My Life Be Like…

What we see on television today is no where near the same as what was shown on the tube fifty years ago. Just compare “Leave it to Beaver” to some of the raunchier shows that are on television today like “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Desperate Housewives” where sex is a prominent theme. Which do you like better? The conservative shows of the fifties that were made to fit the standards of least objectionable programming or the shows on television that seem to have no boundaries regarding what they show us?

Julia says: 

I believe that television today is far preferable to that of the 1950s.  Today real issues are shown on tv.  There are entire shows dedicated to gay people, Will and Grace, and sexually promiscuous women, Sex and the City, and this is much more realistic than the suburban lives of the Nelsons or Cleavers.  By showing diverse content on television more people are able to relate and feel as if they are a “normal” and accepted part of society. - Julia More

I agree one hundred percent with what Julia has said here. Television today tells it like it is. There are hundreds of shows on television many of which deal with real issues that we face in life each and everyday. Yes, there are some things on television that are not suitable for everyone to watch, like bloody war movies like “Saving Private Ryan” (which I personally love) and shows with graphic sexual content like “Sex and the City” as Julia said, but that is why there are television ratings and new programs which prevent children from watching things that are not suitable for them to see. These new shows are the bridges that connect television and reality together. By portraying real issues and conflicts, these shows are closer to accurately portraying the way that people live at home.

 I mean, just look at the different channels that are on the television today and the shows that are broadcasted on them. There is Telemundo, a spanish speaking station, that caters to the Latino population in America. Fifty years ago, they weren’t any latinos on the television, but now there are channels devoted to what they like to watch on T.V. There are also shows with primarily African American casts, like “Everybody Hates Chris” and “Girlfriends” on UPN (or whatever its called now, CW11 I think), which would have never existed with least objectionable programing still around. Having these shows on television helps to minimize rascism in the real world, or atleast I think it does. People tend to believe what they see on television, and follow the examples of shows that they watch, so by making the television world more diverse, its helping to make the realworld more accepting.

Fifty years ago you would never have known that homosexuality existed, because it was never shown, infact it was never mentioned or even alluded to. Or even sex at all, I wouldn’t be suprised if people still thought that the stork dropped babies on doorsteps.  In present times, with shows like “Will and Grace” and “The L Word,” homosexuality is a key part which makes the plots of those shows, and I think that by having shows like this on television, it makes the world outside of the telelvision a little more accepting of people who are different from them.    

As I said before, I think that the programs shown in the 1950’s did not accurately portray the real American family. They showed no diversity in the world, which led to the heightened feelings of rascism during that time period. There was, however, one show that did accurately portray an American family, becuase the actors were actually a family, and that show was “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet,” staring none other than Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, along with their two teenage sons, Ricky and David. The conflicts on the show were to be expected, problems with the house and problems that the boys had at school with work and girls as well. I find this show very amusing becuase it shadowed the lives of the Nelsons in every way possible; every new person that came into the lives of one of the cast members would have a part written into the show for them

When the real David and Rick got married, to June Blair and Kristin Harmon respectively, their wives joined the cast of Ozzie and Harriet on television as well as in real life. - Tinky “Dakota” Weisblat from the article “U.S. Domestic Comedy”

Talk about an altered perception of reality! Could you imagine being on a television show with your entire family? I  couldn’t, i would think that I would confuse the plot of one show with what was actually going on at home. If the least objectionable programing had a negative effect upon the public becuase it created rascism etc, just think about what it would do to the actors actually living the lives they portrayed on television

Leave it to Beaver, Ozzie and Harriet, and The Andy Griffith Show are all examples of the typical American family; the nuclear family. There is a working father, a mother whose only job is to cook, clean, and take care of her family, and of course the two perfect children. Tie that all together, throw them into the suburbs in a colonial with two cars, and there you have it, the epitome of the American dream, right? While these T.V. shows are fun to watch and entertaining, they are FAR from accurately portrayting the American family in the fifties. “Least Objectionable Programing” prevented T.V. shows from showing the general public anything that was too bold or objectionable. While this was all fine and dandy at the time, it prevented the Shows from accurately portraying life like they do today. Think about it; have you ever seen a hispanic or black person on one of these shows? No. The only example is shown here

 Real life was not so white as it sas on television. Television, comments historian Ella Taylor, ‘increasingly ignored cultural diversity, adopting the motto ‘least objectionable programing’ which gave rise to those least objectionable families, the Cleavers, the Nelsons, and the Andersons.’ Such families were so completely white and Anglo-Saxon that even the Hispanic gardener in ‘Father Knows Best’ went by the name of Frank Smith - Stephanie Coontz from her book, The Way We Never Were 

 I think that these shows were ridiculous. Taking a Hispanic gardener, and making him seem as white as possible, by changing his name is crazy. Tricking the youth of America into thinking that everyone is the same race, white Anglo Saxon is insane. When we look back to the years when racism in America was at its height, during the fifties, and we question why racism was so prevalent, here is the answer to that question. People believe what they see on T.V. and follow the examples that they see. By using “least objectionable programming” to decide what was shown on the Television, it changed the general public’s perception of reality, making them think that real life should be exactly how it is shown on the tube, but it only ended up creating problems in the real world, proving the saying “don’t believe everything you see on T.V.”