TV and the 1950s - Essay Example

While some TV families were portrayed as living in cities and small towns, others were portrayed as living in rural areas but it was more a touch of nostalgia rather than the factual representation of the American family. The ethnic makeup of the television family was almost always European immigrants rather than black, Hispanic, or Asian while it was certainly a time when immigration from the lesser developed countries of the world to America began in earnest.

The image of the family on TV in the 1950s was also important for political reasons since the influence of the media on juvenile delinquency and other social problems had been discussed in Congress. The media certainly had to play its part in promoting the ideas of strong family values and connections between individuals in a family rather than represent what was actually happening in a society that was just coming to terms with the losses it had suffered in the war and the economic boom it had experienced during the war years.

While discussing the position on family life shown on TV in the 1950s, Spigel (2007) reports that “Programs such as The Donna Reed Show, Leave it to Beaver, and Father Knows Best presented idealized versions of white middle-class families in suburban communities (Spigel, 2007, Pg.1)”. Therefore, if we watch the same shows today, we do not get an accurate representation of how society functioned and how family dynamics worked in the 1950s.

What we do get is a vision of the producers and directors of the same shows for how they think society should have functioned. Even though the 60s, the idea of being divorced was not acceptable to be presented on TV, and family shows where a single parent was leading the household had to explain the absence of a parent with death. Undoubtedly, the society of the time was facing the issue of increasing divorce rates and other social issues which are still present today. However, the pictures we have on TV that show us what the society of the time was like are certainly inaccurate and often quite wishful.

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