The program I decided to view was Family Guy. The episode I decided to view was titled, "Don't Make Me Over". The episode featured the daughter, Meg, getting turned down for a date and becoming depressed. The mother, Lois, decides that buying Meg a new wardrobe will cheer her up, so they venture off to the mall. This illustrated the American core value of "material comfort" because the new clothing was supposed to make Meg feel better. Whilst at the mall, the duo happens upon Channel 5's Asian correspondent Tricia Takanawa giving away free makeovers. Meg gets a makeover, becomes attractive, becomes more popular, and gets a confidence boost. I guess this would illustrate the value of "youthfulness" because...uhh...well...just because. While all those shenanigans are going on, Peter, the father, and all his friends turn the local bar into a karoake bar to help it financially. The deed is a rousing success. It's so successful that they decide to form a band. That would illustrate the value of "Achievement and Success", "Progress", and "Activity and Work" because they worked hard, improved upon something, and were successful. Anyway, their band epicly fails...so, the Griffin family rushes on stage to support them during a gig and the audience (of prison inmates) is enthralled with Meg. The family decides to exploit Meg's aesthetics and becomes a modern day Patridge Family. Blah blah blah some more stuff happens, Meg goes back to being ugly, and Jimmy Fallon sucks.
I don't think this show is telling us what we should value, I think it's telling us that we shouldn't value certain things as much. Making all these situations comical shows us that maybe it's stupid to value looks so much and having major success isn't all that is important. Mayhaps they are trying to tell us that a person is a person no matter how they look....except for Meg...she's just awful.
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Nic! Hi.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you when you say that this tv show is not telling us what we should value but that we shouldn't value some things as much. Because it parodies practically everything and makes even a serious situation into an appalling situation - Americans can't and shouldn't value anything portrayed in the show. The show is totally absurd and should be viewed as pure entertainment. But at the end of the day, I still like the sit down and chuckle at the idiotic things that Peter does.
ReplyDeleteI agree. There are so many tv shows available today on countless channels, and I believe a necessary skill in today's world is the ability to determine which shows are actually expressing legitimate values, and which ones are most definitely NOT, although they may make it seem like it.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I would just like to say that I LOVE FAMILY GUY. I also think you raised a very important point that Family Guy shows us what to not value. The show is, afterall, a satire making fun of ordinary family life. I liked your comparisons and I like that the show presented material comfort as leading to misfortune.
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