Executive Proposal
Unquestionably television is an important fixture in American homes. TV is a source of entertainment and information for the entire nation. However, television has also been a significant source of social and political progressivism. Although television has rarely reflected American life as it exists in the “real world,” TV has “hastened or delayed” social changes as they occur in society, acting as part of these changes or repressing them. However, television on its own is not the “originator of social change” (Fiske 45,) but representative of change over time.
In reality, television may progress much more slowly than society but the medium moves linearly with each decade as social changes begin to infiltrate mainstream society. Women’s rights, civil rights, gay rights, and family issues have always been relevant issues, but these issues manifest themselves differently from 1940-present on television. Shows portraying a single mother or a workingwoman, or an African American family in the ghetto, or homosexual characters, or excessive violence do not represent the first time these issues existed in America. They always existed. However, initial representations of these matters were the first time Americans saw these issues for themselves on television on a weekly basis via the weekly sitcom. Furthermore, television depicted events some may have never seen or experienced before, but only heard about. In this way, television brought social change to people who may not have directly encountered these social changes for themselves as they occurred. These TV portrayals were reactions to different social movements as they became prevalent in the country. Progressive television shows represented shifts in American acceptance of certain social issues or depicted events as they became more relevant in the social fabric of the nation. Any “accurate” portrayal of African Americans and African American families, as well as female empowerment and independence in the late 1960’s and 1970’s correlates with the Civil Rights movement of the mid 1950’s and 1960’s and the Women’s Rights movement that followed. Furthermore, as gay rights and family issues gained importance in American culture in the 1970’s and 1980’s, television reacted to those issues, but slowly over time.
Though television is more a reactive force than an aggressive force within the realm of social change, TV has been a valuable part of social change as it has occurred in America. Both a hindrance and motivating force behind shifting American culture, television has represented varying degrees of acceptance of “real” issues, utilizing and combating stereotypical representations of American culture over the last six decades. TV may not realistically represent American life for all Americans, but television has changed over time attempting to create an elusive “real” portrayal, however slowly.
2. Jones, Gerald. Honey, I’m Home! Sitcoms: Selling the American Dream. Grove Press, Inc. New York. 1992.