In White's article Ideological Analysis and Television she looks at television from a standpoint that many of us do not even know exists. As she reveals, it is true that when we sit down to watch a television program, we sit with the notion that we are going to be entertained. What plays for us isn't something we critically analyse, but just accept as "the way things are" in that particular situation. As White discusses, "a variety of perspectives and topics [are] expressed in [a] show but [are] ultimately contained by dominant conventions and norms" (White, 192).
This quotation reels me into an old favorite I think most of us grew up racing home from school to watch - Full House. One episode in particular comes to mind in where DJ Tanner goes to a school dance. She likes a young man, who in an effort to try to be cool brings beer to be enjoyed by all of his buddies at the dance. DJ witnesses this, and having a strong moral conscience, tries to convince the boys that it is wrong (of course) to drink beer at a junior high dance. After Uncle Jesse (sporting that mullet we all crave) witnesses these happenings the boys scram and leave DJ as the accused. Now, even though DJ tells the truth it is hard for Uncle Jesse to believe that she wasn't drinking with the rest of her friends.
By the end of the episode, as predictable as Uncle Jesse's great hair, we all learn a very important family lesson that inevitably (when watched with parents) was discussed long after the show's end. We learn that in Full House's "traditional, middle-class, (almost) nuclear family" drinking is wrong for a young adolescent to do (White, 184). We see that honesty always rewards those who practice it, and we see how in the end, family is most important when Uncle Jesse apologizes to DJ for not believing in her.
Now although the drinking example may not prove this entirely, I think the life lessons that Full House imposed on us as young people weren't always perfect solutions for everyone. Looking back they are quite conservative, racially white, middle class solutions. As a child I looked to those solutions for how I would solve my own problems (as trivial as they seem now), however were they always what was "best"? I'm sure my parents would whole-heartedly agree, but then again as I get older, more worldly and more independent, I'd like to think that I stray further from the standardization both they and Full House like to preach.
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Ah, Full House. One of my personal favorite television shows as a child. I too learned many life lessons from the (predictable and obvious) trials and tribulations of the Tanner Family. As a child and even now, I watch the show and very uncritically take in all the lessons and morals. It really does feel like it is "just the way things are". I definitely agree that the show is filled with discourse and norms that the average person has been brought up to accept. However, I do think that shows like this do not present solutions to problems that are entirely negative. They are usually quite simple and obviously the "right thing" to do, and not necessarily "radically white" or overly conservative. We can over-analyse as much as we want, but when it comes down to it, DJ really did do the right thing. And I don't think I would object to my future children learning from her.
Hmpf, Full House. Where is the alcoholic step-father and the over-bearing mother? Why were all of life lessons so neatly packaged? If this show is representative of the average persons norms and ideals, then let me tell you how grateful I am that my kids aren't growing up learning those kinds of life lessons. Bring on the Simpsons!
Mimi White's idea of the "ideological problematic" recognizes that there is no one dominant ideology that permeates all programs on television. Within the context of the "ideological problematic" then, Full House does not necessarily represent a dominant view, but it is one strand in a complex ideological web. That you were so drawn to the values promoted in the show probably reflects that you identified with the text and shared the values presented to you; no doubt you were the ideal demographic audience for the program.
I won’t say that I didn’t watch the show, or that I didn’t find comfort in the happy endings of the lessons learned. But, I do think that it’s scary to attach normalizing judgments on morality that come from a writer somewhere in Hollywood. I don’t know what the answer is when prescribing authority for morality. However, I have to say that I too hope my kids will learn from ME to ‘do the right thing’.
{insert moral dilemma, teenage angst, and a happy resolution here}
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