Watch one of the three 1980s television episodes linked below and write 400 words on the representations of class within Roseanne, LA Law, or COPS. This post will count as two blog posts.
LA LAW, s.1, ep.1
Roseanne, s.1, ep. 1
COPS, pilot (please watch all of the parts on youtube)
Roseanne represents a working class family in the 1980’s. There is a mother, father, and two daughters trying to make a living. The mother works at a factory and the husband is trying to contract jobs. In the first scene in the pilot, located in the family’s kitchen over breakfast, one daughter notes that for school she is bringing in food for the food drive. Roseanne jokes that they should be bringing the food over to them not the other way around. Also within that scene, the sink is broken and Roseanne is begging her husband to fix it. He insists, though, on simply plunging it, taking the cheap easy way out. When looking ahead at the day, Roseanne must take off work, losing pay and rearrange her busy schedule in order to meet with her daughter’s teacher. The husband insists he will be working a new job and cannot miss that pay opportunity. This family does not have the luxury to take paid vacation days or be in a job with enough autonomy that they could disappear for a little for personal matters. Once at work, Roseanne asks her boss for this time off and the boss only provides 30 minutes off and it will come out of her pay. Her position at the factory does not come with benefits and her freedom is at the discretion of her boss. Also while working at the factory, Roseanne discusses a seminar her sister recently attended. The workshop was entitled “See It Be It.” In other words, the seminar was about living with middle class ideology. The seminar is about the basics of visualization and if they use their minds potential they can get whatever they want like a brand new car. These nice products that you could only imagine for yourself will help you move up from working class to middle class. The next scene is at Darlene’s school. The teacher claims she can no longer meet with Roseanne as she has a scheduled “appointment” to play squash. When asked if she can reschedule, Roseanne states that they had to get time off of work, unpaid, to get here and got stuck in traffic. Reluctantly the teacher agrees to have the conversation but the class difference is outlined between the teacher who has the time and monetary freedom to go play squash in the middle of the day whereas Roseanne stresses to balance work and home life. Finally, when Darlene gets injured from a scissor at the end of the episode, Roseanne and her husband use their first aid kid to help her as opposed to going to the hospital. Considering the inability to take paid time off from her boss, you can assume the job does not come with adequate medical benefits to go to the hospital whenever any sort of injury occurs. All in all, the pilot of Roseanne emphasizes the working class nature of their family. Roseanne struggles to work at the factory and satisfy her home needs without compromising the paycheck that they desperately needs. When it comes to issues such as injuries or a broken sink, the family takes on the problem personally with the resources at their disposal rather than outsourcing, which would cost money.
It is not difficult to see why Roseanne was one of the most watched shows in the history of television. Beginning in the late 1980s, the sitcom followed a working class family through their day-to-day situations, appealing to the large working class viewing population.
The Conners are not an extraordinary family. They could be almost any working class family in the Midwest. This honesty is key to the show’s appeal and success. Their problems do not arise from outlandish events. The plot focuses on their “real life” situations. The pilot follows Roseanne, the mother of the household, throughout her daily tasks. She prepares her family in the morning for the rest of their day, goes to work and then returns home to continue to keep the household running. The conflicts that arise are usually a direct result to their family’s class standing. Becky’s backpack falls apart because they cannot afford a sturdier one. Dan cannot help Roseanne with the chores because he must try to get a project for work. Roseanne must go visit Darlene’s teacher and must therefore take time off of work and receive less pay. These problems that arise from their status as a working-class family affects their lives beyond logistical problems. Darlene’s teacher claims that Darlene’s behavior problems are a result of the lack of a mother’s attention. Roseanne justly counters this accusation with the fact that she cannot spent her free time with her daughter because she is a working mother of three and has no free time. Dan and Roseanne’s martial problems stem from them both having busy schedules and conflicting ideas about the division of household work.
Key to Roseanne’s commentary on working class society is the dual expectations of a working mother. Roseanne runs the house and works in a factory. She is expected to both provide an income for the family as well as keep everyone at home organized and happy, a point she often makes to her husband who does not have this double standard. She dreams with her co-female workers about a life and possessions they are likely never to have. This problem was and still is face by many women in similar positions. Working class women are expected to contribute financial while still finding the time to run a perfect household. This is not an easy or attractive balance to find yet despite these struggles Roseanne still comes off as an appealing character. Her appearance, personality and lifestyle are what make her relatable, honest and someone to rally behind.
The episode of Roseanne is in many ways reminiscent of the 1950s working class television sitcom, Mama. The specific episode that is comparable to Roseanne is “Mama Has a Bad Day.” In the episode of Mama, Marta struggles because of all of the problems she faces during the day, many of which revolving around the family’s financial insecurity, without seeming to have support or appreciation from the rest of her family. Roseanne in the very beginning of the episode makes reference to her family’s need for food when she tells her daughter to have the school “drive” some food to their home in response to learning about the food drive. In addition to the canned food, the lack of name brand cereal shows that the family cannot enjoy whatever food they desire. Aside from the food, the condition of the family’s belonging also emphasizes the working class status of the family. Becky’s backpack falls apart and creates yet another problem for Roseanne which is made worse by the sink not being able to drain. Even though Roseanne was able to replace the bag at the end of the episode, she makes reference to the need to save money by saying that Becky will have to use the bag until she’s 30 years old.
In addition to the simple fact that their belongings are literally falling apart, the family’s employment situation alludes to their working class status. Dan, the husband, during the episode has to look for work and was unable to find work that day. This presents a problem because Roseanne was forced to take off work and sacrifice extra pay in order to visit Darlene’s teacher at school. This presents a stark contrast between Roseanne as a working class sitcom and other shows such as Father Knows Best or Leave it to Beaver, where the mother does not have to work at all, but is allowed to enjoy a luxurious life and does not have to do anything. Roseanne is the exact opposite because she has to do everything.
The show also points out Roseanne’s status as working class through the dialogue at the factory where she works. When her sister began to talk about a seminar she attended, Roseanne cynically and dismissively asks if the seminar was on how to be a millionaire. Roseanne’s dismissal of the entire idea shows that her situation needs more than just a better attitude in order to get better.
Finally, Roseanne is turned on by the dream her husband shares about their retirement. Most of the dream is focused on being able to relax on the Mediterranean without having to do any work. The idea of having a better life is very appealing to both Roseanne and Dan, which causes them both to dream about it at the end of the episode.
“Roseanne” was not only one of the most watched sitcoms of the 1980s, but it was also one of the time’s most influential series; even watching it today, you can see the beginnings of the modern sitcom, negotiating the ideals of femininity, masculinity, and traditional roles within the American family. In its pilot episode, “Roseanne” also features interesting representations of class that would go on to classify both the ABC comedy and other series airing at the same time.
“Roseanne” ’s depiction of the Conners’ as a working-class family drives much of the plot in the series’ first episode. Even early on, throwaway jokes establish this intention—when one of the Conner daughters collects cans for a food drive, Roseanne quips, “well tell them to drive some of that food over here.”
Throughout the episode, Roseanne is forced to juggle her blue-collar career working in a plastics factory and her role as a mother and wife. At the factory, Roseanne’s sister accentuates class differences by referencing the seminar she attended in order to “use your minds potential to get anything you want.” This presents the idea that these factory workers have room for improvement; they shouldn’t be forced to accept their lives or careers but rather strive to move upward. One worker even laments, “I’d love to change my life.” When Roseanne dismisses the seminar as merely “a way to become a millionaire,” she asserts that this need for improvement is class-driven.
Later in the episode, Roseanne visits her daughter’s teacher. It’s a meeting that was difficult for Roseanne to attend; she had to sacrifice an hour of pay to be there. However, when she’s late to the meeting, the teacher almost requires that Roseanne reschedule. The teacher’s character—a leisurely, squash-playing blonde—is juxtaposed to Roseanne’s—a factory-working mother trying to please her family, her boss, and her husband. The teacher then presses Roseanne further, asking if her and her daughter spend any “quality time” together. But as a working mother of three, Roseanne laughs at the teacher’s assertion. This even further diverges the two characters, one with ample free time and the other with too much to do.
In the episode’s closing moments, Roseanne’s daughter cuts her finger and Roseanne and her husband are forced to assume yet another role: doctor. Within the course of one twenty-minute episode, Roseanne has truly epitomized “working-class.” Juxtaposed with her daughter’s teacher and highlighted by her coworkers at the factory, “Roseanne” is as much a comment on class as it is family or gender roles.
“Roseanne” focuses on a single white middle-class family living a “typical” life. In order to contextualize the class representations of this program to ideas we have discussed in class so far, I think it would be interesting to compare “Roseanne” to an older sitcom we’ve studied as a class.
One show we’ve seen in screening that comes to mind is “Mama” - another show representing a family struggling to make ends meet, where the driving character of the show is also the matriarch. While “Mama” depicts a specific, immigrant family attempting to integrate into the cultural melting pot, “Roseanne” depicts the typical, homogenous middle-class family. Mama and Roseanne both struggle with demands to complete a series of household demands, dealing with unruly children and unhelpful husbands. “Roseanne”, however is more anti-consumerist and feminized than “Mama” with its class depictions, specifically its representation of the matriarchal figure within the nuclear family unit.
“Mama” follows a family with depression era values of a tight-knit family, frugal personal economics, and the importance of the mother figure. These values seem positive, but underlying these messages is a hyper-consumerist ideology. Family moments coincide with sponsor product placement, frugal economics give way to plot developments which justify spending money on new consumer products in order to improve life within the home, and while Mama has autonomy within her home, her autonomy exists within a cage - she does not leave her house.
“Roseanne” seems more pessimistic from the outlook. The family unit constantly argues, their home is in a constant state of disrepair, and each family member demonstrates a propensity for social maladjustment outside the home. Moreover, unlike Mama, who despite her complaints about her family ultimately defers to their every desire, Roseanne actively mocks her children, challenges her husband’s authority, and notes her position as central actor of the household. Roseanne also mocks the ideology of consumerism and its promise of social mobility when her sister presents her with notes from a seminar on “visualizing a better future”. Roseanne’s explicit critiques of consumerism and the failure of the masculinized family unit demonstrate an astute recognition of the failure of consumer ideology.
Nevertheless, Roseanne still conforms to traditional gender roles designated to the middle class family unit. She still acts as the mother, making each meal, acquiescing to her husband’s wishes, and despite her employed empowerment, she is the one who sacrifices work to finish tasks at home. “Roseanne” therefore depicts a middle class disaffected and confused by the promises of consumer culture, but unsure of how to proceed, ultimately embracing their roles and the inherent failed promises within in order to implode the structures.
Roseanne is a sitcom about a working class family that is struggling to get by. The show lasted for 9 seasons on ABC, and there are many reasons why. Roseanne Conner, the mother of the house, works at a factory while father Dan Conner stays at home. This was something that wasn’t represented very often in shows before and set it apart from many other sitcoms on television. Many shows on television showed middle class or working class families in a positive, happy atmosphere. The gang would have problems that any normal family would have, but nothing very serious or couldn’t be fixed in a thirty-minute or hour-long show. Roseanne, however, gave a more accurate look at the problems that a working-class house could run into and the effects it had on the family. For example, in the pilot we see how the lack of income takes a toll on the parent’s relationship. Roseanne and Don get into fights about work around the house and who does more work for the family. At the end of the day, they realize that the two are just doing their best for the family and move-on like many couples in real-life do. Portraying a relationship that isn’t perfect, but realistic and loving is most likely why Roseanne and Don are considered one of the best TV couples of all time. With Roseanne being the only real worker in a house of 5, money was often tight. This is why when daughter Rebecca asks to gather food for the school’s can drive, Roseanne jokes that the school should bring the food here. Later in the scene, Roseanne also mentions that the sink is clogged again and that Dan needs to fix it. Dan responds by saying that he will plunge it today to get rid of the clog, but Roseanne wants him to actually fix it. It seems that Dan may want to plunge it instead of fixing it in order to save money. Later in the show, we also find out that Rebecca’s new backpack had ripped and that she needed a new one. When she saw that the color of the newly exchanged backpack was different she got upset. Roseanne adds that she will have to deal with it and use it until she’s thirty. Class differences can also be seen in the pilot episode when Roseanne finds out that she has to meet with Darlene’s teacher. Upon her arrival the teacher says that the meeting needs to be rescheduled. Roseanne, who had to fight just to get the time off without pay, explains that she needs to have the meeting now. Her time isn’t as flexible as the teacher’s and she needs to work as many hours as she can get.
The Roseanne brought us a revolutionary look at working-class life, and more specifically, the experiences of working-class women. I am not sure but as for my perspective of this show, the depiction of the main character might be an early feminist influence. First of all, Roseanne is not like any other traditional Mama or wife on the screen. She was funny, powerful, respected by her family and real in ways that most TV shows are not. She talked loudly and behaved relatively rough- she was even not soft and considerate towards her child and husband. In the plot, she always yelled to her husband and kids; she brought her daughter a blue backpack instead of her favorite pink; she bargained with the boss to leave early and she seemed unpunctual and disrespected to her daughter's history teacher. However, everything came with a reason. She worked 8 hours in a plastic factory to fully support her family, with an unemployed, reluctant husband who even did not want to do the simplest work-fix the sink. She has three noisy little children and because of her daughter's behavior in class, she had to ask to leave early with a deducted salary to meet her teacher. Unlike most of the parent would just directly reprimanded their children after hearing from what the teacher said, she did not just blame Darlene but asked for the reason why she did it. She asked Dan to collect every coupon on the newspaper and brought the blue backpack because it was cheeper, she planned to save every penny for her family and she comforted her daughter during the first aid in a smart way. Roseanne played as a problem-solver and the backbone of the family. She might not be as attractive as other female characters in physical appearance, she was not an gentle and considerable odd-school mom, however, we have to admit that she was charming in her way. She was a responsible mom who would give up the salary to meet the teacher and she was a lovely wife who would support her husband's sweet retirement dream. She was the representation of the independent woman who only depended on her own hard work to make a living along with the society's chancing expectation towards working class female character, and after all, she was "real". The family dealt with their issues in a way that was often painful to watch– with yelling and high pitched emotion. It was painful because it had resonance beyond its role as a sitcom. The show focused on realism-the working class Americans who were struggling and pitched it a funny way. I love the scene when Roseanne was around the noisy kids and she joked:" That's why animal eats their young." Life sometimes miserable and make jokes with you, but like Roseanne, you can joke back.
Watching Roseanne, I couldn’t help but think of Home Improvement which came only three years later, also on ABC. Although in separate decades, from watching this episode it was apparent how influential Roseanne was on the sitcom format and how it spawned an audience that could identify with the everyday American family, as seen with Home Improvement as well. It is this representation of class and the struggle to make ends meet that gave Roseanne in its pilot episode the depth and character that ABC held onto for many popular sitcoms to come.
It is exactly this representation of class and the notion of a typical working class family that is the focus of this pilot episode. Whether its a lack of funds, or a lack of time due to trying to obtain those funds, the majority of the episode spends time delving into the Conners’ socio-economic status. From the onset of the episode, after Roseanne banters with her husband, Dan, played by John Goodman, about toast and coffee, the family’s economic status becomes the crux of the jokes. When their daughter, Darlene, picks a can off of their kitchen shelf for a food drive, Roseanne responds with telling Darlene to, “drive the food on over here.” Out of context these quick jokes would surely lose their significance but Roseanne furthers this portrait of the working class family by centering the action around Roseanne’s job at the plastic factory, and her’s, as well as her coworkers’, desire to live a more affluent life. Between this and the conversation Roseanne has with George Clooney about taking time off, we are inundated with the image and characteristics of a working class family.
While all of this is simply a portrait of what a working class family may go through, the significance of Roseanne’s representation of the working class shines through the moments when the economics are forgotten and what remains is a family that is as dynamic, funny, and surely entertaining as any other. At the beginning of the scene between Roseanne and Darlene’s history teacher, we are lead to believe that Darlene’s misbehavior is the result of her home life and possibly the family’s socio-economic status but as the conversation unfolds, Roseanne retorts the pretentious and teacher, putting the irrational behavior on her thinking that Darlene has deeper issues. And, at the end of the episode, Roseanne and Dan find time between their argument about making ends meet and fixing the house to heal their daughters cut. So more than a basic illustration of what it means to be working class, Roseanne represents the working class in a way that shows more than just economic standing.
Well since everyone else is writing about Roseanne I'll go to the much cooler show "COPS".
The primary purpose of television, and most of the entertainment industry, is to provide enjoyment and escapism for the average person. How does one then negotiate that escapism when dealing with class issues? For shows like "Roseanne", whose protagonists are struggling working class people, it provides a relate-able story to audiences while at the same time still working in the confines of a family sitcom (episodic stories that usually end happily). Other shows like "Dynasty" allow a sneak peak into the lavish world of the rich. "Cops" goes in the opposite direction, portraying the most poverty stricken areas of the country, but instead of providing sympathetic characters like the other two shows, this is entertainment through schadenfreude. Most Americans, being above this level of income, can feel superior not just to criminals, but to the lower class lifestyles they inhabit. In the pilot episode we never see cops barging into a middle class home, or chasing down criminals in a nice area. Of course, a lot of this is simple statistics, poor areas are naturally going to have more crime (excluding white collar crime, which admittedly would make less entertaining reality tv). What is interesting about COPS is it's more subtle uses of race and gender in the guise of class. For instance, we see one cop stop two white men in a black neighborhood over trying to buy drugs, and reprimands them for being in the wrong place to to their race, that it's dangerous for them to be there. While we see poor whites and blacks, there is still a race division that is emphasized. Meanwhile, we have a female police officer who seems to exclusively deal with prostitutes. Even the other female officer on profile must mention how she's a caring mother in contrast to her tough persona. And then there's the wife of the main cop, whose constant nagging towards him forces the audience to be on his side. Women on the show must be portrayed within the sphere of the home. Beyond race and gender, the lower class is specifically assigned to the drug war. As the 80's went into full swing, the war on drugs went into full effect, fully focused on the lower class drug dealings. The narrative mainstream media was that this was a lower class problem, disregarding the fact that much of the drug trade was run by upper class organizations.
The pilot episode of COPS is startling in its dealings with class, though perhaps it shouldn’t be, considering that it is a product of reality.
Firstly, it must be noted that the majority of busts on the show take place in neighborhood of low economic class. The emphasis on inner-cities and ghettos is a staple of the war on drugs (a theme throughout the episode), coupling with its emphasis on crack. One can’t help but wonder: Why these already disadvantaged citizens are the target of this police force’s “war”? Is the drug use by lower classes inherently more threatening than the countless high schoolers smoking pot out their windows, or the investment bankers thriving on powder cocaine? Well, COPS certainly seems to think so, though it never clarifies why, nor provides much context as to why this war on drugs is necessary, how effective its implementation has been, etc.
At one point an officer, in reference to his role in drug-prohibition enforcement “It’s all a game out here, that’s all it is,” adding that sometimes he wins, while sometimes the bad guys win. This perspective illustrates something very plain to the viewers: The officer is of a higher economic class than the majority of people he deals with. The show at several points takes the audience into the homes of law enforcement officers, and they clearly belong to the middle class. It’s a game to this officer because it’s his job, but to the desperate folks that have actually resorted to selling and using narcotics, this is certainly no game. COPS shows no sympathy to the individuals on the other side of the arrest. Granted interviewing a handcuffed person might not be a great idea, but there aren’t even any eye-witness accounts. The show, as its title promises, focuses solely on the cops. And, not surprisingly, the cops are always the good guys.
This is also an actual quote from the episode: “I’m the only white face in this area, besides the other cops. You don’t belong here, OK?. It has nothing to do with white or black, it has to do with crimes against persons.” This is in the context of the officer promising to let them off with a slap on the wrist despite just having caught them in a drug deal. It’s fascinating that the officer cuts these kids so much slack, and it seems to be because they’re white and (apparently) suburban.
Though the bias in favor of upper-class citizens is, at least in this officer’s case, obvious, the reasons for this aren’t delved into in the slightest on COPS. Instead it’s a show about COPS cracking down on the “bad guys,” giving awkward glimpses into their personal lives, and reinforcing the war on drugs doctrine. Lower economic classes are represented negatively, likening rundown neighborhoods to war zones, and the working-class officers are the only ones who can fix these problems.
COPS representation of class is troubling, to say the least, though the concept it represents, in regard to class warfare, is far more frightening.
Class in “LA Law” is presented as a largely racial issue in the opening two episode pilot of the series. All but one member of the staff at McKenzie, Brackman, Chaney and Kuzak is black in the opening episodes and the only other cast member whose character circulates in the same circles as the wealthy white characters is Victor Sifuentes. The other characters of color are shown to be in poorer straits and of lower class than the lawyers who represent them, for whatever reasons that they chose to do so.
Kuzak, Harry Hamlin’s character, is forced to defend a repugnant, spoiled, rich kid who rapes and beats a black woman. His moral dilemma about defending the man is covered by his insistence that he must “trust the system” because he is not only representing his client but the legal system itself. The young plaintiff is black, of lower income, and was using marijuana to deal with her nausea caused by chemotherapy. Despite what Kuzak, and his colleagues, saw as the world’s most sympathetic client, her skin color and drug use are used by Kuzak's co-counsel to make the young woman look unreliable on the stand. When she refused to testify, because she refused to spend the last six months of her life in a courtroom, Kuzak steps in an alerts the DA’s office of his client’s breach of probation and orchestrates the rapists incarceration.
Similarly, Ann Kelsey, played by Jill Eikenberry, is involved with a case with a black woman with cancer at the center. However, instead of being part of defense counsel in opposition, Kelsey is representing the woman’s claim against an insurance company. However, as is discussed after the insurance company settles for a figure approximately 1467 times the amount the insurance company has withheld from the client initially, Kelsey never bothered to meet the client. She was too wrapped up in winning the case for the sake of winning as opposed to for the sake of her client. This puts her in direct opposition to Kuzak’s character whose care for the woman who was attacked by his client is the reason behind his part in the man’s arrest. This plays on the question raised in the show about class as an issue men and women face and how women in the field of law practising at the level that the show portrays behave as opposed to their male counterparts who, comparatively, didn’t have as many hurdles to reach their positions.
The other way race is addressed in the pilot is through the lens of Victor Sifuentes and Andrew Taylor. Andrew Taylor, a black law clerk working a summer internship with the firm, is shown to be forced to face that his career isn’t going anywhere with McKenzie, Brackman, Chaney and Kuzak when Kuzak, while looking for a criminal lawyer. Sifuentes is recommended to Kuzak who, upon seeing his performance in the courtroom, offers him a job immediately. Sifuentes directly states that he grew up thinking of lawyers, and it’s also implied that he’s speaking about white rich men, as the enemy and that eating lunch while considering the job offer felt like selling out. However, he agrees to take the job after the partners agree to let him do pro bono work and they play nice for a while. When Taylor quits in the third episode, he comments about how Sifuentes’ arrival didn’t make him feel like he was being traded “black for brown” but that the lawyer’s arrival made him face the fact that his career was essentially being stonewalled at the firm where no one allowed him to do any meaningful jobs or show initiative, which his white boss shortly thereafter blames him for. As he tells Sifuentes that he holds no ill will towards him, Taylor makes some comments about being lured in by promises of pro bono work before being cut off by the same man who blamed his lack of initiative for his stalled career earlier in the episode.
“L.A. Law” interacts with race in a way that addressed not only the lack of representation and inclusion of people of color in high powered industries, through Taylor’s comment about being token people of color, and the way that race tends to influence class or perceived class. Victor, and the way he interacts with clients, highlights the societal boundaries that greatly influence class. The way the white characters differ in their opinions of pro bono work, their willingness to blame Taylor’s lack of incentive for his lack of upward mobility in the firm, etc are all indicators of the opposing side of the dichotomy of racial portrayal in “L.A. Law.” Through the men, women, and people of color in the show, “L.A. Law” highlights the way in which class is affected by race and sex.
Roseanne is a showcase of a working class, slightly financially unstable family that breaks the stereotypes often associated with them. The family lives in a nice house and seems to get along alright, but the husband does not have steady work so they are probably not in a stable financial situation. The show is not completely outright to put their financial troubles in the forefront, but rather drops hints at it. For example Roseanne tells her husband to keep the coupons, or makes the joke that their family is the one needing food from the food drive. There is also the ever present issues with the household, like the broken sink or the daughter’s broken backpack that could accumulate cost and stress for the parents. Although these issues are obviously present, it does not seem to weigh on the family tremendously. Any time such a burden is brought up Roseanne makes a joke of it instead of complaining or being overcome by stress, like the food drive or joking “there goes the Porsche” when her boss docks her pay. The fact that these issues do not seem to bother her very much reveals what the family’s priorities are. All of Roseanne’s coworkers are obsessed with material wealth and upward mobility. Her sister talks about a seminar she went to on how to “better yourself”, leaving her and the rest of the workers to imagine what they really want in life. As opposed to everyone else’s dreams of cars and money, Roseanne just wants a clean house and a nice family. She is content with her life as it is, striving for day to day goals rather than giant, probably unattainable ones. Their family does not need expensive cars or vacations, they just need each other, and the demolition derby. The show breaks the conception of the American Dream which has been construed to mean becoming incredibly rich. The American Dream is about working hard and making a decent living with a home and family, but in the rise to this everyone forgot to stop and appreciate everything that they had, instead they keep trying to claw up to the top. Roseanne shows a family that may not have a lot of money, but they are happy, and love each other. This is what the American Dream was meant to be.
L.A. Law breaks away from the vanilla prime-time lawyer series that always featured white male solo practitioners doing criminal defense work for innocent clients, and instead portrayed a lively firm with significant degree of diversity. One thing is clear in this pilot episode and it is that race and gender play a role in class, although this is hardly a surprise seeing as it is set in a patriarchal society.
One woman is criticized for doing a probono case for a woman being screwed by the system which, in fact, she is also feeling as a woman who brings hundreds of thousands of dollars to the firm and gets 50k in return. The women in this show seem to face more hurdles than men.
I think racial issues are underwritten so far, but the show has potential to make some statements on current (for the time) issues.
Also, inherently, rich people can afford better lawyers and pay more money to be freed of consequences for their actions, something which a law series can easily confront. The question of obedience, law, the "system," all tie into class, race, and gender issues. These topics are brought to light by passionate monologues from the women in this episode.
Roseanne is a working-class sitcom about a family who are trying to make ends meet. In the pilot, we can see Roseanne’s and her husband, Dan’s, struggle to take care of their three kids while trying to remain financially afloat. On top of doing everything for her family at home, Roseanne also works full-time in a plastics factory. When she needs to take an hour off of work to go see her child’s teacher her pay has to be docked for her to leave. She responds to her boss “there goes the Porsche”. Throughout the episode, humor is used to lift the burden of financial instability the Conner’s face. When her oldest daughter tells her mother that she is going to take cans for the food drive at school, Roseanne jokes that they are the ones who need the food, indicating that they are far from rich. When her oldest daughter also comes in the kitchen complaining about her new backpack being broken, probably due to the poor quality of a cheaper backpack, Roseanne must go exchange it for one that isn’t broken. Conflict comes between Roseanne and Dan when she mentions that the kitchen sink is broken and has been broken for weeks.
The family also must deal with the fact that Dan doesn’t always have steady income. He works in construction and, in this episode, is banking on landing a construction job, only to have that hope fall through.
While a lot of the jokes poke fun at Roseanne and her husband’s financial situation there are many moments where the dream of upward mobility is presented. Dan dreams about retiring with Roseanne so they can float in the sea until their end of days. Another moment is when one of her coworkers tells her about a seminar she attended that helps followers achieve their wants and needs, this can easily be applied to having more money to buy things. While her friends dream of these possibilities it’s interesting to see that Roseanne wouldn’t wish for these things. Or, rather, she knows that it takes hard work to achieve those life goals. She envisioned non-material things such as a clean house; things that with some help from her family could easily be achieved.
When her youngest daughter cuts her finger, the oldest daughter says that they need to take her to the hospital. In a comedic moment, Roseanne tells her to be quiet but this alludes to their financial troubles. While there is no mention of insurance or health care, simply by fixing the cut themselves we can see that this family is very savvy at finding ways to save themselves money.
Roseann is a working class comedy about the titular character and her family. In the beginning of the first act, it seems that they are pretty well off; they have coffee and toast every morning and have never had to go without food. They live in a decently furnished house and they can afford the neccessities for their children and themselves.
They have more than enough in terms of food, that it is possible for Becky to take cans in order to donate it to the homeless/needy for their can food drive. Even though Dan, the husband, tells Becky to only take two, they could have given more if they wanted to out of the goodness of their heart. They wouldn’t have to go without in order to provide for other people.
In regards to the food that Roseanne’s family is eating in the breakfast scene and even later is the fact that it is not the healthiest things to be feeding a family. A lot of it is carbs and stuff that comes from cans. These things are the hallmarks of middle class life. There is an abundance of food but it is not fresh and its fattening.
In terms of class they are represented as the norm. The teachers and the wealthier people are depicted as uncaring caricatures of people, they don’t understand the problems of the working class. Roseanne’s boss won’t let her go an hour early and they decide half an hour but without pay. The teacher when Roseanne finally shows up insists that she needs to leave, even though she had already been waiting for half an hour so she can stay another five minutes. It makes the point of who’s time is more valuable that of the lady who makes $8/hr or that of the lady who makes much more and can afford nice things.
Furthermore, to add class distinctions into the scene the teacher Instead of going to play tennis like most normal people would after school, the teacher is going to go play squash. The teacher being from a wealthier background makes the assumption that there must be going on in Roseanne’s house for her daughter to be barking in class. She asserts that since Roseanne is not spending enough time with her daughter that is the cause for her actions; rather than trying to fix her teaching methods or find out what is wrong with Darlene.
“Roseanne” follows the everyday lives and problems of a white, working-class family while focusing on the titular character, Roseanne, as she attempts to make ends meet as she deals with her slacker husband and three children. The show was and is still relatable to many because of its strong representation of the working class and its ability to find humor in Roseanne’s struggles. In the pilot episode, it is firmly established that Roseanne’s family is of a lower social class and is struggling to get by. Roseanne’s daughter Darlene gets in trouble at school for barking in class, prompting the teacher to request a meeting with Roseanne. It is here that the show not only shows its representation of the working class, but also its representation of the hardships of working mothers. As a result of her husband Dan’s laziness and insisting that he’s busy that day trying to get work, Roseanne is forced to ask her boss if she can leave work early to go meet with Darlene’s teacher. Forfeiting her pay during her absence at a time when her family really needs the money, Roseanne goes to the parent-teacher meeting where she is essentially lectured on her parenting skills. The show’s humor shines through in instances like these through Roseanne’s sarcasm and snarky remarks. This exemplifies the show’s ability to maintain its comedic nature while simultaneously focusing exclusively on this working-class mother’s struggles. “Roseanne” also displays its representation of the working-class family through the family’s constant struggle to avoid spending money. The storyline of the broken sink allows for the show to explore a number of important things. First, it emphasizes that this family is poor and that their house is not great. Secondly, it causes a fight between Dan and Roseanne, which in turn displays Dan’s incompetence and laziness. Roseanne had to keep reminding him to fix it. Lastly, the broken sink allows the show to demonstrate the financial troubles of a working-class family and coping methods that have to be used when money is tight. Instead of hiring a plumber to fix it, Dan insists that he can fix it with the cheaper method of using a plunger. There are other instances in the episode where this family’s money problems come to light, such as when their daughter cuts her finger badly and instead of taking her to the hospital like they probably should have, Dan and Roseanne take care of it themselves, showing both their frugality and their ability to work together as a team.
"Cops" although it provides a unique insight into the lives of the honorable officers protecting our society, it also exhibits terrorizing footage that portrays those living below the poverty line in a very negative light. The show follows police officers through their daily lives, taking the most riveting footage and editing into a documentary style television show. The show focuses on encounters that portray the criminals as bad people. In cops we focus mostly on the lowest class in our society, the criminals. In our society, they are thought of and treated like the scum of the earth. The portrayal of criminals on television thus feeds into the mistreatment of criminals in our society. Most of the people portrayed as menaces to society on the television show are struggling with numerous mental health issues, including substance abuse. These people should be receiving the help they need, not being exploited on television. The show contributes between the divide between classes in our society. We live in a time when 1% percent of the population controls almost all of the wealth in our country. Perhaps the negative portrayal of the lower classes on television with shows like “Cops” has contributed to this divide. By showing this television program on national television, you have people sitting on their couch in the suburbs forming negative opinions about “urban” people. The negative portrayal of the lower class on television also reinforces negative stereotypes. The show ventures into the ghetto all over the country to find mostly minority criminals. This projects onto the entire country that the minorities struggling with poverty in the ghettos are the biggest fear to our safety. It causes unnecessary fear and stress that should not exist in the first place.
Roseanne represents a working class family in the 1980’s. There is a mother, father, and two daughters trying to make a living. The mother works at a factory and the husband is trying to contract jobs. In the first scene in the pilot, located in the family’s kitchen over breakfast, one daughter notes that for school she is bringing in food for the food drive. Roseanne jokes that they should be bringing the food over to them not the other way around. Also within that scene, the sink is broken and Roseanne is begging her husband to fix it. He insists, though, on simply plunging it, taking the cheap easy way out. When looking ahead at the day, Roseanne must take off work, losing pay and rearrange her busy schedule in order to meet with her daughter’s teacher. The husband insists he will be working a new job and cannot miss that pay opportunity. This family does not have the luxury to take paid vacation days or be in a job with enough autonomy that they could disappear for a little for personal matters. Once at work, Roseanne asks her boss for this time off and the boss only provides 30 minutes off and it will come out of her pay. Her position at the factory does not come with benefits and her freedom is at the discretion of her boss. Also while working at the factory, Roseanne discusses a seminar her sister recently attended. The workshop was entitled “See It Be It.” In other words, the seminar was about living with middle class ideology. The seminar is about the basics of visualization and if they use their minds potential they can get whatever they want like a brand new car. These nice products that you could only imagine for yourself will help you move up from working class to middle class. The next scene is at Darlene’s school. The teacher claims she can no longer meet with Roseanne as she has a scheduled “appointment” to play squash. When asked if she can reschedule, Roseanne states that they had to get time off of work, unpaid, to get here and got stuck in traffic. Reluctantly the teacher agrees to have the conversation but the class difference is outlined between the teacher who has the time and monetary freedom to go play squash in the middle of the day whereas Roseanne stresses to balance work and home life. Finally, when Darlene gets injured from a scissor at the end of the episode, Roseanne and her husband use their first aid kid to help her as opposed to going to the hospital. Considering the inability to take paid time off from her boss, you can assume the job does not come with adequate medical benefits to go to the hospital whenever any sort of injury occurs. All in all, the pilot of Roseanne emphasizes the working class nature of their family. Roseanne struggles to work at the factory and satisfy her home needs without compromising the paycheck that they desperately needs. When it comes to issues such as injuries or a broken sink, the family takes on the problem personally with the resources at their disposal rather than outsourcing, which would cost money.
ReplyDeleteIt is not difficult to see why Roseanne was one of the most watched shows in the history of television. Beginning in the late 1980s, the sitcom followed a working class family through their day-to-day situations, appealing to the large working class viewing population.
ReplyDeleteThe Conners are not an extraordinary family. They could be almost any working class family in the Midwest. This honesty is key to the show’s appeal and success. Their problems do not arise from outlandish events. The plot focuses on their “real life” situations. The pilot follows Roseanne, the mother of the household, throughout her daily tasks. She prepares her family in the morning for the rest of their day, goes to work and then returns home to continue to keep the household running. The conflicts that arise are usually a direct result to their family’s class standing. Becky’s backpack falls apart because they cannot afford a sturdier one. Dan cannot help Roseanne with the chores because he must try to get a project for work. Roseanne must go visit Darlene’s teacher and must therefore take time off of work and receive less pay. These problems that arise from their status as a working-class family affects their lives beyond logistical problems. Darlene’s teacher claims that Darlene’s behavior problems are a result of the lack of a mother’s attention. Roseanne justly counters this accusation with the fact that she cannot spent her free time with her daughter because she is a working mother of three and has no free time. Dan and Roseanne’s martial problems stem from them both having busy schedules and conflicting ideas about the division of household work.
Key to Roseanne’s commentary on working class society is the dual expectations of a working mother. Roseanne runs the house and works in a factory. She is expected to both provide an income for the family as well as keep everyone at home organized and happy, a point she often makes to her husband who does not have this double standard. She dreams with her co-female workers about a life and possessions they are likely never to have. This problem was and still is face by many women in similar positions. Working class women are expected to contribute financial while still finding the time to run a perfect household. This is not an easy or attractive balance to find yet despite these struggles Roseanne still comes off as an appealing character. Her appearance, personality and lifestyle are what make her relatable, honest and someone to rally behind.
The episode of Roseanne is in many ways reminiscent of the 1950s working class television sitcom, Mama. The specific episode that is comparable to Roseanne is “Mama Has a Bad Day.” In the episode of Mama, Marta struggles because of all of the problems she faces during the day, many of which revolving around the family’s financial insecurity, without seeming to have support or appreciation from the rest of her family. Roseanne in the very beginning of the episode makes reference to her family’s need for food when she tells her daughter to have the school “drive” some food to their home in response to learning about the food drive. In addition to the canned food, the lack of name brand cereal shows that the family cannot enjoy whatever food they desire. Aside from the food, the condition of the family’s belonging also emphasizes the working class status of the family. Becky’s backpack falls apart and creates yet another problem for Roseanne which is made worse by the sink not being able to drain. Even though Roseanne was able to replace the bag at the end of the episode, she makes reference to the need to save money by saying that Becky will have to use the bag until she’s 30 years old.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to the simple fact that their belongings are literally falling apart, the family’s employment situation alludes to their working class status. Dan, the husband, during the episode has to look for work and was unable to find work that day. This presents a problem because Roseanne was forced to take off work and sacrifice extra pay in order to visit Darlene’s teacher at school. This presents a stark contrast between Roseanne as a working class sitcom and other shows such as Father Knows Best or Leave it to Beaver, where the mother does not have to work at all, but is allowed to enjoy a luxurious life and does not have to do anything. Roseanne is the exact opposite because she has to do everything.
The show also points out Roseanne’s status as working class through the dialogue at the factory where she works. When her sister began to talk about a seminar she attended, Roseanne cynically and dismissively asks if the seminar was on how to be a millionaire. Roseanne’s dismissal of the entire idea shows that her situation needs more than just a better attitude in order to get better.
Finally, Roseanne is turned on by the dream her husband shares about their retirement. Most of the dream is focused on being able to relax on the Mediterranean without having to do any work. The idea of having a better life is very appealing to both Roseanne and Dan, which causes them both to dream about it at the end of the episode.
“Roseanne” was not only one of the most watched sitcoms of the 1980s, but it was also one of the time’s most influential series; even watching it today, you can see the beginnings of the modern sitcom, negotiating the ideals of femininity, masculinity, and traditional roles within the American family. In its pilot episode, “Roseanne” also features interesting representations of class that would go on to classify both the ABC comedy and other series airing at the same time.
ReplyDelete“Roseanne” ’s depiction of the Conners’ as a working-class family drives much of the plot in the series’ first episode. Even early on, throwaway jokes establish this intention—when one of the Conner daughters collects cans for a food drive, Roseanne quips, “well tell them to drive some of that food over here.”
Throughout the episode, Roseanne is forced to juggle her blue-collar career working in a plastics factory and her role as a mother and wife. At the factory, Roseanne’s sister accentuates class differences by referencing the seminar she attended in order to “use your minds potential to get anything you want.” This presents the idea that these factory workers have room for improvement; they shouldn’t be forced to accept their lives or careers but rather strive to move upward. One worker even laments, “I’d love to change my life.” When Roseanne dismisses the seminar as merely “a way to become a millionaire,” she asserts that this need for improvement is class-driven.
Later in the episode, Roseanne visits her daughter’s teacher. It’s a meeting that was difficult for Roseanne to attend; she had to sacrifice an hour of pay to be there. However, when she’s late to the meeting, the teacher almost requires that Roseanne reschedule. The teacher’s character—a leisurely, squash-playing blonde—is juxtaposed to Roseanne’s—a factory-working mother trying to please her family, her boss, and her husband. The teacher then presses Roseanne further, asking if her and her daughter spend any “quality time” together. But as a working mother of three, Roseanne laughs at the teacher’s assertion. This even further diverges the two characters, one with ample free time and the other with too much to do.
In the episode’s closing moments, Roseanne’s daughter cuts her finger and Roseanne and her husband are forced to assume yet another role: doctor. Within the course of one twenty-minute episode, Roseanne has truly epitomized “working-class.” Juxtaposed with her daughter’s teacher and highlighted by her coworkers at the factory, “Roseanne” is as much a comment on class as it is family or gender roles.
“Roseanne” focuses on a single white middle-class family living a “typical” life. In order to contextualize the class representations of this program to ideas we have discussed in class so far, I think it would be interesting to compare “Roseanne” to an older sitcom we’ve studied as a class.
ReplyDeleteOne show we’ve seen in screening that comes to mind is “Mama” - another show representing a family struggling to make ends meet, where the driving character of the show is also the matriarch. While “Mama” depicts a specific, immigrant family attempting to integrate into the cultural melting pot, “Roseanne” depicts the typical, homogenous middle-class family. Mama and Roseanne both struggle with demands to complete a series of household demands, dealing with unruly children and unhelpful husbands. “Roseanne”, however is more anti-consumerist and feminized than “Mama” with its class depictions, specifically its representation of the matriarchal figure within the nuclear family unit.
“Mama” follows a family with depression era values of a tight-knit family, frugal personal economics, and the importance of the mother figure. These values seem positive, but underlying these messages is a hyper-consumerist ideology. Family moments coincide with sponsor product placement, frugal economics give way to plot developments which justify spending money on new consumer products in order to improve life within the home, and while Mama has autonomy within her home, her autonomy exists within a cage - she does not leave her house.
“Roseanne” seems more pessimistic from the outlook. The family unit constantly argues, their home is in a constant state of disrepair, and each family member demonstrates a propensity for social maladjustment outside the home. Moreover, unlike Mama, who despite her complaints about her family ultimately defers to their every desire, Roseanne actively mocks her children, challenges her husband’s authority, and notes her position as central actor of the household. Roseanne also mocks the ideology of consumerism and its promise of social mobility when her sister presents her with notes from a seminar on “visualizing a better future”. Roseanne’s explicit critiques of consumerism and the failure of the masculinized family unit demonstrate an astute recognition of the failure of consumer ideology.
Nevertheless, Roseanne still conforms to traditional gender roles designated to the middle class family unit. She still acts as the mother, making each meal, acquiescing to her husband’s wishes, and despite her employed empowerment, she is the one who sacrifices work to finish tasks at home. “Roseanne” therefore depicts a middle class disaffected and confused by the promises of consumer culture, but unsure of how to proceed, ultimately embracing their roles and the inherent failed promises within in order to implode the structures.
Roseanne is a sitcom about a working class family that is struggling to get by. The show lasted for 9 seasons on ABC, and there are many reasons why.
ReplyDeleteRoseanne Conner, the mother of the house, works at a factory while father Dan Conner stays at home. This was something that wasn’t represented very often in shows before and set it apart from many other sitcoms on television. Many shows on television showed middle class or working class families in a positive, happy atmosphere. The gang would have problems that any normal family would have, but nothing very serious or couldn’t be fixed in a thirty-minute or hour-long show. Roseanne, however, gave a more accurate look at the problems that a working-class house could run into and the effects it had on the family. For example, in the pilot we see how the lack of income takes a toll on the parent’s relationship. Roseanne and Don get into fights about work around the house and who does more work for the family. At the end of the day, they realize that the two are just doing their best for the family and move-on like many couples in real-life do. Portraying a relationship that isn’t perfect, but realistic and loving is most likely why Roseanne and Don are considered one of the best TV couples of all time.
With Roseanne being the only real worker in a house of 5, money was often tight. This is why when daughter Rebecca asks to gather food for the school’s can drive, Roseanne jokes that the school should bring the food here. Later in the scene, Roseanne also mentions that the sink is clogged again and that Dan needs to fix it. Dan responds by saying that he will plunge it today to get rid of the clog, but Roseanne wants him to actually fix it. It seems that Dan may want to plunge it instead of fixing it in order to save money. Later in the show, we also find out that Rebecca’s new backpack had ripped and that she needed a new one. When she saw that the color of the newly exchanged backpack was different she got upset. Roseanne adds that she will have to deal with it and use it until she’s thirty. Class differences can also be seen in the pilot episode when Roseanne finds out that she has to meet with Darlene’s teacher. Upon her arrival the teacher says that the meeting needs to be rescheduled. Roseanne, who had to fight just to get the time off without pay, explains that she needs to have the meeting now. Her time isn’t as flexible as the teacher’s and she needs to work as many hours as she can get.
The Roseanne brought us a revolutionary look at working-class life, and more specifically, the experiences of working-class women. I am not sure but as for my perspective of this show, the depiction of the main character might be an early feminist influence. First of all, Roseanne is not like any other traditional Mama or wife on the screen. She was funny, powerful, respected by her family and real in ways that most TV shows are not.
ReplyDeleteShe talked loudly and behaved relatively rough- she was even not soft and considerate towards her child and husband. In the plot, she always yelled to her husband and kids; she brought her daughter a blue backpack instead of her favorite pink; she bargained with the boss to leave early and she seemed unpunctual and disrespected to her daughter's history teacher. However, everything came with a reason. She worked 8 hours in a plastic factory to fully support her family, with an unemployed, reluctant husband who even did not want to do the simplest work-fix the sink. She has three noisy little children and because of her daughter's behavior in class, she had to ask to leave early with a deducted salary to meet her teacher. Unlike most of the parent would just directly reprimanded their children after hearing from what the teacher said, she did not just blame Darlene but asked for the reason why she did it. She asked Dan to collect every coupon on the newspaper and brought the blue backpack because it was cheeper, she planned to save every penny for her family and she comforted her daughter during the first aid in a smart way.
Roseanne played as a problem-solver and the backbone of the family. She might not be as attractive as other female characters in physical appearance, she was not an gentle and considerable odd-school mom, however, we have to admit that she was charming in her way. She was a responsible mom who would give up the salary to meet the teacher and she was a lovely wife who would support her husband's sweet retirement dream. She was the representation of the independent woman who only depended on her own hard work to make a living along with the society's chancing expectation towards working class female character, and after all, she was "real".
The family dealt with their issues in a way that was often painful to watch– with yelling and high pitched emotion. It was painful because it had resonance beyond its role as a sitcom. The show focused on realism-the working class Americans who were struggling and pitched it a funny way. I love the scene when Roseanne was around the noisy kids and she joked:" That's why animal eats their young." Life sometimes miserable and make jokes with you, but like Roseanne, you can joke back.
Watching Roseanne, I couldn’t help but think of Home Improvement which came only three years later, also on ABC. Although in separate decades, from watching this episode it was apparent how influential Roseanne was on the sitcom format and how it spawned an audience that could identify with the everyday American family, as seen with Home Improvement as well. It is this representation of class and the struggle to make ends meet that gave Roseanne in its pilot episode the depth and character that ABC held onto for many popular sitcoms to come.
ReplyDeleteIt is exactly this representation of class and the notion of a typical working class family that is the focus of this pilot episode. Whether its a lack of funds, or a lack of time due to trying to obtain those funds, the majority of the episode spends time delving into the Conners’ socio-economic status. From the onset of the episode, after Roseanne banters with her husband, Dan, played by John Goodman, about toast and coffee, the family’s economic status becomes the crux of the jokes. When their daughter, Darlene, picks a can off of their kitchen shelf for a food drive, Roseanne responds with telling Darlene to, “drive the food on over here.” Out of context these quick jokes would surely lose their significance but Roseanne furthers this portrait of the working class family by centering the action around Roseanne’s job at the plastic factory, and her’s, as well as her coworkers’, desire to live a more affluent life. Between this and the conversation Roseanne has with George Clooney about taking time off, we are inundated with the image and characteristics of a working class family.
While all of this is simply a portrait of what a working class family may go through, the significance of Roseanne’s representation of the working class shines through the moments when the economics are forgotten and what remains is a family that is as dynamic, funny, and surely entertaining as any other. At the beginning of the scene between Roseanne and Darlene’s history teacher, we are lead to believe that Darlene’s misbehavior is the result of her home life and possibly the family’s socio-economic status but as the conversation unfolds, Roseanne retorts the pretentious and teacher, putting the irrational behavior on her thinking that Darlene has deeper issues. And, at the end of the episode, Roseanne and Dan find time between their argument about making ends meet and fixing the house to heal their daughters cut. So more than a basic illustration of what it means to be working class, Roseanne represents the working class in a way that shows more than just economic standing.
Well since everyone else is writing about Roseanne I'll go to the much cooler show "COPS".
ReplyDeleteThe primary purpose of television, and most of the entertainment industry, is to provide enjoyment and escapism for the average person. How does one then negotiate that escapism when dealing with class issues? For shows like "Roseanne", whose protagonists are struggling working class people, it provides a relate-able story to audiences while at the same time still working in the confines of a family sitcom (episodic stories that usually end happily). Other shows like "Dynasty" allow a sneak peak into the lavish world of the rich. "Cops" goes in the opposite direction, portraying the most poverty stricken areas of the country, but instead of providing sympathetic characters like the other two shows, this is entertainment through schadenfreude. Most Americans, being above this level of income, can feel superior not just to criminals, but to the lower class lifestyles they inhabit. In the pilot episode we never see cops barging into a middle class home, or chasing down criminals in a nice area. Of course, a lot of this is simple statistics, poor areas are naturally going to have more crime (excluding white collar crime, which admittedly would make less entertaining reality tv). What is interesting about COPS is it's more subtle uses of race and gender in the guise of class. For instance, we see one cop stop two white men in a black neighborhood over trying to buy drugs, and reprimands them for being in the wrong place to to their race, that it's dangerous for them to be there. While we see poor whites and blacks, there is still a race division that is emphasized. Meanwhile, we have a female police officer who seems to exclusively deal with prostitutes. Even the other female officer on profile must mention how she's a caring mother in contrast to her tough persona. And then there's the wife of the main cop, whose constant nagging towards him forces the audience to be on his side. Women on the show must be portrayed within the sphere of the home. Beyond race and gender, the lower class is specifically assigned to the drug war. As the 80's went into full swing, the war on drugs went into full effect, fully focused on the lower class drug dealings. The narrative mainstream media was that this was a lower class problem, disregarding the fact that much of the drug trade was run by upper class organizations.
The pilot episode of COPS is startling in its dealings with class, though perhaps it shouldn’t be, considering that it is a product of reality.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, it must be noted that the majority of busts on the show take place in neighborhood of low economic class. The emphasis on inner-cities and ghettos is a staple of the war on drugs (a theme throughout the episode), coupling with its emphasis on crack. One can’t help but wonder: Why these already disadvantaged citizens are the target of this police force’s “war”? Is the drug use by lower classes inherently more threatening than the countless high schoolers smoking pot out their windows, or the investment bankers thriving on powder cocaine? Well, COPS certainly seems to think so, though it never clarifies why, nor provides much context as to why this war on drugs is necessary, how effective its implementation has been, etc.
At one point an officer, in reference to his role in drug-prohibition enforcement “It’s all a game out here, that’s all it is,” adding that sometimes he wins, while sometimes the bad guys win. This perspective illustrates something very plain to the viewers: The officer is of a higher economic class than the majority of people he deals with. The show at several points takes the audience into the homes of law enforcement officers, and they clearly belong to the middle class. It’s a game to this officer because it’s his job, but to the desperate folks that have actually resorted to selling and using narcotics, this is certainly no game. COPS shows no sympathy to the individuals on the other side of the arrest. Granted interviewing a handcuffed person might not be a great idea, but there aren’t even any eye-witness accounts. The show, as its title promises, focuses solely on the cops. And, not surprisingly, the cops are always the good guys.
This is also an actual quote from the episode: “I’m the only white face in this area, besides the other cops. You don’t belong here, OK?. It has nothing to do with white or black, it has to do with crimes against persons.” This is in the context of the officer promising to let them off with a slap on the wrist despite just having caught them in a drug deal. It’s fascinating that the officer cuts these kids so much slack, and it seems to be because they’re white and (apparently) suburban.
Though the bias in favor of upper-class citizens is, at least in this officer’s case, obvious, the reasons for this aren’t delved into in the slightest on COPS. Instead it’s a show about COPS cracking down on the “bad guys,” giving awkward glimpses into their personal lives, and reinforcing the war on drugs doctrine. Lower economic classes are represented negatively, likening rundown neighborhoods to war zones, and the working-class officers are the only ones who can fix these problems.
COPS representation of class is troubling, to say the least, though the concept it represents, in regard to class warfare, is far more frightening.
Class in “LA Law” is presented as a largely racial issue in the opening two episode pilot of the series. All but one member of the staff at McKenzie, Brackman, Chaney and Kuzak is black in the opening episodes and the only other cast member whose character circulates in the same circles as the wealthy white characters is Victor Sifuentes. The other characters of color are shown to be in poorer straits and of lower class than the lawyers who represent them, for whatever reasons that they chose to do so.
ReplyDeleteKuzak, Harry Hamlin’s character, is forced to defend a repugnant, spoiled, rich kid who rapes and beats a black woman. His moral dilemma about defending the man is covered by his insistence that he must “trust the system” because he is not only representing his client but the legal system itself. The young plaintiff is black, of lower income, and was using marijuana to deal with her nausea caused by chemotherapy. Despite what Kuzak, and his colleagues, saw as the world’s most sympathetic client, her skin color and drug use are used by Kuzak's co-counsel to make the young woman look unreliable on the stand. When she refused to testify, because she refused to spend the last six months of her life in a courtroom, Kuzak steps in an alerts the DA’s office of his client’s breach of probation and orchestrates the rapists incarceration.
Similarly, Ann Kelsey, played by Jill Eikenberry, is involved with a case with a black woman with cancer at the center. However, instead of being part of defense counsel in opposition, Kelsey is representing the woman’s claim against an insurance company. However, as is discussed after the insurance company settles for a figure approximately 1467 times the amount the insurance company has withheld from the client initially, Kelsey never bothered to meet the client. She was too wrapped up in winning the case for the sake of winning as opposed to for the sake of her client. This puts her in direct opposition to Kuzak’s character whose care for the woman who was attacked by his client is the reason behind his part in the man’s arrest. This plays on the question raised in the show about class as an issue men and women face and how women in the field of law practising at the level that the show portrays behave as opposed to their male counterparts who, comparatively, didn’t have as many hurdles to reach their positions.
The other way race is addressed in the pilot is through the lens of Victor Sifuentes and Andrew Taylor. Andrew Taylor, a black law clerk working a summer internship with the firm, is shown to be forced to face that his career isn’t going anywhere with McKenzie, Brackman, Chaney and Kuzak when Kuzak, while looking for a criminal lawyer. Sifuentes is recommended to Kuzak who, upon seeing his performance in the courtroom, offers him a job immediately. Sifuentes directly states that he grew up thinking of lawyers, and it’s also implied that he’s speaking about white rich men, as the enemy and that eating lunch while considering the job offer felt like selling out. However, he agrees to take the job after the partners agree to let him do pro bono work and they play nice for a while. When Taylor quits in the third episode, he comments about how Sifuentes’ arrival didn’t make him feel like he was being traded “black for brown” but that the lawyer’s arrival made him face the fact that his career was essentially being stonewalled at the firm where no one allowed him to do any meaningful jobs or show initiative, which his white boss shortly thereafter blames him for. As he tells Sifuentes that he holds no ill will towards him, Taylor makes some comments about being lured in by promises of pro bono work before being cut off by the same man who blamed his lack of initiative for his stalled career earlier in the episode.
Delete“L.A. Law” interacts with race in a way that addressed not only the lack of representation and inclusion of people of color in high powered industries, through Taylor’s comment about being token people of color, and the way that race tends to influence class or perceived class. Victor, and the way he interacts with clients, highlights the societal boundaries that greatly influence class. The way the white characters differ in their opinions of pro bono work, their willingness to blame Taylor’s lack of incentive for his lack of upward mobility in the firm, etc are all indicators of the opposing side of the dichotomy of racial portrayal in “L.A. Law.” Through the men, women, and people of color in the show, “L.A. Law” highlights the way in which class is affected by race and sex.
Roseanne is a showcase of a working class, slightly financially unstable family that breaks the stereotypes often associated with them.
ReplyDeleteThe family lives in a nice house and seems to get along alright, but the husband does not have steady work so they are probably not in a stable financial situation. The show is not completely outright to put their financial troubles in the forefront, but rather drops hints at it. For example Roseanne tells her husband to keep the coupons, or makes the joke that their family is the one needing food from the food drive. There is also the ever present issues with the household, like the broken sink or the daughter’s broken backpack that could accumulate cost and stress for the parents. Although these issues are obviously present, it does not seem to weigh on the family tremendously. Any time such a burden is brought up Roseanne makes a joke of it instead of complaining or being overcome by stress, like the food drive or joking “there goes the Porsche” when her boss docks her pay.
The fact that these issues do not seem to bother her very much reveals what the family’s priorities are. All of Roseanne’s coworkers are obsessed with material wealth and upward mobility. Her sister talks about a seminar she went to on how to “better yourself”, leaving her and the rest of the workers to imagine what they really want in life. As opposed to everyone else’s dreams of cars and money, Roseanne just wants a clean house and a nice family. She is content with her life as it is, striving for day to day goals rather than giant, probably unattainable ones. Their family does not need expensive cars or vacations, they just need each other, and the demolition derby.
The show breaks the conception of the American Dream which has been construed to mean becoming incredibly rich. The American Dream is about working hard and making a decent living with a home and family, but in the rise to this everyone forgot to stop and appreciate everything that they had, instead they keep trying to claw up to the top. Roseanne shows a family that may not have a lot of money, but they are happy, and love each other. This is what the American Dream was meant to be.
L.A. Law breaks away from the vanilla prime-time lawyer series that always featured white male solo practitioners doing criminal defense work for innocent clients, and instead portrayed a lively firm with significant degree of diversity. One thing is clear in this pilot episode and it is that race and gender play a role in class, although this is hardly a surprise seeing as it is set in a patriarchal society.
ReplyDeleteOne woman is criticized for doing a probono case for a woman being screwed by the system which, in fact, she is also feeling as a woman who brings hundreds of thousands of dollars to the firm and gets 50k in return. The women in this show seem to face more hurdles than men.
I think racial issues are underwritten so far, but the show has potential to make some statements on current (for the time) issues.
Also, inherently, rich people can afford better lawyers and pay more money to be freed of consequences for their actions, something which a law series can easily confront. The question of obedience, law, the "system," all tie into class, race, and gender issues. These topics are brought to light by passionate monologues from the women in this episode.
Roseanne is a working-class sitcom about a family who are trying to make ends meet. In the pilot, we can see Roseanne’s and her husband, Dan’s, struggle to take care of their three kids while trying to remain financially afloat. On top of doing everything for her family at home, Roseanne also works full-time in a plastics factory. When she needs to take an hour off of work to go see her child’s teacher her pay has to be docked for her to leave. She responds to her boss “there goes the Porsche”. Throughout the episode, humor is used to lift the burden of financial instability the Conner’s face. When her oldest daughter tells her mother that she is going to take cans for the food drive at school, Roseanne jokes that they are the ones who need the food, indicating that they are far from rich. When her oldest daughter also comes in the kitchen complaining about her new backpack being broken, probably due to the poor quality of a cheaper backpack, Roseanne must go exchange it for one that isn’t broken. Conflict comes between Roseanne and Dan when she mentions that the kitchen sink is broken and has been broken for weeks.
ReplyDeleteThe family also must deal with the fact that Dan doesn’t always have steady income. He works in construction and, in this episode, is banking on landing a construction job, only to have that hope fall through.
While a lot of the jokes poke fun at Roseanne and her husband’s financial situation there are many moments where the dream of upward mobility is presented. Dan dreams about retiring with Roseanne so they can float in the sea until their end of days. Another moment is when one of her coworkers tells her about a seminar she attended that helps followers achieve their wants and needs, this can easily be applied to having more money to buy things. While her friends dream of these possibilities it’s interesting to see that Roseanne wouldn’t wish for these things. Or, rather, she knows that it takes hard work to achieve those life goals. She envisioned non-material things such as a clean house; things that with some help from her family could easily be achieved.
When her youngest daughter cuts her finger, the oldest daughter says that they need to take her to the hospital. In a comedic moment, Roseanne tells her to be quiet but this alludes to their financial troubles. While there is no mention of insurance or health care, simply by fixing the cut themselves we can see that this family is very savvy at finding ways to save themselves money.
Roseann is a working class comedy about the titular character and her family. In the beginning of the first act, it seems that they are pretty well off; they have coffee and toast every morning and have never had to go without food. They live in a decently furnished house and they can afford the neccessities for their children and themselves.
ReplyDeleteThey have more than enough in terms of food, that it is possible for Becky to take cans in order to donate it to the homeless/needy for their can food drive. Even though Dan, the husband, tells Becky to only take two, they could have given more if they wanted to out of the goodness of their heart. They wouldn’t have to go without in order to provide for other people.
In regards to the food that Roseanne’s family is eating in the breakfast scene and even later is the fact that it is not the healthiest things to be feeding a family. A lot of it is carbs and stuff that comes from cans. These things are the hallmarks of middle class life. There is an abundance of food but it is not fresh and its fattening.
In terms of class they are represented as the norm. The teachers and the wealthier people are depicted as uncaring caricatures of people, they don’t understand the problems of the working class. Roseanne’s boss won’t let her go an hour early and they decide half an hour but without pay. The teacher when Roseanne finally shows up insists that she needs to leave, even though she had already been waiting for half an hour so she can stay another five minutes. It makes the point of who’s time is more valuable that of the lady who makes $8/hr or that of the lady who makes much more and can afford nice things.
Furthermore, to add class distinctions into the scene the teacher Instead of going to play tennis like most normal people would after school, the teacher is going to go play squash. The teacher being from a wealthier background makes the assumption that there must be going on in Roseanne’s house for her daughter to be barking in class. She asserts that since Roseanne is not spending enough time with her daughter that is the cause for her actions; rather than trying to fix her teaching methods or find out what is wrong with Darlene.
“Roseanne” follows the everyday lives and problems of a white, working-class family while focusing on the titular character, Roseanne, as she attempts to make ends meet as she deals with her slacker husband and three children. The show was and is still relatable to many because of its strong representation of the working class and its ability to find humor in Roseanne’s struggles.
ReplyDeleteIn the pilot episode, it is firmly established that Roseanne’s family is of a lower social class and is struggling to get by. Roseanne’s daughter Darlene gets in trouble at school for barking in class, prompting the teacher to request a meeting with Roseanne. It is here that the show not only shows its representation of the working class, but also its representation of the hardships of working mothers. As a result of her husband Dan’s laziness and insisting that he’s busy that day trying to get work, Roseanne is forced to ask her boss if she can leave work early to go meet with Darlene’s teacher. Forfeiting her pay during her absence at a time when her family really needs the money, Roseanne goes to the parent-teacher meeting where she is essentially lectured on her parenting skills. The show’s humor shines through in instances like these through Roseanne’s sarcasm and snarky remarks. This exemplifies the show’s ability to maintain its comedic nature while simultaneously focusing exclusively on this working-class mother’s struggles.
“Roseanne” also displays its representation of the working-class family through the family’s constant struggle to avoid spending money. The storyline of the broken sink allows for the show to explore a number of important things. First, it emphasizes that this family is poor and that their house is not great. Secondly, it causes a fight between Dan and Roseanne, which in turn displays Dan’s incompetence and laziness. Roseanne had to keep reminding him to fix it. Lastly, the broken sink allows the show to demonstrate the financial troubles of a working-class family and coping methods that have to be used when money is tight. Instead of hiring a plumber to fix it, Dan insists that he can fix it with the cheaper method of using a plunger. There are other instances in the episode where this family’s money problems come to light, such as when their daughter cuts her finger badly and instead of taking her to the hospital like they probably should have, Dan and Roseanne take care of it themselves, showing both their frugality and their ability to work together as a team.
"Cops" although it provides a unique insight into the lives of the honorable officers protecting our society, it also exhibits terrorizing footage that portrays those living below the poverty line in a very negative light. The show follows police officers through their daily lives, taking the most riveting footage and editing into a documentary style television show. The show focuses on encounters that portray the criminals as bad people.
ReplyDeleteIn cops we focus mostly on the lowest class in our society, the criminals. In our society, they are thought of and treated like the scum of the earth. The portrayal of criminals on television thus feeds into the mistreatment of criminals in our society. Most of the people portrayed as menaces to society on the television show are struggling with numerous mental health issues, including substance abuse. These people should be receiving the help they need, not being exploited on television.
The show contributes between the divide between classes in our society. We live in a time when 1% percent of the population controls almost all of the wealth in our country. Perhaps the negative portrayal of the lower classes on television with shows like “Cops” has contributed to this divide. By showing this television program on national television, you have people sitting on their couch in the suburbs forming negative opinions about “urban” people.
The negative portrayal of the lower class on television also reinforces negative stereotypes. The show ventures into the ghetto all over the country to find mostly minority criminals. This projects onto the entire country that the minorities struggling with poverty in the ghettos are the biggest fear to our safety. It causes unnecessary fear and stress that should not exist in the first place.