In his essay entitled “The Decay of Laying”, author Oscar Wilde wrote that “life imitates art far more than art imitates life” (Wilde, 1891). One of the biggest questions that Wilde’s quote created was whether he was right, and life truly does imitate art. Regardless of whether he is accurate or not, art, including television, is often studied to provide understanding of how life was perceived at the point in time when the art was produced. This essay will analyze five episodes of a family situational comedy (sitcom) from the 1950s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s to provide a glimpse of how some families were perceived during those decades. To be sure, if one uses television as the medium of analysis, Wilde’s theory is even more accurate. The hope is that by studying how these families were portrayed on television we can better evaluate how families are perceived currently. It will also provide a basis to determine whether Wilde was indeed accurate. The sitcoms that will be used are “I Love Lucy”, “The Brady Bunch”, “Dream On”, “Married with Children” and “Everybody Love Raymond”. The first two sitcoms were chosen in that they seemed to be the model family archetype for those eras. The last three sitcoms on the other hand, where chosen because the provided in art, as in life, the diversity of family types.
In the “I Love Lucy” episode entitled “Drafted” Lucy and Ethel mistakenly believe that their husbands, Ricky and Fred have been drafted into the army. The reality, however, is that they are preparing for a show for army troops stationed nearby. (Hulu, 2016). Both couples are portrayed in the show as loving, caring, and supportive of one another. While there are some marital tensions in the couples, especially the older Fred and Ethel relations, they nevertheless, love each other deeply. The overarching theme of the show seems to be that women should support their husbands.
In the “The Brady Bunch” episode entitled “Vote for Brady”, the story centers on the competition between Marcia and Greg who have both been nominated for student body president of their school (CBS, 2016). While there is some tension between the two sets of children over who they support, generally speaking the family is portrayed as a well-balanced, loving, and functional family headed by clear-thinking and responsible father Mike, and mother Carol, his loving and supportive wife. The only ascertainable message that is clear in the episode is that family’s that work together and love each other will or can eventually overcome any difficulties that confront them.
In the “Dream On” episode entitled “Am I Blue”, the story centers on the issue of whether Martin will be able to come up with the money necessary to purchase the apartment that he has been living in with his teenage son (Dream On, 2015). The relationship between Martin and his son Jeremy as well as his ex-wife and Jeremy’s mother, Judith, who lives elsewhere but often drops by to visit is one of nevertheless loving support. Despite the divorce, Martin and his ex-wife are still good friends and interested in helping each other as well as their son well. The overarching theme seems to be that divorce does not mean that parents hate each other nor that they cannot have a well-balanced relationship that is otherwise fulfilling for their children
In the “Married with Children” episode “How to Marry a Moron 2”, the story focuses on Kelly’s desire to marry her boyfriend who has just been released from prison (Pei, 2016). While Kelly’s mother, father, and brother are somewhat skeptical of the marriage at first, then seek to use it for their own personal benefits, they are nevertheless portrayed as ultimately carrying for Kelly’s best interests and protecting her and themselves from any problems. The overarching theme that seems to be portrayed is that despite what differences a family may have amongst themselves, they are still family and therefore support each other against outsiders.
In the “Everybody Loves Raymond” episode “” Ray reminisces with his brother Robert about the time that he and his wife Debra returned from a trip and Ray placed the suitcase that they used for the trip on the staircase (Reymon, 2013). As the days passed, Ray finds that the suitcase remains exactly where he put it the night that they returned. Feeling frustrated that Debra refuses to move the suitcase although she is home all day when he is at work, he decides he won’t move it and will leave it there till his wife does. The show speaks of the tensions that a parents can encounter in daily life of raising kids and work but that despite such tensions, they nevertheless love on another. The overarching theme seems to be that while the distribution of “chores” between parents may lead to tensions, one cannot let those tensions take control of the marriage. In other words, parents must work together to solve problems.
In looking at all five episodes together, there were a few theme or issue that remained the same across the decades. First, the father is the main money-maker of the family and the wife is the primary caregiver. Second, there is no such thing as a perfect marriage. As marriages progress, the outward love that might have first attracted the couple to each other turns into a sort of open criticism that is nevertheless still based in love. Third, regardless of the problems that develop in a family; family is still family and therefore each other must support on another, even if they don’t like to do so.
The most striking difference that was noticeable between the episodes was the relation between the parents and the children. In the early decades, the children seemed to differ substantially to the parents. However, in more modern families, the relationship between parents and children seem more equal and mature. Another key difference, was the power of the wife, while, as mentioned, women tended to be the main caregivers across the decades, there social status such as the power that they had over the men increased considerably in the later decades.
In conclusion, what television can tell us about reality over the last 50 years is that families remain one of the foundational aspects of our culture. Moreover, despite the tendency in some families to grow apart from one another, there is always the potential for intra-family debate but ultimately, the family will come together is challenged. Lastly, what the episodes illustrate is that while the power of women has increased over the years, the widespread expectation is that they will, nevertheless be subordinate to the male figure in their life.
References
CBS. (2016). The Brady Bunch [video fie]. Retrieved from http://www.cbs.com/shows/the_brady_bunch/video/1816979925/the-brady-bunch-vote-for-brady/
Dream On. (2015, November 02), Dream On [video fie]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha5XqadF764&index=15&list=PL7JrDnyAM4mOnB0hyEZHl7o23Fed3YZC-
Hulu. (2016). I Love Lucy [video file]. Retrieved from http://www.hulu.com/watch/438115#i0,p0,d0
Pei, Shimizu. (2016, Mar. 15), Married with Children [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHROtHQmTPc
Reymon. (2014, Dec. 09). Everybody Loves Raymond [video file]. Retrieved from http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2c4f35_everybody-loves-raymond-full-episodes-season-7-episode-22_fun?GK_FACEBOOK_OG_HTML5=1
Wilde, O. (1891). The decay of lying. Retrieved from http://cogweb.ucla.edu/Abstracts/Wilde_1889.html
