How Men Are Portrayed on Television

In older television shows, the Dads are usually characterized as caring and more sensitive. They play more of a role in the children’s lives than on the shows that are on television today. For example, Ozzie Nelson from the Ozzie and Harriet show, which became popular in the 1950’s, was the typical “Good Dad” of that time. Ozzie was always willing to talk with the kids right along with Harriet.

Another older show that I used to watch all the time is the Brady Bunch. The father on this show, Mike Brady, was an architect. This is one of the few older shows I’ve seen that depicts the dad actually going to work for the day, so he is not around all the time. Unlike the Cosby show, we know that Cliff is a Dr, but rarely see him going to work, as he is always at home with the children. However, when Mike Brady was home with the kids, he was always lovingly guiding them and trying to set a good example. For someone with six kids, I think he did a pretty good job, but Carol and Alice helped out immensely.

Full House was a show in the 1980’s about a single father, Danny Tanner, raising three girls. Danny’s friends Joey and Jesse also lived with the family. Full House is like a more modernized version of the Brady Bunch, where everything is resolved with a hug. Danny was very sensitive and caring, and always put his daughters first.

My favorite show was The Cosby Show. I think Cliff Huxtable is the perfect blend of a funny, yet strict Father figure. Education was always emphasized in the Huxtable home. Like I mentioned before, Cliff was a Doctor who worked from home most of the time. His wife, Claire, was a Lawyer. Cliff was with the children more often than Claire. This is a rarity in real life and on television.

Today, Fathers on television are either “dead-beat dads” or the funny, clueless type. Humor seems to be the television Dads’ redeeming quality. Studies have shown that this is not good for America’s children. When children who do not have fathers (and thus, have nothing to compare what they see on tv with) are repeatedly exposed to negative images of Dads, it can distort their perception of what Dads/men are really like. This is also not good for the children who do have dads, since many busy parents sometimes use television as a babysitter. The good values that were present in the older shows are pretty much non-existent in many shows that kids watch today.

Even though The Simpsons is a cartoon, it has been on for ten years and is very popular with people of all ages. Homer Simpson is shown as an idiot who works at a Nuclear Power Plant. When not stuffing his face with donuts at work, Homer is either at Moe’s Tavern drinking with his buddies, or at home on the couch with a Duff beer. Homer is shown to be irresponsible when he loses Maggie (the baby) in several different episodes. Homer does have some good qualities, such as his devotion to his wife Marge, but more often Homer is usually screwing something up, and Marge has to bail him out.
This is a common theme in a lot of the modern sitcoms: helpless husband, super mom.

This reminded me of a point that Michael Blankenhorn stated in his article “The Unnecessary Father”. Blankenhorn basically says that if a man cannot provide for his family, than he has nothing else to offer. I used to totally disagree with this statement, but it rings true in many sitcoms today. When the Dad is shown to be clueless about raising children, and only messes things up for the wife to take care of when she gets home from her job, it’s kind of like saying “the father should just go to work and let the mother stay home and take care of the kids.” Were things better off before feminism opened the doors for women to have careers? One would think that television shows today would reflect that it is better, but it seems to be saying just the opposite.

Married with Children is another show that sheds a negative light on fathers and men. Al Bundy works at a shoe store. His wife Peg does not work, but does not spend that much time with kids Bud and Kelly either. Al is like the human version of Homer Simpson, only worse, in my opinion. Al is always complaining about his wife. He is not affectionate towards her at all. Al’s hobbies are watching tv and going to nudie bars. The kids always complain that there isn’t any food in the house, yet Al always has beer to drink.

Malcom in the middle is another show that follows the “helpless dad” formula. Hal is the father of four boys, yet he acts like a big kid himself. The show usually involves Hal getting into some sort of trouble, with wife Lois coming to the rescue. One episode in particular was when Hal was supposed to be watching Joe’s cat, and instead of doing it himself, he paid his youngest son, Dewey to do it. Of course, chaos ensues when Dewey loses the cat, and lets in dozens of other animals through an open window. Eventually Hal’s wife Lois finds out and fixes everything.

The last show I picked is Everybody Loves Raymond. Ray Barone is yet another funny Dad without a clue. Ray has a young daughter named Allie, and he isn’t really sure how to relate to her, since she is a girl. So he instead of talking to her when something is wrong, he buys her something or sends Debra (his wife) in to take care of it. Ray spends more time with his young twin sons then with his daughter. Ray works from home, since he is a sports writer, however, Ray’s mom Marie watches the kids most of the time. In one episode, Debra suggests that Ray spend more time with the kids, so he takes them to basketball practice. Eventually Ray gets into a fight with the coach. Of course, Debra is there to save the day. This doesn’t exactly scream “competent” or “capable”, and is another example of how a supposedly harmless skit on tv can be internalized by a child and help shape their view of fathers and men.

In conclusion, men on television are usually typecast as funny, yet dumb when it comes to parenting. This is not sending a good message to the children who watch the shows. Humor shouldn’t come at the expense of making men look bad. There are other ways of being funny besides making a man appear incompetent. I think there should be more positive male role models on tv.