HUMTV American Family

Hum-TV and The American Family questions

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Hum-TV and The American Family questions

1. For Lois and Virginia, family photographs are very important: moments fixed in time. What about their families makes these mothers yearn for these moments?

Lois and Virginia are middle aged women that realize that moments in time are precious because they go by so fast and so does time. Pictures are an important documentation of these memories is past memories that can never be recaptured. Even though Lois and Virginia have chaotic lives they long for the times they spent with their children when they were younger and less jaded. Their children are older and they no longer need their mothers as they did in the past when those memories were made. Family photographs show the times when the family was together making memories, good or bad. Lois and Virginia yearn for these times because these moments are fleeting and can never be recaptured.

2. Which of these two programs (Malcolm in the Middle or Raising Hope) is more straightforward and naturalistic? Explain.

Malcolm is the middle is more straightforward and realistic portrayal of the American family. In Malcolm in the Middle the family consists originally of four sons and two parents forced to work long hours at menial jobs to feed and clothe these children. The children are not properly supervised which leads them into getting into all types of mischief. The trouble the boys get in ends up affecting their parent negatively. In Raising Hope the family is caring for a baby born out of marriage and an elderly parent which can be a part of a typical American family but the show is less naturalistic and has more fantasy than Malcolm in the Middle. For example the episodes when they thought the baby was going to become a serial killer like her executed mother.

3. Malcolm in the Middle: In "Sleepover," it is obvious that Stevie has "helicopter parents." What does this term mean? What are the possible ramifications of such behavior?

Helicopter parents are parents that constantly hover over their children not giving them an opportunity to do anything for themselves. The helicopter parent is always worried about their child and will rarely take their focus of the child. Many helicopter parents deny their children the opportunity to do things other children do with normal parents. Lois and Hal are not helicopter parents but they are the complete opposite. The helicopter parent will over-parent while Hal and Lois under-parent. The way the helicopter parent is excessive. They are over concerned, over controlling, and overprotective (Bayless, 2014). When a child is constantly shadowed by their parent they do not learn to become independent and act for themselves. It is important for parents to allow their children to try thing and make mistakes so that they can cope as independent individual when out in society without their parents. If not they will grow up dependent and incapable of running a healthy, happy life.

Bayless, K. (2014). What is helicopter parenting. Retrieved December 14, 2014 from

http://www.parents.com/parenting/better-parenting/what-is-helicopter-parenting/

4. "Poverty and deprivation are unsuitable subjects for comedy." Do you agree?

Poverty and deprivation have been proven to be great content for comedy. For some reason the despair of others can be funny especially if the audience relates to what is happening. There are many different television shows that use the topic of poverty to get a laugh from audiences. Comedy is about making light of topics that can be dark. The topic of poverty is dark and many comedians will not touch it but other comedians that grew up in poverty or even that experienced childhood abuse will use these past experiences for material for their comedic shows. For example Louie Anderson used experiences from his childhood where his family was very poor and his dad was an abusive drunk. There is always someone that can relate to comedy bout poverty if it is approached in the right way.

5. Malcolm in the Middle: Malcolm and his brothers are the ultimate latchkey children—in other words, children left to their own devices between the end of school and their parents' return from work. There's no evidence that daycare has ever been a part of their lives. What are your opinions on this subject?

When lower middle class families have two working parents the end result is usually that the children will be less supervised. When the children come home from school their parents are not home and they must fend for themselves until they get home from work (Deam, 2014). This is known as the latch-key kid. Latch key kids are far more likely to get into some type of mischief during the hours of 3:30pm and 6:30pm when parents start coming home from work. While it is not ideal for parents to leave children to their own devices, especially children like Reese, Francis, and Malcolm, in many cases they have no choice even if the parent could afford after school services or daycare they are not available for children ages 12 and up. This leaves the parent with no options for proper supervision.

Deam, J. (2014). The New Latch-Key Kid. Retrieved December 14, 2014 from

http://www.parents.com/kids/safety/tips/new-latchkey-kids/