04.02 Folk and Popular Cultures

Based on your analysis of the shows, how has popular culture changed over time? What has remained the same?

How do television shows reflect the way of life for American families? Give concrete examples from each show that demonstrate the popular culture of the time. This can include any of the following examples:

forms of entertainment, fashion or what was considered appropriate dress, music, fads, homes, food, education, sports, daily routines, means of communication, and popular sayings or phrases.

How do television shows reflect the influence of globalization? Provide examples from the clips that show the influence of cultural exchange of different cultures on U.S. society or the impact of U.S. society on other cultures?

What role do you think television plays in the transmission of popular culture? How have TV shows affected pop culture in the United States and elsewhere?

04.02 Folk and Popular Cultures

Television reflects the influence of globalization in a big way. Almost every television show relates current events and the latest trends to their own storyline and characters. Writers of these shows purposely include these lines in order to stay relevant to the audience. The writers also include many influences from other countries such as characters eating Chinese food, characters celebrating festivals such as Christmas or the Chinese New Year, or by including characters of various nationalities.

Television has a huge impact in the transmission of popular culture. Almost every household in the United States has a television. Television is similar to the Internet in that they both transmit ideas to a wide range of people. TV shows have affected popular culture in the US and elsewhere by starting and continuing different trends and fads.

These trends/fads are incorporated in shows and transmitted back to the audience.

Based on my analysis of the shows, popular culture has changed greatly over time. Many more topics are openly discussed in the 21st century than in the 1950's and 1960's. Technology has also changed tremendously from the '50s and '60s to the 21st century. Cell phones were only used in shows from the late '80's and onwards. Many characters also use iPads and iPods. One thing that has stayed relatively the same is clothing. Jeans were very common throughout the '70s,'80s, and 1990's. Many characters also wear hats and dress clothes.

Television shows reflect the way of life for American families. Every show from a certain time period reflected the way of life at that time in America. An example is the show "I Love Lucy." This show played in the 1950's and 1960's and showed the typical American style of living. The actors in the show usually wore hats and clothes we would usually consider formal. They also spoke English in a different style than modern times. A show that played in the 1970's was "The Brady Bunch." This was another big indicator of the American style of living.

The style of clothing and especially the hairstyles gave a good impression of the time. Many characters in the 70's had afros or "loud" hairstyles. Also, most people wore baggy jeans and other baggy clothing. A show that played in the 1980's and 1990's was "The Cosby Show." This show very accurately reflected the lives of African Americans in big cities like New York and Chicago. It also presented many real-life problems that people of all colors could relate to. In the 21st century, a show such as "Modern Family" showed the technology such as cell phones, laptops and iPods. Kids also used this technology for entertainment for the first time.