Cultural Analysis of Television Episodes: Friends TV show and The Simpsons - Coursework Example

Cultural Analysis of Television Episodes Since television is one of the most important media tools that can reflect the mutual relationship between family values and the popular culture that dominates a given society, I will carefully test and study some TV episodes to see whether they succeed in reflecting family values or not. Actually, there are various movies and TV programs that succeed in perfectly portraying family life with all its values and principles. These movies and TV programs usually aim at exposing the popular cultures that dominate the family structure within a certain community. Many movies and TV programs that depict family lives and their cultural values succeed in exposing the effect of popular culture on the family structure and the significance of family values to the society. For instance, a clear example of the important role that television may play in that concern is found in the effect of a popular comedy in the US, named The Simpsons, on American audience. In addition, Friends TV show is another famous sitcom, which clearly depicts the role of friends in ones lives, replacing the role of parents. Starting by the Simpsons, this long television cartoon series succeeds in making a strong link between the family and the political atmosphere that dominates the society. In that sense, every character in The Simpsons family serves as a representation of a cultural value in the American society. This illustrates the mutual relationship between families and societies as both can affect and be affected by one another. In his article, which is entitled “The Simpsons: Atomistic Politics and the Nuclear Family,” Paul A. Cantor argues that "the Simpsons shows the family as part of a larger community and in effect affirms the kind of community that can sustain the family" (Cantor). Therefore, TV series and programs are best tools to expose the strong mutual relationship between the family and society. After carefully investigating the family bonds in the American societies, it is discovered that families are not closed entities that are separated from the cultural forces of the society. Rather; families usually perform as small communities, which reflect a mutual relationship with the society. That is, family values may affect and be affected by the dominant cultural values in the society where the family exists. This strong relationship between the cultural mechanism of the family and that of the society gives strong significance of the values that rule families and their effect on the society. In that sense, it should be asserted that popular culture is one of the main sources which shape family values. On the other hand, the role of popular culture in shaping family values is too strong to ignore. In conservative societies, popular culture serves as the framework within which family relations are identified and evaluated. For example, if control, suppression, and lack of personal freedom constitute some of the high values of a given conservative society, these same values may be the dominant values of the family in that society. Again, movies and TV programs can best expose the effect of popular culture of the society on the values of the family. However, the role of movie and TV series is not just to reflect or satire the cultural values that are dominant in the society at a given time; rather, one of the other main roles is to foreshadow or anticipate a change of the negative culture that shapes family values. For example, the Simpsons does not only aim at making fun of some of the popular values in the American society; rather, it aims at inducing change among young Americans to reject and oppose any of the popular values they think to be negative or destructive (Ortved). Hence, the satirical depiction of family characters may serve as a call for change of the negative cultural values of the society that are reflected in family relations. In addition, Friends TV show, one of the most famous sitcoms not only in the United States but in many other countries, succeeds in depicting the role of friends in ones lives, replacing the role of parents. Thus, American pop culture succeeds in warning the audience about the change in the family values that is occurring the society. The popularity of Friends in the United States reflects a clear change in family values that is represented in loose family ties and minimization of the role of parents in the lives of their children. In the American society, the looseness and lack of strong ties between family members are reflected clearly in many popular TV programs, such as the Simpsons and Friends. The American family, which used to be a closed entity for its members, is now changing to be just a place where fathers, mothers, and children seldom meet. The condensed work and study schedules for the parents and children make it hard for them to spend a shared time with each other. This is recognized by Mike Selvon, who declares that "between hectic work schedules, school schedules, extracurricular activities, sports and special events that one family member or another has obligations for, it is hard to find the time to even sit down to dinner at the same time" (Selvon). Also, the spirit of individualism that dominates the American society strongly affects family relationships. This is reflected in the fact that every member of the family usually has his or her own life outside the family. Also, one of the early decisions made by American adolescents is to move out of the family house to live independently. As noted by many American social thinkers, "it is common to see an American child move out of his home or even thousands of miles away after growing up; parents may separate from each other without much thought" (Xiuzhen). That is, children start to search for their own social network that replaces the role of family in their lives. As soon as they get the chance, they decide to leave their parents and be socially closer to their mates and friends. All these social changes affect the traditional family values of unity, connection, and warmth. The current loose family ties are clearly reflected in famous American TV shows, such as Friends. This famous sitcom reflects the current change in the traditional type of the family that used to exist in the United States. The main plot of this popular show revolves around the relationships among six intimate friends who live in the same neighborhood. All the six friends are shown as individual persons, with no or little ties with their families. Most of the scenes of this show spot various moments of social lives among those friends, sending the message that every person of them has weak ties with his or her parents (Wikipedia). Even in the few scenes, where the young members are shown in dialogues with their parents, the lack of social warmth and strong relations between the young person and his or her parents are clearly shown to the audience. For example, Monica Geller, starred by Courteney Cox Arquette, is shown having many problems with her parents. Also, Joey Tribbiani, who is starred by Matt LeBlanc, is depicted as an independent young person searching for his goal in life, without any sign of ties with his family, who seldom appear in the show. Thus, Friends sitcom, with the social relations it depicts succeeds in conveying an important image about the loose family ties that now exist in the American society. Moreover, another important change in family values that is perfectly depicted in Friends is the replacement of the role of parents by the role of friends. Children and young adolescents now seek the advice, help, and support of their friends, not their parents. This reflects a change in social networking for American young people. Closer ties are now emerging between friends than between family members. This change in family values is depicted in Friends, where the audience can watch how young American person become dependent on their friends rather than their parents. Every one of the six young friends in this sitcom turns to his or her friends when he or she faces any social problem in work, home, or love relationships. In this context, Monica Geller and Chandler Bing usually play the role of parents for the other friends, giving them the advice and support needed in various social problems (Wikipedia). Instead of turning to their parents to seek advice, the members in the Friends sitcom turn to Geller and Bing, considering them as more experienced who can play the role of their parents. Consequently, this show succeeds in reflecting one of the important changes in American family values, with is the degradation of the role of parents in their childrens lives, and the stronger significance of the role of friends. Therefore, there are radical changes currently occurring to traditional family values in the United States. The role of parents is replaced by the role of friends, and the traditional strong family ties have become loose. All these changes are perfectly reflected in famous pop shows, such as the Simpsons and Friends. These pop shows do not only reflect any changes in family values, but they also act as a warning for the audience that these social changes may have negative impacts in the society. Therefore, TV pop shows in the United States are not just for entertainment; rather, they can be a mirror for the social, political, and economic changes that take place in the society. Actually, the negative changes that are currently dominating family life in the American societies have various negative consequences. The severest of these consequences is divorce. The rise of divorce rates in the United States is a direct result of the loosened bonds and ties among family members. This divorce leaves its negative impacts on children and society. In this context, almost all behaviorists agree that the behavior of children to divorced parents changes negatively. That is, many of the ill-behavior of children to divorced parents can be closely attributed to the fact that their parents are separated. That’s why many psychologists believe that “the children of divorce are more likely to engage in behaviors that lead to higher rates of crime, drug use, child abuse, poor educational performance, higher incidence of behavioral, emotional, physical, and psychiatric problems." Thus, the clearest destructive effect of divorce on children is that they become more likely to indulge in bad and violent behavior due to their inner feeling of lack of security and family warmth. What makes the case worse is that, in most cases, these bad behavior of children of divorce usually moves in a cycle as those children transfer this misbehavior too their future generations of children. In addition, another negative effect of divorce on children is related to finance. Children of divorce usually suffer from economic difficulties, to the extent that analysts believe that “because of divorce, increasing numbers of children live in economic insecurity and disadvantage, including fragile and unstable family households." So, children of divorce are usually victims of economic crises more than children of parents who enjoy a secure marriage. This is also related to the mental and intellectual abilities of the children of divorced women. Studies prove that children of divorce usually perform much worse in schools and universities than their peers whose parents are not divorced. In other words, research shows that children of divorce fare poorly in comparison to children from happily married parents. That’s why the US National Commission on Children declares that, "When parents divorce or fail to marry, children are often the victims. Children, who live with only one parent, usually mothers, are six times as likely to be poor as children who live with both parents." Therefore, it is obvious that by almost every measure, the unfortunate fact is that science has proved that these destructive effects of divorce on children can last well into adulthood and affect future generations. Even health statuses are well affected by divorce. Many studies show that children from stable family environments have better lifelong health outcomes than children of divorced parents. That does not mean that a child of divorce cannot turn out to be a healthy contributing member of society; rather, there are high probabilities that children of divorce would suffer from severe physical, mental, and emotional problems. In terms of the relationship of children of divorce with the society around them, one can say that such relationships are also negatively affected. The first relationship that is severely harmed by divorce is the relationship of the child of divorce with his separated parents. In fact, “divorce disrupts a childs relationship with a parent and often creates unresolved feelings of loss and grief that are not shared by the other parent." A child of divorced parents usually develops an inner feeling of blame on the parents as they failed to ensure him a secured life similar to that of intact families. This feeling of blame sometimes develops to hatred in most severe cases. However, in moderate cases, the child of divorced parents feel deprived of the chances to have a secure basis “upon which children mount successive developmental stages, from infancy to adolescence." This secure basis is undoubtedly the sound family structure, which the child of divorce misses. Such structure supports the psychological, physical, and emotional needs of children, a privilege, which children of divorce lack. As stated by many psychologists, “when that structure collapses, the child is left impoverished, both economically and emotionally." To conclude, movies and TV programs and series are important media tools to expose the close link between family and society. They also direct the attention of viewers to the kind of values that formulate the relationships among the members of the family. In that concern, the role of movies and TV programs can be both descriptive and prescriptive. That is, movies and TV programs can expose the defects in popular culture and can also recommend some sort of action to change these negative aspects of this culture. These roles are played by both the Simpsons and Friends in the American society. Bibliography Cantor, Paul A.  “The Simpsons: Atomistic Politics and the Nuclear Family.” Political Theory 27.6 (1999): 734-749.  JSTOR.  AUC Lib., Cairo, EG. 30 Nov. 2006. Frank, Lisa.  “The Evolution of the Seven Deadly Sins: From God to the Simpsons.”   Journal of Popular Culture 35.1 (2001): 95-105. Ortved, John. "Simpson Family Values." Jul. 2008. 16 Apr. 2012. Read More