Introduction
The television sitcom Roseanne (1988-1997), led by Roseanne, popularized the trend of stand-up comedians leading sitcoms based on their routines – Seinfeld (1989-1998) for Jerry Seinfeld, Home Improvement (1991-1999) for Tim Allen, and Ellen (1994-1998) for Ellen DeGeneres. The series focuses on Roseanne Conner, an overweight, brash mother of three children – Becky, a stereotypical teen girl; Darlene, a sarcastic tomboy; and D.J., a peculiar young boy – and wife of contractor Dan Conner. Despite the series’ feminist discourse – mostly in the hands of its title character and actress – Jeremy G. Butler argues that Roseanne fails to fight the patriarchy because she is a mother and wife whom the audience sees as existing within the framework of patriarchal society (17). However, Butler’s argument suggests a rigid definition of feminism – a dangerous way of looking at the ideology if there ever was one – that a devoted wife and committed mother is inherently not a feminist. The concepts of television literacy and hypermediacy frame the body rhetoric of Roseanne in Roseanne as she subverts stereotypical expectations of the leading female actor and women in general and winks at her audience while promoting social progressivism and rejecting sexism and racism.
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Annotated Bibliography 3
The Research Question:
Before delving into the body of The Sitcoms of Norman Lear, Sean Campbell accounts for analysis that says the sitcoms of Norman Lear negatively influenced America by keeping stereotypes alive (1). He then suggests that Lear’s sitcoms had a positive impact on America, citing Maude and All in the Family as informing their audiences of the dangers of alcoholism and of how society should accept gay people, respectively (1). He also says progressive series like Commander in Chief and Will and Grace exist because of Lear’s influence (2). As he writes The Sitcoms of Norman Lear, Campbell attempts to prove that Lear’s sitcoms, which also include The Jeffersons, Good Times, One Day at a Time, and Sanford & Son, had a progressive effect on America (1).
Research Methodology:
Campbell does not cite a particular methodology for his research, but the literature suggests not only a commanding knowledge of All in the Family, as he describes the characters of the series, like Archie and Edith Bunker; it also conveys a strong knowledge of the social setting and unrest of the time period in which it first aired (post-civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, Watergate, etc.).
Summary:
Given the sitcoms on which this essay will focus, this summarizes Campbell’s chapter about All in the Family. The series’ politics helped it serve as “a mirror of [American] society” in the 1970s (4). Lear pulled from Till Death Do Us Part, a sitcom that became part of 1960s Britain’s cultural lexicon, to create All in the Family (4). Both series share bigoted patriarchs, their seemingly unintelligent wives, and bleeding-heart daughters and sons-in-law who live with them (4). Lear despised television’s “perfect families,” which seemed unaffected by sociopolitical tensions, and wanted to recreate Till Death Do Us Part, which reflected his experience with his own father, for an American audience (4-5). Lear fought with CBS about content featured in the pilot episode of All in the Family, which aired on Jan. 12, 1971 (9-10). The series failed to break out with the general public, who mostly missed the point, but most media critics enjoyed the series (16-17). All in the Family won several Emmy Awards, including the award for outstanding comedy series, for its first season (20).
In addition to the show’s history, Campbell also describes the cultural impact of All in the Family. The series discusses prejudices against African-American people, with Lionel Jefferson, an African-American character who eventually found his own series in The Jeffersons, and the famous guest appearance by entertainer Sammy Davis Jr.; women, mostly through Edith Bunker; and gay men, as the show destroys Archie’s assumptions about them (13-18, 23-25, 37-43). The lattermost discussion made All in the Family the first television series to examine issues concerning gay people – or even admit they existed (18).
How the Article Fits into My Research:
As was mentioned earlier, the essay will explore All in the Family, in addition to several other sitcoms. Campbell cites specific examples from the series and facets of the culture surrounding it, to convey how the series combats various prejudices. He does not discuss television literacy in explicit detail, but his discussion of 1970s America’s sociopolitical climate showcases how, in order to most fully experience a text, one needs to know about the society in which the said text was produced and distributed.
Works Cited
Campbell, Sean. The Sitcoms of Norman Lear. London: McFarland and Company, Inc., 2007. Print.
Annotated Bibliography 2
The Research Question:
In “Electronic Media: Teaching Television Literacy,” Harold M. Foster seeks to give English teachers information about teaching television literacy. He focuses both on knowledge they already possess and information they can learn about television’s structural elements, stating how they can use both to teach television literacy.
Research Methodology:
Foster mentions no particular methodology for conducting his research.
Summary:
Foster states that television literacy can prevent viewers from a distorted perception of reality and make them a conscious audience, not an ignorant one. Like other literacies, one ascertains television literacy through an education that focuses on television. He points out that teachers already know how to analyze media on cultural and social levels and that they should apply that to television. Foster points out “television as a mythic force in society,” relaying the idea that a society’s myths reflect its socialization (70). He points out sports, western, and detective shows, not to mention commercials for how they might influence society.
Foster also discusses film and television’s structural elements, which include “editing, movement, composition, color, lighting, and sound” and states how people use these elements to stir audiences’ emotions (71). Editing can make poor basketball players appear to be just as good as masters of the sport. Quick motions create excitement, while slow movements signify strength. Composition, or arrangement, can create feelings of isolation or importance. Vivid colors instill a sense of fun and pleasure, while black-and-white has little effect on viewers. Light gives Johnny Carson “an aura of glamour and excitement” on his late-night talk show (71). Music cues can instill terror, while “thwacks” indicate physical violence. Foster points English teachers to several activities, such as Film in the Classroom, Television Program Reviews, and Television Show Production, which they can use to teach television literacy. He concludes that television might “become an increasingly positive force in society” if teachers instruct their students in television literacy (72).
How the Article Fits into My Research:
This article describes the process of developing television literacy, the type of literacy relevant to my research on this essay. Foster cites television’s effect on cultural and social levels and its mythic power, in an effort to show that media can affect our thinking. Bearing the most importance to my own research, though, is Foster’s highlighting of television’s unique structural elements. My essay explores how television sitcoms can affect society and change opinions about bigotries like feminism, (hetero)sexism/homophobia, and racism. While the essay will focus on television’s sociological effects, which Foster touches on in this article, I will also make use of the structural elements he mentions, in order to make my points in the most effective way possible. As my essay will focus on sitcoms, it will point out the series’ use of audience laughter to tie back to progressive ideals that work against the status quo. (These sitcoms were produced and aired before fabricated laugh tracks came onto the scene.) The essay will explore television’s other structural elements to further prove my thesis.
Works Cited
Foster, Harold M. “Electronic Media: Teaching Television Literacy.” The English Journal 70.8 (1981): 70-72. Web. 8 Oct. 2013.
Annotated Bibliography 1
For my essay, I plan to look at how media literacy – specifically television literacy – can help one see how certain female-led sitcoms come against stereotypes and harmful norms prevalent in mainstream society.
The Research Question:
Author Jeremy G. Butler looks to the television sitcom Designing Women, originally marketed as part of a feminine (but not necessarily feminist) reaction to male domination of television, and wonders if the series actually “privilege[s] meanings that belong to the feminist discourse of the 1980s and 1990s” (14).
Research Methodology:
For his article, Butler realizes that he must examine “the general functioning of discourse in TV narrative” (14). He examines Designing Women alongside other female-led sitcoms like Roseanne and The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, specifically hoping “to examine the narrative texts and audial-visual style of” these series how they handle the polysemic nature of television (14).
Summary:
Butler compares the “fat” aspects of both Delta Burke of Designing Women and Roseanne Arnold (née Barr) of Roseanne. He points their similarities as large and “unruly” women on television but quickly notes their differences. Burke succumbs to the body norms placed on her as she gains weight throughout the run of Designing Women (15). However, Arnold, perhaps by virtue of being a primary creative force on her television series, subverts stereotypes about larger women – those that limit them as nurturing, “mammy” figures – reinforced by characters like Aunt Bee from The Andy Griffith Show (16). Burke is seen in a negative light as one who breaks taboos, while Arnold can exist in the framework of patriarchal society and is seen in a positive light (17). This is because Arnold’s character is domestic and takes care of the children; Burke’s character used to be a beauty queen, a femme fatale (17). Butler further notes that Designing Women features unruly women who break taboos through their use of language but fail to truly come against the patriarchy, while the female lead on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show shows more potential for subverting patriarchy with her speech (17-18). Butler suggests that Designing Women only works as feminist “[i]f we define sexism as any discursive […], economic, political, or social practice that subordinates, victimizes, or exploits women, and feminist discourse as a system of representation that confronts these practices” (20). Butler additionally explores “The Strange Case of Clarence and Anita,” an episode of Designing Women about Anita Hill’s charges against Judge Clarence Thomas (20). Butler concludes that Designing Women fails to change the game and come against the status quo of patriarchy because, in a paradox, its cast of women only comes against taboo in acceptable ways (24).
How the Article Fits into My Research:
This article addresses Designing Women, a show I’m not planning to explore in my essay, but fits into my research because it examines the topic of progressive ideals being portrayed and supported through the medium of television. More specifically, it fits into the genre of the television sitcom, citing examples led by women or a woman. The overall questions posed by the class focus heavily on technological advancements and how they mold current and future forms of literacy. Butler also ties into how technological advancements and the subsequent development of new texts lead to needs for new literacies to develop – television literacy in this case – but mostly does so indirectly. However Butler makes reference to television literacy when discussing “The Strange Case of Clarence and Anita.” He explains how “[e]nthusiastic applause on the soundtrack validates Mary Jo’s choice [of feminism] as the correct one” and “[t]he laughtrack [sic] thus clearly signals this episode’s preferred reading” (21). To that end, this article will help me look more closely for research that directly addresses television literacy.
Works Cited
Butler, Jeremy G. “Redesigning Discourse: Feminism, the Sitcom, and Designing Women.” Journal of Film and Video 45.1 (1993): 13-26. Web. 24 Sept. 2013.
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