National identity through sitcoms greatly influences how a nation or culture represents its shared unity within humor and determining how successful a TV series will be. Identity plays a major role in the media world especially in television. Nevertheless, the successful sitcom “Modern Family” is the best example on how American culture interprets humor based upon the shows context of how a typical family operates on a daily basis. “Modern Family” is the first family show to be filmed as a “mockumentary”, which is a television show viewed through a documentary style that creates a parody (New York Times). In each episode it shows different perspectives that can easily relate to the American viewers and how most of our families function with internal conflicts. Modern Family is successful because of how well it connects with its audience through internal monologue and the diversity shown throughout the show, which in turns represents our national identity. This notion of “national identity” relates to how a person connects with a shared unity of a state or nation and has a sense of belonging. The television show offers a documentary outlook, taking shorts breaks in the show for interviews with each character. It gives an inside look of the actual thoughts and opinions from each character on the “conflicts” of that episode. The goal for the viewers is to feel the attachment he/she has to these people, and how easily they can identify themselves with their culture. It is a community within it self that cannot be seen but only felt through the situations and humor being conveyed. Modern Family is about the star of the show Jay Pritcheett, his second wife, stepson, and their infant son, adding on his two adult children and their dis... ... middle of paper ... ...ld of their own. In all these relationships the diversity of our American culture is represented, which is what makes this show as successful as it is. Although some situations in the show are controversial viewers like to have the choice to complain about other characters within the show and give their opinion and that is exactly what Modern Family shows. Works Cited http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/23/fashion/23THISLIFE.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/10604205/Outnumbered-v-Modern-Family-Which-is-the-best-family-sitcom.html http://www.academia.edu/1302382/How_modern_is_Modern_Family_A_Critical_Review_on_the_U.S._Sitcom_Regarding_Gender_Roles_and_Hegemonic_Ideologies http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2010/oct/02/modern-family-30-rock-glee http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/23/arts/television/23modern.html?_r=0
The differences in family values are shown in modern sitcoms. "Gilmore Girls" is a sitcom that demonstrates values of gender and children roles that are significantly different to those in 1950s. From Lorelei and Rory, they show that family organization is not always the father working, mother looking after children. Through the plot of each episode, financial, racial, other general problems such as Rory's school and relationship are actually shown and realistically too. Every family is different, different race and classes have different families. Today, we do not watch shows to copy their ways of living and we do often share the same values. Therefore this shows significant changes in family values from the 1950s sitcoms to today's sitcoms.
Murray is arguing in this article that the shows on today are not portraying the real situations that families are forced to deal with in life. Almost all shows on today are scripted. The actors in fake family TV shows try come together to be a real life family, but it does not portray a real family at all. For the most part, all the adults in the shows have jobs,
Family comedies have evolved throughout the past century. What was once revered as classic has completely changed forms and turned into the comedic experience we witness today. Family sitcoms in particular have been converted to show a broader picture of how family’s interact in today’s world. This greatly appeals to today’s audiences and is what people want to see. Modern family specifically has tapped into what nontraditional families are all about and even with being so alternative has resonated with every type of family, making it one of the most popular shows on TV at the present moment. The pilot episode of Modern Family uses hyper-irony, allusions and uses references to technology to enforce comedic impact.
Younger generations and the more vulnerable in society can be influenced in avoiding peer pressure, but for the individuals filled with wisdom, the shows can reflect based on American modern society. Everybody Loves Raymond and Full House are great shows who faces similar life obstacles a typical person living in the US has today. As a result, most modern family comedy sit-coms are reflecting our society’s generations and the more vulnerable. Based on the success of early family sit coms, American’s adapted to a fast pace lifestyle with the help of modern
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
...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.
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 1990s, nearly 14% of the television families were African-American (Bryant 2001). These statistics obviously show the substantial impact our American culture has had on African-American television families.
NBC network’s The Office is definitely a show that a lot of youth watch nowadays or well, used to at the least. Some people are amused by the show’s style of humour, however many are not so entertained. Personally, I find that the style of humour in this particular show is used to depict hegemonic relationships and stereotypes that exist in modern culture. Thus, for this specific reason, I will attempt to apply and analyze the theme of cultural hegemony to The Office.
I will discuss a T.V show that began in 1987 and ran until 1995 and compare that to a T.V show of today Modern Family; which first aired in 2009. The two are both American family sitcoms and comedies that have had great success throughout the air. These two shows are both unique in their own way. Full House is based in the late 80’s and early 90’s in San Francisco. Now Modern Family is today and still on air going for the 7th season based in the suburbs of Los Angeles. That if you look at the family photo of the entire Modern Family cast and the complete Full House cast shows how the typical sitcom family has changed over the time. 80’s to present
Though not immune to criticism, Modern Family and Full House still claim glimpses of societal pressure when showing aspects of the “American family.”
“The sitcom is a jumble of mixed metaphors: the repetition compulsion of eternal sameness conjoined to a desire to overturn the established order; a profound aesthetic conservatism bundled with an ingrained desire to shock. Every sitcom possess not just a routine that it perpetually seeks to overturn but also a particular style of fomenting that chaos.”
Popular culture is the artistic and creative expression in entertainment and style that appeals to society as whole. It includes music, film, sports, painting, sculpture, and even photography. It can be diffused in many ways, but one of the most powerful and effective ways to address society is through film and television. Broadcasting, radio and television are the primary means by which information and entertainment are delivered to the public in virtually every nation around the world, and they have become a crucial instrument of modern social and political organization. Most of today’s television programming genres are derived from earlier media such as stage, cinema and radio. In the area of comedy, sitcoms have proven the most durable and popular of American broadcasting genres. The sitcom’s success depends on the audience’s familiarity with the habitual characters and the situations
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, Everybody Hates Chris, season one, episode four entitled “Everybody Hates Sausage”, the stereotypes that continue to fuel racism are examined in a satirical motif, and class is presented in a comical way, but carries serious undertones which present a somewhat realistic view of the different social strata within the United States.
Modern Family is easy to relate to because the three families in the show are all “modern” families in today’s culture. The different themes shown throughout the show all contribute to the show being so influential. Each episode is very positive and has an underlying message in the end and shows that there is always a different purpose to each episode which is what makes the show so influential. The family has conflicts but is always functioning which is what makes the show special and relatable.
Television comedies have been on the air for decades, and throughout this time many different shows have come and gone. Due to the dominance of these shows, comedies are one of the biggest draws on television. There are many different types of comedies, each with their own unique characteristics and features that differentiate them from others and lead to their popularity. Whether the show is a sketch comedy, sitcom, mockumentary or dramatic comedy, each utilizes different types of humour, locations, themes, and situations to appeal to the audience; which is likely why they are so popular today.