Since the beginning of time itself, Television has been one the most influential pieces of media that the world has ever encountered. The beginning days of television depicted stereotypical mothers cooking and cleaning their homes for their husbands and children. Yet, as the decades passed, television took a dramatic turn, leaving the days of drama free entertainment as a vast memory. Now a day, however, when one hits the power on button to Bravo, the screen lights expand to ritzy socialites dealing with their everyday lives as “housewives”. Bravo TV’s hit number one reality television show, The Real Housewives of Atlanta, deals with the everyday lives of modern-day housewives. When speaking of these women and their family life, the reality series shows its viewers that family life in modern times is dramatic, full of misrepresentations of how people are perceived, and that fame comes at the cost of family. The Real Housewives of Atlanta has been on the Bravo TV network for three successful seasons. The show has more than three sister series on the Bravo network such as the Housewives of Miami and the Housewives of Orange County. The show’s original cast members were all friends of Nene Leakes, one of the starts of the show. The cast members have changed, however, since the first season, do to money issues and, in one case, a housewife not providing enough drama. Deshaw Snow, original member of the reality series, stated in an interview with essence magazine, “One of the producers called and said that I was "too human for a circus show" and that because the show did so well, they are about to pump up the drama and they didn't think that I would fit in.”Without the drama, the show would be nothing but a gala of southern ...
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...e the beginning of time, Television has been one the most influential pieces of media that the world has ever encountered. Bravo TV’s hit number one reality television show, The Real Housewives of Atlanta, deals with the everyday lives of modern-day “housewives”. When speaking of these women and their family life, the show shows its viewers that family life in modern times is dramatic, full of misrepresentations of how people are perceived, and how fame comes at the cost of family. The show stands strong with the critics and its faithful viewers around the world. Clearly, the show is not going astray anytime soon. Families who watch the show will eat up the drama and prays that their families never deal with those petty types of problems. The world will keep spinning in the television cycle, and drama will continue to invade the homes of millions of Americans.
Everybody Loves Raymond Everybody Loves Raymond is a family sit com television show about a married father of 3 children residing across the street from his parent’s house, therefore, his family are constantly interrupted by the kids, his brother, and parents. Season 1 episode 1 starts off with Raymond and his wife struggling to balance life with kids, work, and family. Since his wife is a stay at home mother of infant twins and a 3 year old girl, Raymond allows his wife to take a day off with her girlfriends and to enjoy herself without the supervision of his parents, inviting them without permission or an advance notice. As a result, Raymond’s failure to satisfy his family by lying soon gets caught. The scene allows him the perfect opportunity to voice out his feelings about the privacy of his own house.
Americans love their television, and television loves the American family. Since the 1970’s, the depiction of the American family on television has gone through many changes. In the 70s, the Brady Bunch showed an all-white nuclear family. Today, Modern Family, shows a family of blended races, ages, and sexualities. For thirty years, the sitcom family has reflected the changing society of its time and there is no exception of this for the families in The Brady Bunch and Modern Family. The lifestyle, social aspects, and economics situations of the Bradys and the Pritchett-Dunphys are similar in their attempts to portray the lives of families of their time, but differ drastically in the types of families they represent. The characters in Modern
The first effect of reality shows is the image it gives viewers. Reality shows give misconceptions of everyday life; the Real World and Jersey Shore show young adults relaxing, having a good time, and partying every day. The...
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
Desperate Housewives (2004) was a “primetime soap opera” shown on the ABC network and premiered as number one, with an audience of 21.6 million viewers. It is a satirical female-centric comedy-drama series about suburban life that deals with divorce, infidelity, dating, the duality of being a stay-at-home mom versus a career woman, raising children, marriage, and household struggles. During the 1950s family structure started to change, and the term housewife became known. In typical domestic soap operas, housewives are shown as “sexless” because they have only time for the family and household chores. (Cheryl N, 2007). The keyword of the title: “desperate” reflects upon common issues of w...
Though not immune to criticism, Modern Family and Full House still claim glimpses of societal pressure when showing aspects of the “American family.”
“Ok. First of all that wasn’t sex. You came in my thigh crease.” Sex? Ejaculation? Where could this quote be coming from? Certainly not a wholesome family comedy on ABC. It’s from the HBO show Girls, which provides real insight into the lives of millennials and deals with the typical coming of age story in a refreshing way. The show follows four very different girls (duh), Hannah, Jessa, Marnie and Shoshanna, in their early twenties trying to navigate life in New York City. Hannah is played by the show’s writer and creator, Lena Dunham. The show is now on its fifth season, and has sparked many controversies over the past four years. While some say there’s too much foul language, sex, and nudity, I say that by the show taking a pro-sex and
The reality TV show, The Real Housewives of Orange County, shown on Bravo, is recognized to be one of the most dramatic, luxurious and outrageous reality TV shows and definitely the most viewed out of the Real Housewives series. The TV show is based around literal housewives, women who stay at home and seem to look pretty on their husband’s arm, and their daily “tribulations”. These wives live in mega-mansions and live the lifestyle one can only dream of having. Between Botox injections and wild events in the lavish venues of the “OC” there is still plenty of room for drama. The women cannot help but find themselves gossiping over wine and eventually starting cat fights that will certainly be forgotten by the next episode, or the next inevitable
The first family depicted, the Dunphys, is a typical family depicted in media. The father, Phil, is the breadwinner of the family while Claire, the mother in the family, has career ambitions used as a device for humor. There is an episode in which she runs for city council. Rather than lauding her efforts in their own merit, the focus of the show is placed on Phil's attraction to ambitious women as well as the inability of a father to run a household without his wife. Claire’s failed entry into the political arena only emphasizes the lack of forward thinking presented by the show (Upadhyaya). Perhaps even more upsetting is the depiction of the Dunphy's two daughters. One daughter, Hailey, is considered extremely attractive and popular but not at all intelligent or competent in life. The other daughter, Alex, is portrayed as incredibly driven and bright but is also considered weird, unpopular, and unattractive. The second family with a semi-traditional composition, i...
Do you know the guiltiest pleasure of the American public? Two simple words reveal all—reality TV. This new segment of the TV industry began with pioneering shows like MTV’s The Real World and CBS’s Survivor. Switch on primetime television nowadays, and you will become bombarded by and addicted to numerous shows all based on “real” life. There are the heartwarming tales of childbirth on TLC, melodramas of second-rate celebrities on Celebrity Mole, and a look into a completely dysfunctional family on The Osbornes. Yet, out of all these entertaining reality shows arises the newest low for popular culture, a program based on the idea of a rich man or woman in search of the perfect marriage partner. The Bachelor, and its spin-off The Bachelorette, exemplify capitalist ideology founded on the Marxist base-superstructure model and establish the role of an active American audience.
Desperate Housewives goes behind the scenes into the secret lives of housewives in a perfect suburb. From the outside, everything looks perfect: perfect family houses with the white picket fence, well-kept yards, and happy families. The show tells the story of a group of girlfriends in the 40s and their lives. They all follow the rules of their gender by taking care of their families and husbands as the job of a typical housewife. The husbands, while the show isn’t featured on them, have most power over the household, while the wives work under them. On the show, there is Lynette (Felicity Huffman), who quit her high powered job to stay home to take care of her children, even though she was making more than her husband. Bree (Marcia Cross), another stay at home mom, is a duplicate of Martha Stewart and known for her perfectionism. Susan (Teri Hatcher) is a divorced mother and shares custody of her daughter with her ex. Gabrielle (Eva Longoria) is an ex-model with a rich husband and really nice house and stays home wh...
When Desperate Housewives first aired in October of 2004 on ABC television network, the controversial pilot episode sparked interest in over twenty-five million viewers. On a seemingly quiet, average suburban street titled Wisteria Lane, four women – Lynette Scavo, Gabrielle Solis, Bree Van de Kamp, and Susan Mayer – became instantly connected by the suicide of Mary-Alice Young, a fellow neighbor and poker club member. While the reason behind Mary-Alice’s death remained unknown for several seasons, the show began to unfold a juicy plot chocked full of the stereotypical drama of suburbia; intermixed between love triangles and tragic affairs, more unusual and mysterious events began to occur. Although Desperate Housewives attempts to portray gender equality and society’s ever-altering perception of gender through the use of jobs, relationships, and melodramatic occurrences, this façade does little to hide the traditional roles of each gender and how those roles complicate the daily life of the families of Wisteria Lane.
HBO's Sex and the City has become a cultural icon in its 6 seasons of running. Based on Candace Bushnell's racy book Sex and the City, the show exhibits an unprecedented example of the sexual prowess of women over the age of 35. The result is an immense viewing audience and an evolving view on the "old maid" stigma that a woman's chances of finding love are significantly reduced after thirty-five. In this paper, we will closely analyze the characters and themes of Sex and the City to explain the significance of what the show represents in American culture.
Reality Television has changed television in a way that no one could have imagined. Being the one of the most talked about genre in history, it is seen by millions of viewers. It has more ratings than any other kind of show (Breyer 16). From its start, there have been many Reality Television shows. Shows like The Real World, Survivor, Big Brother, and Jersey Shore. All of these give off a negative portrayal of reality. While Americans watch these shows, it seems that the show is real life, but in reality, no pun intended, before the show is even filmed, it’s written, edited, and produced (Breyer 21). Writers humiliate and degrade people just for the plot of the show, making their private lives public (Breyer 16).
Lehmann, Carolin. “Reality TV: A Blessing or a Curse? An Analysis of the Influence of Reality TV on U.S. Society.” Academia. Edu 5 Nov. 2012. 29 Nov. 2013.