her whole life. Some parents believe in having a more lenient and friendly relationship while others believe in being more severe and oppressive. As shown in Dead Poet’s Society, overbearing parenting results in open defiance and can have deleterious results. In Dead Poet’s Society, the character Neil Perry’s father’s austere, uncommunicative and dictatorial relationship with Neil led to Neil’s demise.
...ther. In these two shows you see more disagreements with their spouses, and workplace issues since they do not have the kids to really worry about yet or they are too young to make a big difference.
The television sitcom Modern Family produced by Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd shows the many different types of a modern American family. According to Andrew Hampp, “The show is among the most-viewed scripted programs in prime time in its second season, averaging 11 million viewers during original airings and often ranked as the most DVRed program most weeks” (2). The television show is a frequently watched show and is liked by many viewers. Modern Family's storyline helps the families of viewers by being an influential and relatable show to different types of families. The show is about the lives of three different families that are all related. In the show there are Jay and Gloria, an intergenerational couple with two sons-- Manny (from Gloria’s previous relationship) and Joe, their new baby. Jay’s adult son Cameron is married to his gay partner Mitchell, and they adopted Lily from Vietnam. Finally, Jay’s daughter Claire is married to her heterosexual partner named Phil and they have three children. The show is influential to our culture today because it shows these different types of families and addresses controversial themes such as gay adoption, the different family connections and communications, intergenerational coupling, and acceptance of diversity within an extended family. The family is easy to relate to while watching because it is based off of real family situations.
Naturally, caring parents are worried by all this. Their worry showed in a 2005 national poll in which 76% of parents said that raising children was “a lot harder” than it was when they were growing up (“ A Lot Easier Said”). But just as most popular TV shows don’t give a realistic view of American teens, these frightening books and statistic do not provide a complete picture of what’s going on in families today. The fact is that not all teens and families are lost and without values. While they struggle with problems in our culture like everyone else, successful families are doing what they’ve always done: finding ways to protect and nurture their children. They are fighting the battle for their families in three ways: by fighting against the loss of quality family time, by fighting against the loss of community, and by fighting against the influence of the media.