Television

[WannaWitness]

May I be allowed to ask a question that's been burning through my mind over the period of the last... well... couple of days? I sincerely hope no one gets offended, as I don't wish to start any trouble; this is merely for satisfying my curiosity and to hear different perspectives on what I am about to present.

My question is:

What are your opinions on some of the fictional political conservative TV and movie characters? How do you feel about their basic portrayals, especially in comparison and contrast to the political liberals on some of the same programs? Do you feel them to be strong, good characters (in general), or do you think they're stereotypes? Archie Bunker ("All In The Family") and Alex P. Keaton ("Family Ties") come to mind as obvious examples, although there are undoubtedly others I can't think of right now.

I may give my thoughts later.

 

[MrJim]

I don't watch much tv and when I do it isn't dramas/sitcoms so I don't know what's actually out there anymore. Are there any decent representations?

 

[WannaWitness]

I don't watch much tv and when I do it isn't dramas/sitcoms so I don't know what's actually out there anymore. Are there any decent representations?

Well... there was a Disney film in 1968 entitled "The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band" which was about the Bowers, a large, musically talented family who played campaign music at political conventions. It took place during the Cleaveland/Harrison race in 1888. Much of the conflict was between the father Calvin Bower's Republican views clashing with his own father's (Grandpa Rensellaur Bower) Democratic views over making Dakota two separate states and other issues. It was actually based on the true story of the real life Bower Family, and actually one of my favorite movies because of the message of eventual harmony between the father and the son, despite their differences of political opinion).

I mentioned those other two programs (they're far from new, by any means) because they had always been known to touch on politics more than any other show I'm familiar with (as far as sitcoms and dramas are concerned), and I figured many here would know what I was talking about.

Hope this will be a little more helpful to you (and perhaps to others who may view the thread).

 

[sealacamp]

Well honestly I never considered that any character that I see in the movies or on television is an accurate portrayal of any real person. So I guess I can't answer your question very well, sorry.

Sealacamp

 

[religious&reasonable]

If a character on a Television show can be depicted simply by "liberal" or "conservative", it's either a bad show or poor characterization.

Maybe someone who fits the the bill would be Detective Stabler from Law & Order: SVU. He is portrayed as conservative and IMO may favorite character on the show (Except for Ice-T of course).

 

[WannaWitness]

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea for a thread on my part, now that I have given it a little bit of thought. At least in this section of the forum, anyway. To broaden the spectrum a bit, I'll rephrase the question to include the portrayal of politics on television/movies, in general, never mind the party (though the original question will still remain open for responses).

My thoughts on the whole issue is that it's only natural to use a little bit of stereotyping for the purpose of humor (not just in movies, but in books, comic strips, and so on), as long as it's good-natured, and not overblown and/or mean-spirited. The dumb blonde, the unpopular nerd, the backward hillbilly, and in the case of the politics, the bigoted conservative and the liberal free-spirit (and of course, the list goes on). Much of the time, they are meant to be taken with a grain of salt, with no offense intended. It's when one starts to take these things too seriously that it begins to get a little ridiculous.

 

[A New Dawn]

May I be allowed to ask a question that's been burning through my mind over the period of the last... well... couple of days? I sincerely hope no one gets offended, as I don't wish to start any trouble; this is merely for satisfying my curiosity and to hear different perspectives on what I am about to present.

My question is:

What are your opinions on some of the fictional political conservative TV and movie characters? How do you feel about their basic portrayals, especially in comparison and contrast to the political liberals on some of the same programs? Do you feel them to be strong, good characters (in general), or do you think they're stereotypes? Archie Bunker ("All In The Family") and Alex P. Keaton ("Family Ties") come to mind as obvious examples, although there are undoubtedly others I can't think of right now.

I may give my thoughts later.

I never watched Family Ties, but when I look back at All In The Family, it is apparent that Archie Bunker is nothing more than a caricature, as was Edith. The problem is that most of these shows are written by liberal who do not accurately portray anyone whose philosophy they disagree with. If Archie Bunker was supposed to be a conservative, you can see their bias by comparing how they portrayed Meathead. It's hard to find a show where there is no bias being portrayed. What they need is two writers, a liberal one to write the liberal characters, and a conservative one to write the conservative characters. Then you might see an accurate representation. Of course, when the goal of a show is comedy, and someone has to be the comic relief, I can pretty much bet which one it's going to be.

 

[BlackSabb]

I never watched Family Ties, but when I look back at All In The Family, it is apparent that Archie Bunker is nothing more than a caricature, as was Edith. The problem is that most of these shows are written by liberal who do not accurately portray anyone whose philosophy they disagree with. If Archie Bunker was supposed to be a conservative, you can see their bias by comparing how they portrayed Meathead. It's hard to find a show where there is no bias being portrayed. What they need is two writers, a liberal one to write the liberal characters, and a conservative one to write the conservative characters. Then you might see an accurate representation. Of course, when the goal of a show is comedy, and someone has to be the comic relief, I can pretty much bet which one it's going to be.

Aren't you taking all of this a bit seriously? Anyone watching a sitcom knows very well that it's all tongue in cheek, that's it not serious.

Take the show, "The Simpsons". It's not as simple as you think. Take Ned Flanders for eg. He's portrayed as a nerdy goody goody fundamentalist. But at other times, you see a real human side to him, sometimes even mischievous. Marge Simpson is mostly the obedient diligent wife. But sometimes she's carefree and reckless. Homer is mostly careless and reckless. But sometimes he's the moral and responsible one.

In "Family Ties", you did see other sides of Alex Keaton. He wasn't always the conservative square Republican.

You rarely see a show that is always one sided in stereotypes.

 

[A New Dawn]

Aren't you taking all of this a bit seriously? Anyone watching a sitcom knows very well that it's all tongue in cheek, that's it not serious.

Take the show, "The Simpsons". It's not as simple as you think. Take Ned Flanders for eg. He's portrayed as a nerdy goody goody fundamentalist. But at other times, you see a real human side to him, sometimes even mischievous. Marge Simpson is mostly the obedient diligent wife. But sometimes she's carefree and reckless. Homer is mostly careless and reckless. But sometimes he's the moral and responsible one.

In "Family Ties", you did see other sides of Alex Keaton. He wasn't always the conservative square Republican.

You rarely see a show that is always one sided in stereotypes.

Actually, I do take it seriously. It is one of the reasons I rarely watch TV anymore. I refuse to give my support to anyone or anything that so perverts goodness that way, just like I refuse to go see movies that further the liberal agenda (and the liberal agenda alone).

I've seen lots of shows, many of the most popular ones, in which the liberal characters are given a lot of room to expound their hate for what conservatives believe. Criminal Intent: SVU comes to mind where Olivia loudly speaks her mind regarding issues like abortion, homosexuality, transgenderism, and even just plain religious teachings being taught to kids, while nobody else says anything. Even her mildly conservative partner doesn't open his mouth, and anyone who believes differently are cast as the bad guys in the show. It is clear what message the media wants portrayed as good and which message they want portrayed as evil. It reminds me of a scripture verse, and is so true.

 

[informer]

Hollywood in general always tends to make the true Christian look as a dark figure, and the half-hearted Christian as the one in light. But when we look closely, we see that even the secular (worldly) are in the same light as the half-hearted Christians, whereas the true Christian is always alone, unwilling to modify righteousness to accommodate sin.

 

[Standing_Ultraviolet]

They tend to get bashed, I think. If people build up a character with explicit political leanings, generally they're either going to be a mouthpiece for the writer to project his or her own views, or they're going to be a strawman to beat up and knock down. There are exceptions, and some people can make a mouthpiece character well (I think a strawman, by its nature, is a terrible representation), but that's generally how it works. Since a majority of people in Hollywood lean more liberal, of course you end up with a lot of conservative strawmen.

 

[religious&reasonable]

They tend to get bashed, I think. If people build up a character with explicit political leanings, generally they're either going to be a mouthpiece for the writer to project his or her own views, or they're going to be a strawman to beat up and knock down. There are exceptions, and some people can make a mouthpiece character well (I think a strawman, by its nature, is a terrible representation), but that's generally how it works. Since a majority of people in Hollywood lean more liberal, of course you end up with a lot of conservative strawmen.

I've seen both. you've got the liberal/hippie/pacifist/activist who is generally a wimp/traitor who is the butt of the joke in many comodies and is the third person to die in every horror film.

then you've got the redneck, bible-thumping, conservative christian, anti-gay, over-zealous, self-righteous mouth foamers who are usually end up aiding the antagonist in some way through stupidity and lack of understanding

it's a two-way street.

 

[WannaWitness]

I've seen both. you've got the liberal/hippie/pacifist/activist who is generally a wimp/traitor who is the butt of the joke in many comodies and is the third person to die in every horror film.

then you've got the redneck, bible-thumping, conservative christian, anti-gay, over-zealous, self-righteous mouth foamers who are usually end up aiding the antagonist in some way through stupidity and lack of understanding

it's a two-way street.

That's pretty much what I see. But when it comes to comedy, everything is going to be stereotyped in some way, or another, and sometimes that's okay as long as it doesn't go overboard and cross the line into actually setting out to be offensive. I mean, there is a difference.

Just my opinion.

 

[Johnnz]

I don't think we should isolate TV, which is just one of the many media available to us - movies, literature, theatre, music, art.

John
NZ