I'm a huge fan of 30 Rock, even though its no longer on the air, I still
watch it borderline religiously. Throughout repeating the seasons, I've
been able to notice and follow the subtle narrative this show portrays.
In the first seasons of the show they poke fun at conservatives, they
portray them as old fashioned and stupid. I remember in the one episode,
Tina Fey's character Liz encouraging their actors to say they are
voting for Obama while being interviewed. As we look back in hindsight
of the show we can follow in the beginning they made subtle
encouragements in favor of Obama's campaign. Statements like "Just
because I believe in gay marriage, and I think everyone should drive
electric cars, doesn't mean I hate America." represent more left wing.
There is a constant clash of the political parties, but for the most
part throughout the first 5 seasons, the show demonstrates favoritism to
the Obama Administration. Its not until season 7, the final season and
the year of Obama's reelection that the show finally takes a stab at the
Liberal Party. In the clip below you see Liz, who usually speaks with
such authority on why we should support Obama, stumbling over her words.
All while her friend jack, who is conservative to a fault, is seen
making an example of her. What do you think? Could sitcoms push certain
ideals without us noticing?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJ9O8D3QCNo
(Sorry apparently you have to follow the link, embedding was disabled)
So funny I used this clip in class! I swear I hadn't seen this yet. Great example.
ReplyDeleteIn a way it is up to the people that make the shows. People will make their own opinions anyway. In a sense one cannot make a film or show without being political. If a tv show shows gay people and everyone in the show finds nothing wrong, it shows that their is nothing wrong with gay people, whether or not that was the makers of the show intention. So people are free to make shows with political underlinings but up to the people to watch.
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