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That 70s Show creates stereotypical 70s subtexts – rewrite
Members of the cast of That 70s Show
That 70s Show is a sitcom, comedy show that is supposed to personify the lives of teenagers growing up in the culturally explosive and rebellious period of the 70s. The show follows six high-school kids from the made-up town of Point Place, Wisconsin. The point-of-view of the show is through the eyes of these rebellious, rock n’ roll-loving teenagers that (supposedly) show the fun-loving side of the 70s: drinking beers, smoking marijuana, listening to rock music and cruising around in the car with friends. The audience expects this fun-loving part of the show because many of these viewers grew up in the 70s and find the show to be a fond reflection of that decade.
The ambiance of the 70s is definitely over stereo-typed in this show. Although the “love generation” culture was a big part of the 70s, not everywhere in the United States were going through the same revelations of the 70s as Point Place is in the show. Many of these stereo-types insinuate certain subtexts in the show that, while obvious to the viewer, are also what make the show appealing to those viewers.
Entourage
The show Entourage is the story of one movie star (Vince), his older brother, and 2 best friends who move out to Los Angeles to launch his movie career. The subtext of the show is that no matter how many curveballs life throws you and how heavily the deck is stacked against you, if you try hard enough and want it bad enough you can succeed. The characters each undergo their own struggles and challenges throughout each episode, but eventually, through success or failure, they come out of each situation better than they were before. The show sudbtly conveys that only those who push and fight and claw tooth and nail can really make it in Hollywood, and if you are we or you even think about giving up, you don’t have a chance.
The show is heavily advertised in print media in men’s magazines, and TV commercials during other shows on the HBO channel. The actors in the show also appear in commercials that allow them to utilize product placement.
The soundtrack for entourage is very current and updated within popular culture. Some of the newest up-n-coming artists have been featured on the show as well as some of the best artists in the game. The genres range from hip-hop to rap to R&B to sometimes even pop. Most of the songs are used during transitional scenes of to emphasize a specific moment in conversation and therefore are often in instrumental form. There is no narrator for the show, its intentional is to portray current real life Hollywood, and thus many celebrities appear on the show in cameos.
The show is considered a comedy-drama with the viewer as a constant third-person point of view. The audience expects amusing scenes with witty, intelligent conversation and dramatic events. Sex, drugs, partying, and “boys-will-be-boys” themes are prevalent throughout the show. The boys are always the focus; both girls and money are portrayed as just accessories that are always available, with the men always in control. The audience is drawn in by the hope that Vince will eventually become a superstar and the rest of his “entourage” will find fame and success as well.
Entourage utilizes the online environment by advertising on men’s websites and allowing viewers to watch full episodes online after they originally air on Sunday night. The website also features biographies on the cast and crew, additional footage and behind the scenes moments, director and actor commentaries, and photos of each of the characters.
Degrassi
One of my favorite shows that I feel has had a very interesting progression of subtext throughout its 10 seasons is Degrassi: The Next Generation. This show has been in production for several years and can be linked back to the 1980s. The show follows students enrolled at Degrassi Community School through their quests to find themselves while trying to survive Junior High and High school. Throughout the shows history it has intimated and portrayed tweens and teens from several different time periods. As well as presenting different subtexts and approaches in the show according to the dynamic of the youth of the time. Three common subtexts that have followed Degrassi are:
- School is the center of the tween and teenage experience.
- The ages of 12-18 are a very important time that dictates many decisions in later life.
- Temptations created by peers along with naivety causes 99% of problems in a young adult’s life.
The subtexts used in this show I feel create a very interesting effect on its audience. First, all of the subtexts used in Degrassi are directly linked with the ideas of the audience. The makers of Degrassi take great pride in finding out what its audience thinks and feels. After knowing these ideas the show then feeds them back to the audience in a more dramatic fashion. This does several things; mainly it keeps the audience interested and engaged. Along with that the audience also feels an interesting sense of relativity to the show. Another effect of these subtexts is diversity it creates in audience. The subtext in Degrassi allows the show to reach anyone in the target age range despite racial, social, and economical differences.
Degrassi as far as I have seen has never been in print media. But more recently the creation of several forums and blogs dedicated to the show has grown. There is even a Degrassi Wikipedia fan base. The show is heavily catered to teens. It is aired in the US on Teennick. The show features an all teen cast who you watch throughout their young adult lives and each episode is even named after a popular song of the time. Degrassi is heavily influenced by the fans and their lives being filled with modern-day references and even taking place in the current 2010-2011 school year. Degrassi is dictated by what the fans are interested in and seeing. The subtexts in Degrassi are a major factor in its long success and by reflecting on it, these subtexts are a major reason I am a fan.
The Office: Not Your Regular TV Show
The Office is a show that has been a part of my like since eighth grade. I have never been a person to sit down and watch TV. In fact I do not watch any shows on television. The only thing I watch when I watch TV is a big event (like the ESPYs or X-Games or Olympics), otherwise it is just ESPN. The Office was a show that a friend of mine showed me. He had the complete Season 1 on DVD discs. After viewing the first couple shows, I was hooked. The following years, I bought all of the seasons on my computer and to this day am still downloading iTunes episodes of Season 7 as they go along.
The subtext of this show is very unique. The Office is a show about a small paper company, Dunder Mifflin. More specifically, the setting takes place in Scranton, Pennsylvania in a small building. The “Scranton Branch” is a group of around 14 individuals, and the show films their day to day interactions. This show is definitely a comedy. The company, led by branch manager Michael Scott (Steve Carrell), never has a dull moment. Each specific character has an interesting or funny mannerism, way they carry themselves, or where they come from. Whether you look at Creed, an old man with a mysteriously suspicious past and his haunting yet hilarious comments, or Jim Halpert, a young salesman who has fallen in love with the company’s secretary and flirt-buddy, Pam Beasley.
The Office has been featured in a lot of print media throughout its campaign. Among other awards and recognitions, the webisodes earned The Office a 2010 Streamy Award for “Best Companion Web Series”. In Pennsylvania, there is a giant billboard of Michael Scott and the other Dunder Mifflin Employees as an advertisement for Season 7. Other than that, The Office ads can be found in various current magazine issues and newspaper articles such as Rollingstone, the New York Times, and E! Hollywood.
Interestingly, there is no music in the show.Part o the humor is the element of “awkward silence”. This plays a big role in the shows success. The famous theme song is actually the only bit of music on the show. This theme song is by “The Scrantones”, which is a local band in Pennsylvania. The lightheartedness and slapdash humor of the film gives a great element of intrigue. This show could attract a great range of audiences. This includes children in middle school all the way to parents and even grandparents. It is a very versatile show; appealing to a lot of different crowds. I would say that the primary audience would be around my age, from about age 18 to 25. It is extremely popular among my friends back home in Minnesota.
Mad Men
I am a huge fan of TV shows, and it is hard to pick a favorite one to look at. However an excellent show I have been watching recently is Mad Men, which portrays an interesting vision of our culture. I sometimes find myself wondering why I even enjoy this show; most of the characters are scumbags and the sexism in the show is overwhelming. The show is set in the 1950s and portrays some pretty harsh realities about that time period. It is interesting to think that the show would never have aired in the actual time it was set. In the 1950s people were watching shows like I Love Lucy and Leave it to Beaver, which portrayed a pretty peachy picture of family life. Watching Mad Men suggests that underneath these perfect seeming exteriors, life in the 50s was far from easy. I don’t think there is one married man on the show who does not cheat on his wife; most of them do it regularly. Women are treated as objects that can be talked about or touched in any way men see fit. Some of the women on the show are strong characters, but lots of them are weak and submissive to this behavior. It is interesting to think that if this behavior were in a show that was set in present times we would find it very distasteful, and if the show was aired on TV in the 1950s it would have been totally scandalous. And yet is okay to have a show on TV now with such blatant sexism because it portrays a time in the past. Even so, I have several friends that have stopped watching the show because they found it hard to watch the way women are treated in it.
So why do I like this show? For one thing, it does an excellent job as a period piece that makes you completely believe it is the 50s. The costumes, set, script and music all create a world from the past that is different from that of any other shows on television, and is visually very interesting. Even though most of the characters are unlikeable at first, as I watch more of the show I have come to sympathize with them, and the main character, Don Draper, who was once totally despicable has actually become close to my heart. As we learn more about his past, we see him more as the product of his upbringing and his surroundings. We can understand this for all the characters, and gain insight into the difficulties of living in the 50s. The show is completely in your face about bringing the issues to light, and though the obvious reaction is to think about how much things have changed since that time, another possible reaction is to think about in what ways things are still the same. Mad Men is not always an easy show to watch, but it is excellently produced, and shows an important part of our past culture.
Boardwalk Empire – A Blast From the Past
HBO’s critically acclaimed series, Boardwalk Empire, is a period piece set in the roaring twenties, right at the onset of Prohibition. The show is loosely based on Atlantic City’s Nucky Johnson, the city’s racketeering and liquor smuggling gangster kingpin. When viewed through a media grammar lens, the piece reveals many of popular social opinions of the era. Immediately apparent is the tremendous social gap between men and women. Women are granted the right to vote midway through the series, and are still viewed submissive objects for the most part, only achieving a small amount of power through sex. An audience response of disgusted awe is oftentimes encountered, owing to the corruption in government which still manages to run incredibly well. These themes of corruption and sexism contribute to the overall production desire to portray the stark contrast between the popular culture and social system of the modern era and the twenties.
The series was advertised in print publications such as People and Sports Illustrated. The music in the show is jazz and other pop music of the era, an additional area of enjoyment for me. The show expects that the audience has a somewhat veiled desire for taboo content, showcased through its romantic portrayal of criminals and gangsters. Viewers are drawn to these “bad boys” much like the “rebels” of pop music, going all the way back to Jim Morrison or even Elvis. The show fills a niche in pop culture today as a gangster era drama, but it also allows for a sort of outlet for some of the common emotions today. By watching shows like Boardwalk Empire, one is able to moonlight as a dashing rebel who cares not for the laws of the “common” man. It provides an escape from the mundane everyday, something which many shows today strive for.
Family Guy
I chose Family Guys because it is one of my favorite shows. Family Guys genre is a comedy in the form of satire. Family Guys pokes fun at modern day celebrities and events in the news. Several times in each episode, the show goes completely off topic in a unrelated tangent that could poke fun at anything from a currently popular television show or celebrity or a political figure or decision. For instance in one episode it makes fun of Kobe Bryant, the superstar basketball player, and his apparent innocence in his infamous rape case. In another show, a character on Family Guy is a contestant on the Bachelor and throughout the episode the show satires the dramatized and somewhat idiotic nature of the so called “reality” television show. The creators of the show us these satirical tangents to present their subtext. Family Guy episodes present an anti-pop-culture subtext. The Family Guy creators use their satire to present their opinion that celebrities are attention-grabbing fools and they also poke fun at the viewers who tune into celebrity news, and reality tv. Family Guy has been featured in many magazines and television programs. The coverage is mixed and can be very positive and complementary or very negative. Many stories portray family guy as a crude yet clever and entertaining comedy show. While others portray it as offensive to young children who could be exposed to the show. It also has been criticized for possibly modeling itself after the popular animated sitcom The Simpsons.
The music in the show seems to vary quite a bit. In the beginning of the episode there is always the same opening song in which all the main characters sing a song with a piano in the background. Throughout the episode there is always music that resembles that of classic sit com cut scenes. However music plays a more prominent role in other episodes. In some satirical scenes where the show pokes fun at things such as action movies, the music fits with what is going on on screen. Also, some episodes have extended jokes involving music. For instance, in one episode the main character becomes obsessed with a classic pop tune from the 60’s, and routinely plays the music throughout the episode. The genre of the show is an animated comedy and the point of view in the show is always done in 3rd person. Their target audience is teenage and college students who are more open-minded to the sometimes offensive nature of the sketches. The show borrows from the online environment because in some episodes it pokes fun at the nature of online interactions such as blogging and youtubing.
Modern Fam.
Modern Family is a half-hour long mockumentary comedy series that is broadcast on ABC. The series follows the lives of Jay Pritchett (a.k.a., Al Bundy of Married with Children fame), his son Mitchell, and daughter, Claire Dunphy. Jay is married to Gloria, his second wife, a much younger woman from Columbia (who is just as stunningly attractive as she is witty) and cares for her wise-beyond-his-years son, Manny. Mitchell, on the other hand, lives with his partner Cameron Tucker; together they raise their recently adopted Vietnamese daughter Lily. Finally, Claire is married to the goofiest guy around, Phil Dunphy. The couple has three kooky kids: Haley, Alex, and Luke. While this family tree may sound rather confusing, I believe that it exemplifies the show’s subtext. Modern Family does not portray the traditional nuclear family of father, mother, and child (ren)—dog optional—as seen on shows like Leave it to Beaver; rather, it portrays today’s more modern, and eclectic, definition of what it means to be a family.
Additionally, each family group experience comedic everyday scenarios that many of the show’s 12 million plus viewers seem to relate to. For instance, in one episode entitled “Moon Landing” Claire and Phil’s two youngest children go around the neighborhood collecting bottles and cans for recycling. They kids come home and ask their father what Jagermeister is. In classic Phil fashion he replies, “You know how in a fairy tale there’s always a potion that makes the princess fall asleep and then the guys start kissing her? Well, this is like that except you don’t wake up in a castle — you wake up in a frat house with a bad reputation.” Classic! With lines like that there really is no need for music—which may be why no tunes are featured in the show. As for borrowing from online environment, ABC.com has a webpage that is solely dedicated to the show. It features popular quotes, episode recaps, and character bios, just to name a few. With that said, tune in to Modern Family, Wednesday nights on ABC. (Check your local listings for times.)
The Not so Glamourous Life of a Beverly Hills Housewife
The idea of older botexed women on the prowl for fame, money, and youth has become quite the new age phenomena. The Bravo producers of Desperate Housewives have taken this obscure lifestyle to TV by exploiting women’s social lifestyles from different cities around the US. The current season right now is the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. The show features six Beverly Hills socialites lavish lifestyles and the drama that goes along with living such a lifestyle.
Conspicuous consumption is on the rise, as more and more people fantasize about multi-million dollar homes, Bentleys, and big diamonds, which is exactly what the women on the show flaunt. Bravo brings light to all the drama, family hardship, and hurt feelings that go along with this ostentatious lifestyle. Camille Grammer, Frasier star Kelsey Grammer, has been the center of the majority of the drama on the show, but whose to blame her; she doesn’t live a very happy life. With her husband on set for several months at a time, Camille occupies her time with several different male friends. Bravo frames her by filming her interactions with these men which leads viewers to believe she may be cheating on her husband. The reality of the matter is that Kelsey has been cheating on her and has recently filed for divorce. Another one of the characters Taylor Armstong, is also having marriage troubles. Apparently her husband isn’t so keen on her ‘party-girl’ lifestyle and $60,000 birthday parties she hosts for her 4 year old daughter. Many viewers are just as blind as the women themselves to the downsides that money and fame can bring. The cast is all over gossip rags; “Beverly Hills Housewife Taylor Armstrong Talks $60K Kids’ Party, Domestic Violence and Marital Struggles”-E.Online “Adrienne Maloof Plastic Surgery List” -Starcasm.net, “Camille Grammer’s Porn Past surfaces Thanks to Castmates”-popeater.com, and the list goes on and on! So is Bravo really glamorizing how wonderful this lifestyle is, or are they simply showing viewers that these women live a life of pain and suffering?
The subtext of the show is quite unsettling. Bravo flaunts the lavish lifestyle of these women, suggesting that money can buy you friends and happiness. Two of the women on the show are independently wealthily, however the take full advantage of their husbands pocketbooks. The show encourages young attractive women to chase older wealthier men in order to live the way the Real Housewives do. The show also suggests that the relationship between women and their husbands is more about money than love. They display this by showing the women’s dysfunctional relationships with their husbands.
There really isn’t much music in the show, other than the shows snappy background music between the scenes. The show is a part of the reality tv genre and is filed in the characters first person point of view. In watching the show, the audience expects to be able to vicariously live in a world of money and status. Bravo has created several other media outputs for the fans of the Real Housewives. Most of the characters are on Twitter and Facebook, so viewers can follow their tweets and posts. On the Bravo website, fans can read bios, play games, watch episodes, and more.
The Real Housewives has been a huge hit for Bravo TV, and the show continues to bring in more viewers as they add more and more cities.
Big Bang Theory
The Big Bang Theory is a show that airs on CBS. It first aired in 2007 and it quickly became very successful. The show is about 4 genius friends who work at Caltech and 2 of those friends live across the hall from a young attractive female. The 4 males are book smart while the young female is street savvy. The Genre of the show is comedy and the characters always seem to get into some ridiculous situations.
One of the subtexts of the show is that everyone has his or her own special quirks and that it is cool to be considered a “geek”. The geeky group usually go out and try to do age appropriate things such as go clubbing or try and pick up women but most of the time they are unlucky. Even the person that is most considered “normal” has her own oddities. The show seems to say that geeks are cool and are just like everyone else.
Another subtext of the show is about how the geek is trying to win the affection of the attractive young lady. In the show, just like in other films and television shows, the geek eventually won, but they ended up breaking up. The characters still have feelings for each other though. The show gives hope to all those who are trying to win the heart of another.
The show also portrays stereotypes of certain races and there families. There is a Jewish, Christian, Hindu, and 2 characters that do not follow any particular religion. The main characters do not adhere to their religious rules as much as their parents do. The Jewish guy does not keep kosher and the Hindu guy eats beef. This could be a subtext for society in general because people and younger people do not follow religious rules as strictly as the older generations do.
The show’s theme song is very recognizable and was performed by Barenaked ladies. Some of the other songs in the series are very popular science related songs that came out in the 1980’s and 1990’s. The show appeals to many, even though the characters have their own particular oddities. There is no narrator in the show, and the characters do a good job of explaining what is happening because they usually have to explain themselves to the young lady or any others outside of their group. There have been many cameo appearances by people who are considered famous within the geek community like Leonard Nimoy and Will Wheaton.
The show is very successful and is advertised heavily. Full episodes are also available for viewing online. It has been exported to other countries also. The very first episode was available for free on itunes.
Media&Culture 