Family Guy Travesty Essay

Scholars express the concern that the image of an American family is transitively evolving through time. The conceptions of denigrating the styles and beliefs of racial-ethnic, immigrant, gay-lesbian, and single parent families has been contended in the early nineties to be that which is not encouraging the veracity of portraying an American family but rather offers the otherwise. Hence, little has been known on the context of the eminent portrayal of an American family in television. Family ideology shapes the consciousness and expectations of those growing up the margin of the mainstream; nevertheless, this leads to the manifestation that the image of the aforementioned member in the community transforms as the market of media simultaneously evolves as well (Greenblatt, 1990). In essence, media is one of the most surprising sources of information in the society. The potential of television to negatively or positively affect attitudes, social behaviors, and other sort of the like has been studied and thrilling results were gathered. Same is true for the portrayal of families, age, sex, and race-role socialization. As a matter of fact, studies show that the images seen on television by its viewers somehow serve as an educational tool, with this, the threat of getting the â€Å"wrong perspectives† is uncontrollable and so are the views of those who have been touched by the influence of media (Fabes, Wilson, & Christopher, 1989). This then connotes the perception that the portrayals aired on television are products of the evolving sense of simultaneous reaction over the media and the society. In simple logic, what the society wishes to see are given by the media, therefore, the portrayal of an American family in the television nowadays are depicting â€Å"reality† so to speak. Of course critics often spur a fight with whatever is served on the table that is not a new thing. How media portrays an American family is an issue that comes along with societal changes (Lasswell, 2002). More specifically, the rise of â€Å"reality TV shows† could attest to that matter. 1950: The Black and White Medium Media in the fifties were not as influential as it has been today. Perhaps the barrier on this is the connotation that there were only few who has television in their household because TV shows were then new to them. In the light of portraying American families, the issue on ethics and morality then surfaces the scenario. Americans were still â€Å"conservative† in some point that showing the â€Å"bedroom† or love scenes would be considered as pornography. Basically, what most viewers would love watching are news about the war, or the commercials which are basically done on live stream. The scarcity of technology and celebrities keep the audience up waiting for their favorite show to air. As critics and normal citizens would contend, they consider the shows in the fifties as strict and politically correct; perhaps because television wanted to portray an â€Å"idealistic† form of family to attract audience whom as commended are experiencing several financial and social problems during that time (Lasswell, 2002). Popular shows in the fifties Something unique sprouted during the 1950’s in the vortex of television shows – the heroes were young men returning from war to a nation ravished and ripe for one of the greatest booms in civilized history, and the love stories that utterly triggers romance among its viewers. Few of the shows who topped are The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, I Love Lucy, Leave it to Beaver and the Lone Ranger. These shows were among the pioneers of the quasi-comic, quasi-drama shows that contemporary media are now pursuing. For Nelson and Harriet’s reality show, it portrayed the reality of being in a middle class family in the eyes of the masses. They were in the limelight and the story mainly revolved to them. It was the politeness of David and Ricky which captured the hearts of young women, and what amazes the audience all the more were the practicality of the show since they were all representing their real lives and their real names. Similarly, the Beavers in Leave it to Beaver belonged to the â€Å"elites† or the middle-class families. They were the epitome of nice individuals and they were living in Pleasantville. Airing for ten years, I Love Lucy was the representation of a typical American family. Unlike that of the Ozzies, there is a husband who frantically hates his wife’s dream of becoming famous and being a movie star but never left her despite the opposing poles. Not only that, there was a bond between Lucy’s family and the Mertz, it showed that a typical American family is healthy inside and outside the corners of their house (Casconi, 2008). 1960: Batman, Gilligan’s Island and the Addams Family Conceivably, the sixties is considered as the rise of â€Å"superficiality. † This is because the shows which topped the charts were owned by fictional characters and imaginary families. There came Batman, Gilligan’s Island and the Addams Family. Among the rest, these are few of the shows which are carried on in the 21st century. As a matter of fact, up to date, these shows have several renditions—movies, cartoon shows and theatrical plays—all of which connote one thing, that their influence is flexible. American families in such shows showed determination, passion for life and love for family. Still, explicitness was not very much present due to the fact that there have been regulations on the content of the shows aired. However, the question needs further deliberation as there are media laws and other forms of rules but then again, these are not properly implemented since these are tolerated (Casconi, 2008). Empowerment: The positive effect of media in the current schema For every human services organization, the empowerment both of its members and of its target population is perhaps at the core of its every endeavor. A compact and lively human service can only be thoroughly and truly achieve under the condition where the members and participants in the provision of human services are active and empowered. There are many ways to achieve this end, and perhaps the most recent of these ways is the trend of using video files for informing the public and the members of the organization (Coontz, 1998). Since empowerment essentially means â€Å"bringing people who are outside the decision-making process into it (Rowlands, 1995, p. 102). † Thus, it can be said that the empowerment of people outside of the inner circle in the provision of human services can be achieved through the actual mode of absorbing these people right into the heart of the decision-making process. This can be achieved through the help of digital videos where a careful elaboration into the processes of the provision of human services is done through moving images instead of the conventional paper documents and slideshow presentations. For example, the group of people who does not fall among the ranks within the circle of decision-makers in the human service operations can be empowered by giving them a thorough and lively presentation of what they will be doing. By making them fully aware of their tasks, they can be empowered in terms of preparing for what they should expect from the actual operations or field work. Digital videos can help strengthen such a drive for empowering the other members of the human services organization through the creation of visually stimulating videos or documentaries which are rich in content but are not presented in a stale and conventional manner typical to that of formal business corporate meetings. By using videos to stimulate the active participation of the organization members who are not essentially part of the decision-making body can lead to a more vibrant campaign for providing services to people. For instance, in organizational operations such as information dissemination, the human services organization can arrive at certain decisions such as what specific information should be given to the audience and what specific information should given more emphasis and how it can be achieved by taking into consideration the perceptions of the other members (Lasswell, 2002). One way to spur these members to contribute to the decision-making process is by showing them what the organization and the people expect from them through videos. By the time the other members are informed and have become acquainted with the expectations, they can further replenish the tasks and operations of the organization by sharing what they know to the decision-making body which the latter may not be familiar with (Okwumabua, 1999, p. 154). For example, after playing a certain digital video documentary, other members who are very much familiar with the topic viewed can be stimulated by the desire to share what one knows for the awareness and betterment of the organization. The Underprivileged: Their Dose of an Ideal Family in the Fifties The scenario in the fifties showed the following: acutely and chronically ill children were cared for in hospitals and other institutions with severely restricted parental visiting privileges; moreover, children with chronic illnesses rarely survived. But the otherwise are shown today, advances in health care have prolonged and improved the lives of children with chronic illness, and the majority of children are cared for by their families in their homes and communities. The first merger movement at the turn of the century led to significant concentration in some manufacturing industries, and less conspicuous inter-corporate links through family connections, financial houses, and interlocking directorates probably reinforced the trend towards concentration. However, there seems to have been little trend toward increased concentration since then, although average concentration ratios, however measured, show modest increases since 1945. Whatever the measures used, it is clear that oligopoly is prevalent in about one-half of American manufacturing industry, and that there remain sharp distinctions in concentration levels among industries. This does not mean that there have been no recent changes 1950; problems of housing, medical services, education and employment. And so majority of the families were in dire need of a dose of fantasy in their lives (Lasswell, 2002). If they were living in the underprivileged level of the pyramid, then at least they witness how Lucy and Harriet lived a life of fame and fortune. Sixties and Crossing the Lines of Mainstream TV Meanwhile, the expansion of schooling combined with growing affluence contributed to the emergence of a youth culture separate and apart from the family. Late-Twentieth-Century Families In 1960, 70 percent of American households consisted of a go-to-workdad, a stay-at-home mom, and two or more kids. By the end of the twentieth century less than 10 percent of American households fit that profile. But what makes the sixties fascinating in the world of media and broadcasting were the rise of â€Å"adventure† flicks and creative stories. Apart from the â€Å"usual† types of stories—which in one point are considerably idealistic—they crossed the line and took the risk of introducing superficial characters, and superficial kinds of families. 21st Century Warning: Explicit Content The presence of media as a tool of information dissemination has increased largely because of the technological innovations consistently being introduced not only in advancing the productivity rate of media organizations but also in expanding the capacity of the various media outlets to include a wider range of topics (Hudson, 1986). With this expansion, the subjects incorporated into the mass media has also been augmented (Graber, 1980) such that former topics that were once rarely untouched have now been constantly infused with unceasing publicity such as those that tackle Information and Communications Technology (ICT). The changes made by mass media are evidently found on a series of notions due to consciousness, certain perceptions on reality and the palpable alterations of the masses’ individual lives concurrent on what had reconstituted by the mentioned technological change (Palmer & Young, 2003). Technological or digital innovation dwelled on to by human beings had been observed to have been conducting a protective bubble of fixed racial, cultural and ethnic identity resulting to a sense of detachment which lies on the physical state of the screen persona as well as with the transcends in the reality of social culture (Barker & Petley, 2001). To thoroughly understand the representation of media of an American family, one must be enlightened of the status of real-life events. With this, an assessment on the trend of the shows shall commence. Perceivably, the five major parts regarding on the family status includes married, separated, widowed, divorced and never married. Their study showed that there is an increasing number of adults who are not presently married due because of separation of the partners. As expected, there was a variation of the proportion of the numbers of separated people in different cities of the country. Florida exhibits the highest rate of divorce while in Boston and California got the lowest proportion. This can be explained because of the geographic differences (D’Antonio, 2004). Gradually, television shows nowadays such as those which have been mentioned are almost synonymous in context and manner. Furthermore, American families differ from those of more educated families who typically were studied with regard to family interactions and adolescent autonomy issues. Inner-city African American families may experience age-condensed generations such that the generational boundaries are not as clear. Because the boundaries between the roles of mothers and daughters may be blurred, the need for a struggle over autonomy issues may be less salient because the authority differences were never as strong (Lawler, 1997). Additionally, autonomy issues may not be as pressing in a context characterized by preoccupations with the representation of media in such forms of distinction. How they portray and American family is no longer boxed in a certain class—Americans, for that instance—but their target market includes global viewers. Nonetheless, the diversity of characterization of the shows is proof that freedom in the vortex of media and entertainment has lesser rules and the core virtue lies in the truth of fame (Fabes et al. , 1989).