All in the Family Vs. Boy Meets World

 Boy Meets World is a sitcom that aired from 1993 - 2000. It is based on the life of  the central character, 11 year old Cory Matthews and his family and friends. The show begins with Cory and his years in junior high and the life lessons that he learns from then to his first year in college.

The issues that Boy Meets World dealt with included extreme issues such as racism, family neglect, hazing/bullying, and developing sexual urges in teens. In later years of the show the issues were loss of a family member, love, heartbreak, divorce, marriage,college harassment, friendship, and trust. As these issues are serious, the show usually took a humous tone and thus the issues were intertwined between the usual comedy based episodes.

All in the Family, centered around central character, Archie Bunker and his family, is about a WWII veteran and his clashes with the newer generation and their beliefs. Also a comedy, but usually intertwines issues such as racism, homosexuality, sexism/women's liberation, rape, and women issues such as miscarriage and menopause. This is similar to Boy Meets World, however the difference is the era in time these issues were presented and how they were dealt with. All in the Family in the 70's while Boy Meets World in the 90's. All in the Family also seemed to deal with more complex issues. However, it also took on a humorous tone.

All in the Family aired from 1971 - 1979. Unlike Boy Meets World, the show was not centered around an 11 year boy growing up and experiencing life and its challenges, but of an older man who was experiencing life in a generation much different from the way he grew up and understood the politics of things. While at the same time, Mr. Feeny, another Boy Meets World character deals with understanding the lives of his teenage students who are also a younger generation.

(Google Images)

Radio: Love Music. Feel Music. Make Music. Live Music.

Music Evolved - Yahoo Images

Radio has gone through a number of changes throughout the years due to audience demand. From being a source of news with your family to listening to your favorite tunes while driving to work. As the world and people have evolved, our need for radio has altered as well.

As the decades fade, a format of radio either disappears or evolves. Different groups of people and different generations develop different needs for radio. Early on as the radio was used more of as a information guide, families usually only had one radio per household and listening to it meant gathering together as a family. The formats included the news, variety shows, comedies, dramas, comic adventures, and music. The radio then would be what television and internet are today. 

This type of radio was mostly based in the 1920's through the 1950's where the country was dealing with issues such as World War II to The Great Depression to The Civil Rights movement. As the Civil Rights movement progressed, African American audiences soon began to show their own identity through radio. Before, their music was usually stolen and passed as the music of white musicians. 

The genres of Rock, Alternative, Hip-Hop, Rhythm & Blues --- and other genres that branch off of these such as Punk Rock, Adult Alternative, Rap, and Soul --- have progressed more in the later 20th century with audiences separating their identities further. Each genre represented a different group of people and radio used this to an advantage to "ensure that they reach the audiences segments that are the most attractive to their advertisers" (Media Now Textbook). The more genres, the more people listened to radio. This meant more profits. 

Now, the generations of people have become so hi-tech that they need their radio to be in the form of wireless networks and mobile communications. With television evolving as well, radio has evolved into many different forms. You can listen to radio just about anywhere, not just in a box surrounded by your entire family. 

Social Learning...and all of it's Friends

The media often brands certain images and behaviors of people as 'cool' or 'accepted'. The concept of social learning explains that people learn from one another through observation which leads to imitation and modeling. This theory is proposed by Albert Bandura. The media makes more money when a large group of people are buying their images which is almost free promotion in a way. The people are becoming models of the clothes, hairstyles, jewelry, and even the slang that springs from these images. 
A lot of this imitation and modeling is seen largely in teen images today from music artists. 

30 Seconds to Mars

Teen Imitator

As a result, the teens are basically destroying their own self image to mirror these unrealistic images of celebrities. 

Another example of social learning is the way the media proposes the way a woman or man should carry themselves. From the films, Tough Guise and Killing Us Sofly, the media highlights the stereotypes of the sexes. Women in the media who are characterized as beautiful are usually models and actresses. They should have perfect hair, skin, body type (thin), and basically look like life size barbies. Thus, young women observe these images and see them as the 'right' way to be and they imitate and model them. 

Nicole Kidman

Teen Model

It is similar with men. Men who want to be strong or 'tough' should act and look a certain way. The characteristics usually includes muscles. I mean, having muscles does mean you are strong...right?

Guns (or some other type of weapon) are also usually in the equation. 

Winchester Brothers from TV series 'Supernatural'

The point that I am making is that the images in the media greatly affect the images and personalities of the normal, non-celebrity population, especially the teens. 

(Google Images)

Women, Men, and Hegemony

Google Images

The concept of hegemony, "power or dominance that one social group holds over others" (James Lull), helps me understand how and why people become so accustomed to certain beliefs and concepts that they do not bother to have their own. What I mean is, the way people think is majority of the time based on someone else's beliefs. What people do is... incorporate those beliefs into their own and thus not having their own original beliefs. 


Confusing? Ok, I will put it this way: Music videos often time show 'us' what type of fashion is 'in'. If you cut your hair this way, or if you wear these type of pants, and those type of shoes, then you are a part of the group of people on the videos that also wear the wardrobe that you are mimicking. Still confused? Ok, not only does the entertainment industry 'brainwash' us, but religious leaders and politicians pull the same type of tricks if you will. 
Ever thought about why you are a part of a certain religious affiliation? How did you realize that those beliefs were what you truly believed. Why do you believe them. It's the same with politics. The leaders of these groups warp our minds into vessels that will hold these beliefs. 


If you live in a certain area, you are suppose to act in such a way that is appropriate for that certain community. Why, because the head honchos say so. If you are a man or a woman, you are supposed to behave a certain way. This is how stereotypes are developed. Women wash dishes. Men catch fishes. Women love shoes. Men love booze. Women should have nice hips. Men should drive big whips. Women shed tears. Men hide their fears. But why? Why are women supposed to be sensitive? Why are men suppose to be strong and powerful? Who decided that these were the correct characteristics for the sexes? The media. Leaders. Politicians. Other head honchos. 


When we start to shake these roles and become our own characters, that's when chaos develops. Now a days, women can bring home the bacon and men can walk the run-way. We are rapidly  making our own decisions, but in the back of our minds we sometimes question whether we are right or wrong, because we are challenging the status quo. 

City of God

Wikipedia

The film, City of God, is structured around the concept that young men in Brazil often choose a path of crime through competitive drug trafficking usually involving murder. As young boys, they are inspired by the pipe dream of having a dominant role in their neighborhood (Rio de Janeiro) which is mostly a slum.

The film is structured as to jump from a characters childhood and upbringing to adulthood. The characters mostly have nicknames and the narrator of the film will either show a brief moment of the future and then take the audience back to the past to show us how this character became who he is or how he got his nickname. The narrator's role in the film is to tell the stories of these young men and at the same time show how they are connected and how he himself became who he is as an adult.

Google Images

Google Images

My belief that the purpose of basing the film in Brazil is due to the realness of the gangs in Brazil and for other countries to be able to see their stories and dig deeper into how the slums are influential on how the children grow up. The film gives Brazilians a voice and sort of clarify our (Americans) perception of them and why there is so much crime in their country.