ak <__)Professer James Sociology Oct 30 2015 Aspects of he Family Looking at the aspects of a family on tv using sociological ideas you can see that sh6 aspects of the family are very different pare them to today. While analyzing behavior, conversation, roles, and the structure of the family, it is noticeable that many. things have changed in thé shows over the years. Watching ty shows lke Leave it To Beaver, The Brady Bunch, The Simpsons, and Family Guy it isan arent that atthe shows bringin ideas of family from those decades. ed Leave It To Beavers the fist show | analyzed trom the 50 0 the classic idea of a family from that decks The family consists of a mother and father, OV pleved ynore Thon 4. 50 ‘this dvernt Fi that are still together, and two sons. oe a second grader, is the main character who and 60's. It brings in is always into some sort of mischief, The structure of the family is the classic stereotype of a family from the 60's. The father is a working man who comes home from work with the classic phrase “Honey, I'm Homel”. The mother stays at home and is always taking care of the children or doing someting te bie. Waly he older brother to Beaver, isa leadortype figura| Ho plays the role of a smart brother that takes care of Beaver and his own problems. Beaver, is constantly doing something to drive the show forward, that causes a classic problem for himself and his brother.The behavior of the family members is vary different from today, in TV shows and real life. Both children are very polite, humble, and well behaved, They asked to be excused from the table and other tamily activities. They say please and thank you, and give a lot of respect to both parents in general. (fh8 parents are the classic idea of an Ora cholic, authority figure in that time, giving fatherly and motherly advice to both boys as well as ge dyving being strict when needed, Both boys are-getting into trouble in thé show, but at all times ‘seem to feel guilty about lying and hiding things from their parents. Weed aw trans SFT ketene heat that ieadt to The’ ‘family discussion seems to be very similar throughout the episodes ranging tr nett” poe from parenting advice, to the childish jokes that Beaver or Wally will make, The conversation between parents is always about the two children and what they are up to. The topics are never inappropriate or obscene and all the jokes are directed to be okay for the time period and never “edgy”. Fai analyzing the leisure, time of the family, it all focuses on what the children Chet. thisem wera! do, They participate in classic games from the time with friends, or they are in some sort of trouble. The parents are never with friends in the show because they are always together in the home. I think this has to do with the fact that at the time it was seen as wrong to not be a family member that is always there for each other. The stereotypical family is a stay at home mom with a working class father. “S._ The next show comes from the 70's and is tiled The Brady Bunch. In this show you can start to see the changes in family and what was accepted at the time for a wily household. In this show, a divorced mother of three daughters is remarried to aThe structure of the family still consists of a working father and the mother stays ‘at home (however the changes of a divorced wife and widowed husband that are Thisds pontusing remarried changes the topics behind the show, The children all come into conflict because of the adjusiments to new parents and a new family. Classic contlicts come up, : Gre. they really sfasic? like the fact thal the dad shouldn't give rules to the daughters and the mother should not whe. oe Clases Lontict meg! ord ool divorce became more common, and it became a great topic for the show because many give rules to her new husband's sons. This structure was accepted in this time as families had the same problems, which the show took a lighter look at. ‘The behavior is much different from older looks at families in many ways. The aye children can be disrespectful to each other as well as either of the parents. The topies of the show are much more chaotic and contain different material because of the conflicts between characters. The children act loudly and irresponsibly through all the episodes and the behavior ends up in a jumble of problems for the family. example? Tho conversation of the characters is very often loud and ranges based on the topic of the episode. The topics can range from the problems of the daughters or struggles between the new family, for examplo, in the first episode the daughters are ‘complaining that they were yelled at by their mother even though it was apparently the boys’ fault for alll the trouble caused. The conversation is never inappropriate or vulgay, however there are more things between the parents shown than older shows, They are shown embracing and kissing very often which would be accepted at the time, and there are some jokes that could be seen as innuendos or an implication to a “dirty” joke. depos The lelsure time of the family is fairly normal and it seems to be very gender focused for both the children and parents. The daughters play with dolls and makeup,while the boys are playing outside with a football or getting into trouble. The mother is stay at home and the father is a working man. It was still seen as normal during this time for a working class family to have a father as the head of the house, meanwhile the mother takes care of the children, not showing any leisure time for the parents. The next show | analyzed is a classic that was a staple of american family quasi), ede {0 television for a very long time, The Simpsons aired from the late 80's and took place Jb. mostly through the 90's, finally ending in the early 2000's. The Simpsons takes place in suburban Springfield, llinois and follows the Simpson family through their middle class lifestyle. The structure of the family is a wife and husband that are still married, with a teenage son and a teenage daughter along with a baby daughter, The son, Bart, plays the classe role during the tie of a rebel kd that doesnt like schoo! and takes on many versthing & caste? oY do you Ynean {he actions and ideas of his son, usually portraying a dumb man that does not handle situations rationally as a normal adult would. A. The behavior of the family is much different from the normal idea of one, and the show takes a more satirical look at how the characters act towards each other. The. ~:~ behavior between the father and son is not a loving one, in fact sometimes it is the complete opposite because of the fathers reaction to his sons acts. The daughter is.much smarter than the rest of the family, which can lead to typical situations of the daughter taking advantage of the rest of the characters. In general, the behavior is usually the family working against each other for the sake of jokes in the episode. 2, Taking a look at the conversation of the episodes in this time itis very different ¢ * Aine 9c inden ‘than shows from 20 to 30 years ago. You can tell that what is accepted for ‘fbaaws to “(4 T) * gay has boon expanded groatly by the ideas of socely. There are mush more satical jokes that have to do with topics that would be considered obscene in earlier shows of the decades. Discussion has to do with the characters making fun of each other or making vague jokes about things in society of the ime. 2iiinp'e The leisure time of the family is also a much wider range. The kids are getting into more trouble, especially the son playing the role that he does. The father is irresponsible with actions, in and outside of his work, letting his children do things most fathers wouldn't and losing job altogether, all the while hiding it from his family. All of these things develop the ideas and jokes of the episode which take a more sarcastic look at the typical family. The final show that is most recent taking place and airing in the 2000's is Family Guy. This show follows a family living in a fictional suburban area of Rhode Island. They are a not-sotypical family and the show makes jokes using satire and sarcasm to look at the ‘amily and Socity in a different, more “touchy” way. The family consists of a wife and husband that are still married. The children consist of a teenage daughter, as well as a son around the same age. A baby and a dog that both happen to tak, which deliver the most mockery towards society... , goedg? unusual The behavior with the family is not so typical for a family with these characters. The acts that happen are usually unrealistic and not permanent for the sake of an ironic look at todays world, The characters use many references to people and other jokes to create @ sense of smart humor to make fun of different parts of society. The family itself is very hostile towards each other, physically and also mentally, They will make fun of each other and all the characters at some point retain bad behavior depending on the episode. The conversation has a lot of ranges in this show because of how many things they try to touch on with their jokes. The show will start off with a topic of that episode, which leads to the storyline for the ae usit uses ifs Conversation to make subtle and sometimes obvious hacks at culture. The oA Und conversation is often inappropriate or touchy on a subject that most people wouldn't 1. cutaways and other jokes the show think of talking about. When the characters in the show say things, for some reason their allowed to get away with the things they say, perhaps because they are animated, and when such serious topics are made fun of by them, people allow themselves to see the humor in the bad things society does, The leisure time of the characters is very widely spread, once again itis often unrealistic, because of the fact itis animated, impossible things can become possible. This helps the ideas of the writers satire show through with the aspects of the ily, that is basically allowed to do or say almost anything on television in todays ‘There are many similarities between these shows that are noticeable, however there are many differences as well because of the time periods. One of the things that issimilar throughout the tv families, is that most of them consist of the same structure. Perhaps this is because the classic idea of a family creates a good base for a look at how the family has changed. The differences are very obvious, including what the characters are allowed to say or makes jokes about, | personally think this is a good thing. It is most noticeable in shows like The Simpsons, Family Guy, that are more recent. If people can get past the crudeness that the show sometimes portrays, they truly do provide a smart sort of humor that gives a satirical look behind the aspects of family and society as a whole{ Overall, when looking at aspects of TV families through ce the years, it is clear to see that the things accepted by society have changed greatly, becoming much more open to new ideas. As many people say, Ait imitates life, and this pod is very clear in what is new to tv over the decades. \ {9f OME you white well for Woe on traveltions behwen sevens } even \be-ween PavAgrapns 4 new topics. Ir 1S. perfectly Oe fo YS heading! titles in tong pare os. Aso, (ead your papRubric Made Using: RubiStar{hipifrubistarateachers.ory ) Research Report : Sociological Comparison of Television Shows Teachor Name: Ms. James ‘Studont Name: oe CATEGORY Organization Above Standards (4)|Meets Standards (3) information & very Jorgantzed vith wel- Jconstructed paragraphs land subheadings. 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