One other very popular show, “The Honeymooners,” had a laugh track louder than most it seemed. Laughter as Ralph, oversized hard working put upon man, threatened his wife, fist raised, “to the moon Alice.” I hated the show. As a young child it made no sense. It was not funny.
When I was in freshman college English in 1976, I wrote a paper comparing Marlo Thomas in "That Girl" (I think that was the title - at any rate, she played an airhead) and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." Marlo would work herself into a problem, and her dad or her boyfriend had to rescue her. Mary would find herself in a jam and extricate herself. She didn't let her boss demean her. Yes, she'd do that bit of a whine - "Oh, Mister Grant!" - but she still controlled her own life.
I love this article. Growing up in the 80s and 90s, I never understood the cultural TV humor of 1950s, but my grandmother (silent generation) sure enjoyed it. Lucy was her favorite, as she seemed to challenge the status quo with humor.
How much of early media shaped cultural thinking? How much does now? Good questions for us all to ask and think about. Thanks for writing this.
This piece is perfect. I felt my blood pressure spike with every reference and when I watched each clip. I never realized how much these shows actually pissed me off as a young girl who chafed under the system even back in the 1960’s. As a kid, i was always confused about why it was funny that Lucy wanted to participate in the world. Great work, Professor M. And an excellent story at the Slam! yesterday.
Thanks for this (and your story at Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam! yesterday), Meredith. What this brought up for me was KD Lang's performance of "Johnny Get Angry" on SNL in 1989.
The song was originally released in 1962 and was thought of as a lighthearted, fun song with a woman coyly teasing her boyfriend into being a man in order to show her how much he loved her. It hit #7 on the charts.
In 1991, KD Lang came out with her version clearly outlining the dynamics of control and violence against women. Her version was never released commercially.
Words are viruses. Music can burn those messages into your brain. And when the culture tells you this is just a sweet message about young love, you may not trust your own instinct in terms of the underlying message that actually lives there.
I sure hope you get that advance! To think I watched all that bilge during my formative years! Mom thought the funniest part was the women doing the vacuuming in pearls and high heels.
Lucille Ball was quite a feminist. There's a video clip of her speaking to audience members, with a man (a producer, maybe?) lining up people to talk to her. Anytime the guy got even the least bit handsy with a female audience member, like putting a hand on her back, Lucile would bark out "Hands off, Phil!" or whoever. She seemed to have eyes in the back of her head.
Brilliant take. Hope your proposal is snatched up soon! I'm 72 and grew up with these shows. My mom worked (as a teacher) but she also did the cooking, dishes, laundry, etc. I have a client (therapy) who's around 60. She has used the "Donna Reed" metaphor for years as she still struggles with her wish to be the ideal wife and mother vs. her wish to just quit the whole role. I'm reminded of the scene in "Annie Hall" when Tony Roberts and Woody Allen are in the studio where Tony's new sitcom is produced and Tony is consulting with the engineer about the laugh track. I think Tony's character (Max) says something like, "Just give me a medium chuckle here," while Woody's Alvy looks aghast at the cynicism. (No political insinuation here, just noting that one perfect scene.)
Lucy was reportedly the first television program to be filmed before a live audience of 300, using a three-camera setup to be able to catch action at multiple angles simultaneously. And in my own humble opinion, the women made that show.
That said the producers did use sound editing and enhancement to make sure laughs were loud enough in the right places, so even the live audience wasn’t organic really.
Thank you for another wonderful essay, Professor Meredith! :)
I may digress a bit - and bring into the conversation a reference that is a bit more modern than the movies and shows you usually analyze - but for me, Christina Yang of Grey's Anatomy remains a very culturally significant character.
Don't get me wrong, I know that show still has some problems in how it portrays some things. It did evolve more or less well on most topics that matter, though.
What I found very interesting about Christina Yang is that it seems that she's the first female character written this way (at least the first one who made it to the mainstream). Before her, fictional women that were ambitious in a way that defined their life and personality, as the core tenet of their being, were also portrayed as being either unattractive or hopelessly cold-hearted bitches incapable of romance, attraction or love.
Christina Yang is neither of those things, she just prioritizes her career and ambition above any fulfilment she might get from romantic relationships, even while still being fully capable of feeling that kind of fulfilment. In a way, I guess I would argue that she's the first widely known character that decenters men without being a hating caricature.
Fabulous essay here!!! I am old enough to have watched all of the shows you described above and their (idealized) view (from a white male perspective) of women/housewives/mothers , marriage, raising children, running a household (and needing male leadership) was by and large pretty spot on in terms of post WW II expectations of women. It is no surprise to me that an entire generation of women eventually ended up medicated my medical professionals just to survive daily life.
My own mother who was a brilliant woman and held a position of very high responsibility during the war loved her work and felt fulfilled. When the war ended she was basically sent home against her will, she remarried and she gave birth to me. She was depressed for the rest of her life. Men came back as heroes and were restored to their “rightful place” as heads of households and women were relegated back to a world that caged them. (Do not get me wrong here as I know that many women enjoy traditional lives and I stand behind them as long as that is what they actually want and it fulfills them.)
When I look back at these old tv sitcoms and other tv shows now, I feel angry and saddened by what was presented as dogma for how women were supposed to behave. I learned so much of it myself from these shows and the women role models around me and followed along blindly until I finally woke up!
I hope someone gives you that book contract as the whole topic of tv & entertainment and how it shapes lives is huge and very, very important. I love that you have added in the influence of the laugh track also shaping/conditioning people, especially women. It was a powerful way to shape the audience and society to accept constraints and limitations placed on women in what appeared to be a benign way. It did great harm. (It also did great harm to people of color!)
Wonderful article defo made me think. Pity tho that you didn't mention Lucy Arnez totally ran the studio after her divorce from Desi. And ran it v well. Great article tho 👏
Definitely an interesting point, it just wasn’t relevant here in particular. But she gave us Star Trek with that power and it’s one of many reasons I love her.
One other very popular show, “The Honeymooners,” had a laugh track louder than most it seemed. Laughter as Ralph, oversized hard working put upon man, threatened his wife, fist raised, “to the moon Alice.” I hated the show. As a young child it made no sense. It was not funny.
Wonderful article Meredith. Thank you.
The Honeymooners gets a mention specifically in a post scheduled next month, ugh. Despicable.
Oops, sorry for jumping ahead!
Not at all! It's great to know my posts are on the right track for what the audience is thinking!
I want to read this book, so I hope someone with a brain realizes its potential 👏👏
My agent loves it. Publishing is just a nightmare arena right now.
Same. I love the way can illustrate a point so clearly and with humor. Can’t wait.
Astute analysis. Made me think of My Three Sons and how Fred MacMurray made it funny for a man to wear a kitchen apron instead of replacing his wife.
When I was in freshman college English in 1976, I wrote a paper comparing Marlo Thomas in "That Girl" (I think that was the title - at any rate, she played an airhead) and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." Marlo would work herself into a problem, and her dad or her boyfriend had to rescue her. Mary would find herself in a jam and extricate herself. She didn't let her boss demean her. Yes, she'd do that bit of a whine - "Oh, Mister Grant!" - but she still controlled her own life.
Absolutely! I had my Cold War American history class watch an episode of the show when we discussed the shifting 1970s attitudes.
I love this article. Growing up in the 80s and 90s, I never understood the cultural TV humor of 1950s, but my grandmother (silent generation) sure enjoyed it. Lucy was her favorite, as she seemed to challenge the status quo with humor.
How much of early media shaped cultural thinking? How much does now? Good questions for us all to ask and think about. Thanks for writing this.
This piece is perfect. I felt my blood pressure spike with every reference and when I watched each clip. I never realized how much these shows actually pissed me off as a young girl who chafed under the system even back in the 1960’s. As a kid, i was always confused about why it was funny that Lucy wanted to participate in the world. Great work, Professor M. And an excellent story at the Slam! yesterday.
Thank you!
Thanks for this (and your story at Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam! yesterday), Meredith. What this brought up for me was KD Lang's performance of "Johnny Get Angry" on SNL in 1989.
The song was originally released in 1962 and was thought of as a lighthearted, fun song with a woman coyly teasing her boyfriend into being a man in order to show her how much he loved her. It hit #7 on the charts.
In 1991, KD Lang came out with her version clearly outlining the dynamics of control and violence against women. Her version was never released commercially.
Words are viruses. Music can burn those messages into your brain. And when the culture tells you this is just a sweet message about young love, you may not trust your own instinct in terms of the underlying message that actually lives there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8OyRj1NkJw&list=RDp8OyRj1NkJw&start_radio=1
I sure hope you get that advance! To think I watched all that bilge during my formative years! Mom thought the funniest part was the women doing the vacuuming in pearls and high heels.
Lucille Ball was quite a feminist. There's a video clip of her speaking to audience members, with a man (a producer, maybe?) lining up people to talk to her. Anytime the guy got even the least bit handsy with a female audience member, like putting a hand on her back, Lucile would bark out "Hands off, Phil!" or whoever. She seemed to have eyes in the back of her head.
Oh she was brilliant. I don’t blame her for the way the show was structured.
Brilliant take. Hope your proposal is snatched up soon! I'm 72 and grew up with these shows. My mom worked (as a teacher) but she also did the cooking, dishes, laundry, etc. I have a client (therapy) who's around 60. She has used the "Donna Reed" metaphor for years as she still struggles with her wish to be the ideal wife and mother vs. her wish to just quit the whole role. I'm reminded of the scene in "Annie Hall" when Tony Roberts and Woody Allen are in the studio where Tony's new sitcom is produced and Tony is consulting with the engineer about the laugh track. I think Tony's character (Max) says something like, "Just give me a medium chuckle here," while Woody's Alvy looks aghast at the cynicism. (No political insinuation here, just noting that one perfect scene.)
"Lucy is filmed before a live audience."
Lucy was reportedly the first television program to be filmed before a live audience of 300, using a three-camera setup to be able to catch action at multiple angles simultaneously. And in my own humble opinion, the women made that show.
I probably should do an edit to remind people that the laugh track wasn’t used there and people still knew to laugh at her ambition.
This is such an important point, Professor Meredith. Thank you for making it.
Misogyny often needs no subtitles and direct cues. It's already ingrained in the social fabric.
That said the producers did use sound editing and enhancement to make sure laughs were loud enough in the right places, so even the live audience wasn’t organic really.
Well, that is depressing to learn. Damn.
Exactly.
Thank you for another wonderful essay, Professor Meredith! :)
I may digress a bit - and bring into the conversation a reference that is a bit more modern than the movies and shows you usually analyze - but for me, Christina Yang of Grey's Anatomy remains a very culturally significant character.
Don't get me wrong, I know that show still has some problems in how it portrays some things. It did evolve more or less well on most topics that matter, though.
What I found very interesting about Christina Yang is that it seems that she's the first female character written this way (at least the first one who made it to the mainstream). Before her, fictional women that were ambitious in a way that defined their life and personality, as the core tenet of their being, were also portrayed as being either unattractive or hopelessly cold-hearted bitches incapable of romance, attraction or love.
Christina Yang is neither of those things, she just prioritizes her career and ambition above any fulfilment she might get from romantic relationships, even while still being fully capable of feeling that kind of fulfilment. In a way, I guess I would argue that she's the first widely known character that decenters men without being a hating caricature.
Fabulous essay here!!! I am old enough to have watched all of the shows you described above and their (idealized) view (from a white male perspective) of women/housewives/mothers , marriage, raising children, running a household (and needing male leadership) was by and large pretty spot on in terms of post WW II expectations of women. It is no surprise to me that an entire generation of women eventually ended up medicated my medical professionals just to survive daily life.
My own mother who was a brilliant woman and held a position of very high responsibility during the war loved her work and felt fulfilled. When the war ended she was basically sent home against her will, she remarried and she gave birth to me. She was depressed for the rest of her life. Men came back as heroes and were restored to their “rightful place” as heads of households and women were relegated back to a world that caged them. (Do not get me wrong here as I know that many women enjoy traditional lives and I stand behind them as long as that is what they actually want and it fulfills them.)
When I look back at these old tv sitcoms and other tv shows now, I feel angry and saddened by what was presented as dogma for how women were supposed to behave. I learned so much of it myself from these shows and the women role models around me and followed along blindly until I finally woke up!
I hope someone gives you that book contract as the whole topic of tv & entertainment and how it shapes lives is huge and very, very important. I love that you have added in the influence of the laugh track also shaping/conditioning people, especially women. It was a powerful way to shape the audience and society to accept constraints and limitations placed on women in what appeared to be a benign way. It did great harm. (It also did great harm to people of color!)
This would be a fabulous book!
Wonderful article defo made me think. Pity tho that you didn't mention Lucy Arnez totally ran the studio after her divorce from Desi. And ran it v well. Great article tho 👏
Definitely an interesting point, it just wasn’t relevant here in particular. But she gave us Star Trek with that power and it’s one of many reasons I love her.
Also "Lassie"
I hope you get the book made. I would definitely read it!