Part VII: Still Watching Television in the Digital Age

Size Matters?

This exercise pairs well with the Butsch essay.

1. Watch a few clips from the series that Butsch mentions in the article as linked here: The Flintstones, All in the Family, Family Guy, The Simpsons, The King of Queens.

2. Ask students if they notice the one thing that the male characters have in common (besides their buffoonery)? (If they can’t figure it out, it’s that the men are all overweight.)

3. Have a brief discussion about how stupidity is tied to the body size of men in situation comedies.

4. To continue the exercise, you can supplement with an additional comparison of how overweight women are portrayed in television sitcoms. Here are some links to Gimme A Break, The Drew Carey Show, and Mike and Molly.

Feminism versus Classism

1. Watch the following compilation video on YouTube which are highlights from the first season of the hit program Gilmore Girls.

2. Gilmore Girls has been praised for its feminism, namely the characters of Lorelai and Rory who are strong, intelligent, and choose the men in their lives to be happy, not because they “need” them. It has also been criticized for its lack of diversity and inherent elitism. However, the Mastrocola article discusses the classless middle-class family in Gilmore Girls. Using the article and the clip compilation, lead a discussion with students where you flesh out whether or not you agree with Mastrocola’s assertions. Does the inherent elitism present in the program undercut its feminism?

Go Big or Go Home?

1. Read this article from Quartz (owned by The Atlantic) along with the Jenner essay.

2. Lead a discussion in which you contextualize how the studios have responded and have to respond to the changing market for cinema. Does the recent scandal by Harvey Weinstein and the sinking status of The Weinstein Company (who pioneered and funded independent cinema) affect this?