The basic unit in the society has undergone many transformations over the decades to be what we can see today. The societal way of doing things continually portrays these changes, which today have gained acceptance as the basic rules for the basic unit. The entertainment sector has become one of the leading channels for reflecting and communicating these changes. For this reason, in order to understand the family setup of the old days, a trip down the memory lane is important and in this case, the article pays attention to earlier TV shows and compares them with current shows to create an image of the family unit as it has evolved (Bjursell and Backvall 155)). In this paper, a comparison of two TV shows from two different periods, The Waltons and The Middle, highlights the transformations this unit had undergone.
One of the most outstanding changes that the family has undergone upon studying these two shows is in the family type and size. The first family The Waltons reflects a large family size of eight children and an extended family of the grandparents (televisionheaven.co.uk). The second family in The Middle presents a nuclear family of three kids. This change is one of the changes that the family has undergone. It has changed both in size and an emphasis on the composition has changed. The nuclear family has become the basic unit in the modern times as opposed to the extended family in the old days.
Another notable change is the authority patterns within the family unit. In the Walton, the authority patterns gave the male gender a chief responsibility in the decision making process. The input of the female gender always remained to be an opinion and so was that of children. Compared to the Middle of the contemporary world, the decision-making process participants are all the family members including the children (parentstv.org). This is revealed by the fact that before going for camping, mike had to consult and persuade his wife and children for them to accept the proposal.
The relationship between parents and children is another area that has undergone a metamorphosis as presented by these TV shows. In the first, the position of the parents was that they were superior in wisdom and the role of the children was to obey. Furthermore, the relationship did not present close interactions between parents and children (televisionheaven.co.uk). The contemporary show presents the position of parents as guardians and the children obey their parents but not without considering their opinions and again, there evidence of closeness in their interactions.
The role of women has also changed over time. In both shows, it is the role of the woman to raise and take care of her family but there is a little difference. In the former, the man was at no point involved with the housework while in the latter; the man has taken some responsibility in the housework like for example, preparing breakfast for the family. The role of women in raising and taking care of the family has become a shared role between the parents.
Upon paying close attention to the above comparison accompanied by a real life situation’s analysis, it is noticeable that the changes portrayed in the above comparison are; to the better extend, true. The family has undergone a metamorphosis from what this was in the old days into a new unit with different virtues. Considering the actual family relationships, family size, authority patterns and roles played by each family member will prove that the impression by the shows is real.
Works Cited
Bjursell, Cecilia and Backvall, Lisa. “Family Business Women in Media Discourse: The
Business Role and the Mother Role.” Journal of Family Business Management 1.2(2011): 154-173. Print.
http://www.parentstv.org, n.d, web. 18 Feb 2012.
http://www.televisionheaven.co.uk, n.d, web. 18 Feb 2012.
