Keaton Davis H1, Midterm Post (4/4)

PHILOSOPHY, THEN AND NOW

Keaton Davis

H1 Group 4

Midterm 

PREVIOUSLY, ON AS SEEN ON TV:

"While I do think we have come a long way in integrating minorities, we still have work to do...Having minorities onscreen could also help battle the racism that still clings to our society."

"...as America has grown more accepting of beliefs other than Christianity, the nature of religious presence in television has followed suit."

"Overall, TV is a good way to show the many beliefs of the country, but great care, respect, and caution should be implemented for it to do any good."

SERIES FINALE (2 PARTS IN 1): "FAMILY GROWING PAINS" 

For the series finale, I am going to examine the relationships within the family and how they have morphed over time.  Is it worse now than it used to be?  Let's take a look first at the changing relationship between parents and children, and then we will explore the roles of the mother and father.  

PART 1 - HONOR THY PARENTS

Family is sacred.  There is a bond between the members that no other relationship can quite match until the children make that bond with their respective spouse.  The main glue that keeps families strong even in tough times is love.  Love is not easy.  It is not something that comes completely naturally; it needs to be showed and shared, but it sometimes takes great effort.  The family is the main place where people learn to love others.  By learning to sacrifice for one's own family member, people are able to apply it to their other relationships.  This does not mean that conflict never happens — it does, and I am sure you can attest to it.  However, it is when conflicts arise that a family shows its strength.  Will they react harshly towards one another?  Will they act selfishly and refuse to hear the other's argument?  Will they stop showing the love and respect that is so critical?  So many conflicts can be settled by taking the time to listen and put that love into action.  With this love comes respect, which is of utmost importance in a healthy family.  In Leave it to Beaver, the children respected their parents and vice versa.  When the child messed up, the parents were quick to act, showing both discipline and grace.  Here's a clip from that popular show, which shows a great response to a child's act of disobedience. 

Today, we do not see this on television.  We see kids who treat their parents with disrespect, and we see parents who try to be their children's friends.  We see blatant, consistent disobedience and we see parents who struggle to keep up with their kids' shenanigans because they were not being the proper role model.  Since the first one was born, children have made mistakes; but it takes a strong parent to guide that child and get them to the point where they know not to make the same mistakes again.  Strong parents are those who are devoted to their spouse and their children no matter what happens.   When bonds are broken, the whole family suffers.  An example of a dysfunctional family is the one from Reba, and popular show that ran in the 2000s.  You don't have to watch the whole thing to get the point. 

PART 2 - WHO'S YOUR DADDY?

Another development in recent years has been the shift from a strong father figure who is dependable and intelligent and able, to the mother having to be the backbone of the family.  The father should be the leader of the family.  The wife is absolutely just as important as the father, but they have roles in which they do best.  In shows such as Andy Griffith, Father Knows Best, Leave it to Beaver, The Cosby Show, Growing Pains and others, the father was the leader of the family, and their wives provided the extremely important role of supporting their husbands and providing the wisdom only a mother and wife can provide.  The parents worked as a team, with the father being the leader.  The picture below of the Leave it to Beaver family shows what I mean.  The father is holding the book, the mother is holding her son, and both of them engaging with their children.  The family is spending time with one another under the love and care of their parents. 

Leave it to Beaver

When you see shows today, you do not really see a parenting team.  You see the father who is a doofus and the mother who has to clean up after her husband.  In other words, the father is just as childish as his kids!  You see this in shows like Family Guy, The Simpsons, Modern Family, Jimmy Neutron, Drake and Josh, Fairly Odd Parents, and many more.  And a lot of these are children shows, depicting inept parents and crazy children.  We should not be sending these messages to our children.  They do not foster any kind of respect for authority or selfless actions within the family.  Here is an example from Fairly Odd Parents of how the husband is portrayed as an idiot and the wife has to deal with him.  In fact, this whole show depicts both parents as stupid, as well as Cosmo, Wanda's husband, who is an absolute moron.  Skip to about 1:39 or so and watch for a bit. 

CONCLUSION

No father or mother or child is ever perfect.  The family will always have issues: kids will disobey, parents won't handle situations correctly, fights will ensue.  Fathers do not always know best, and mothers do not always solve problems.  Life is hard sometimes.  It has been this way forever.  However, I think the older TV programs were better for audiences because they showed what a family could hope to acheive: one of support, love, and unity that is so important to healthy relationships and an overall well-functioning society.  When this unity is broken and the family is made to look like a joke on television, it gives the audiences a sense that this is the new norm.  Well, I believe this is the way things are headed in today's culture.  But, if we stop encouraging this way of life on TV, maybe we can regain some of values that honor the parents, guide the children, and make successful again our family foundations.

THANK YOU FOR WATCHING AS SEEN ON TV: PHILOSOPHY THEN AND NOW!