Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Consumerist Morals
What does George Lipsitz mean when he suggests that working class ethnic sitcoms of the 1950s put the borrowed moral capital of the past at the service of the values of the present? Based on his essay and your viewings this Thursday, how did these sitcoms demonstrate how "wise choices enabled consumers to have both moral and material rewards"?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Lipsitz argues television sitcoms of the early 1950s legitimize the socioeconomic class relations created by a consumer capital culture by borrowing from working class values of decades past. For example, in "I remember Mama", Mama's character represents the image of what a consumer housewife ought to be - a homemaker, confined to the house, with neither the interest nor agency to explore the world outside the suburban household. These capitalist values are not explicit, however. Instead, Mama's desire to perform as an ideal homemaker draw justification from depression-era immigrant values. Mama complains to her friend, for example, about the impossible number of household demands she must bear, but rather than protest her subjugation, Mama complies and continues to work, stating she must do so for the well-being of her family. Ironically, at the dinner table, the family ignores Mama's hard work, instead fantasizing about middle-class dreams such as dining out at a restaurant rather than eating a home-cooked meal, not only undermining Mama's efforts, but also calling into question why she should even do housework in the first place when consumer culture places such low value on authentic human labor. Angered, Mama goes to play cards with her friends, but cannot stay out long, as her conscience urges her to return home and care for her family's well-being, whether or not they appreciate her concern. Mama's family meets her return with eager praise, thanking her for all her hard work, but at the same time, a coffee advertisement follows, connecting a moment of ethnic family value to a consumerist message. "Mama" demonstrates a complex negotiation of a working class past and a consumer culture present in 50s television sitcoms.
ReplyDelete