English 1102: Television and Feminism

Dr. Casey Alane Wilson • Georgia Institute of Technology

Author: Sofia Soto-Tredunlo

My Final Farewell Before Being Fresh Off the Blog

Alright, yay! Last blog post! Party time! My journey with Fresh Off the Boat is finally coming to an end. Looking back, I am going to be honest. I did not like the show to begin with, and I still do not like the show now. However, it is a good show. I see that. It is just not my sense of humor, but it is well made and touches on real issues going on in the world today in a subtle way.

However, I feel like it’s only gone downhill. I love analyzing themes in shows and the deeper messages and the commentary on society. All shows do this (even the funny ones), but Fresh Off the Boat has lost its touch. They started the season really strong discussing topics such as stereotypes and gender roles. Now I have no idea what the show is talking about.

I saved my choice blog post topic for last, and I always had the intention of writing about theme for this one because it’s so interesting for me to discuss. But if I’m being honest, it hasn’t been interesting at all in the last few episodes. I watched 3 episodes today (I’m last minute I know) with the hopes of something worth talking about coming up and I got nothing.

The first episode I watched was about a gay man who came to visit who thought he had dated Louis Huang and had dated Jessica Huang as a cover for his sexuality. There’s nothing there so I try to search for some significant theme in the Huang family children. Eddie is unable to think of a science fair project, so he tries to get infected by his brothers’ chicken pox to avoid working and fails. In the end he learned so much about chicken pox by accident that he did his project on that with the help of his brothers. So, yay for comradery, but what’s the message. Learn about things you are passionate about? Even though he doesn’t actually care, and it was a ploy to do his work?

This is the Wham Halloween costume of Louis and the visiting college friend. It was too good to not include.

Fresh Off the Boat is doing good things in terms of putting a spotlight on important topics, but I don’t think that just because a show is lost in the middle of the season it should give up on delivering an important message. The writers don’t even have to come up with new themes and messages every episode – just thread the same ones throughout the entirety of the show. But, hey, I have to cut them some slack; I am basing this off of half of their first season. Maybe there’s more to discover if I keep watching?

The Mothers of Fresh Off The Boat

So I’ve avoided discussing gender in Fresh Off the Boat. I wanted to give the show a chance to defend itself – but I’m low on topics so the time has arrived. Now I have to give a bit of a disclaimer – this show is a satire. It plays off stereotypes for comedy, so it should be expected that some of those are going to seep into gender.

For starters, In terms of screen time, there is only one lead female roll and that is Jessica Huang. The grandma rarely gets screen time and has very few lines. It is only for comedic sake, but it still rings true that females don’t get much time. In this particular episode they got far more time than usual, because it followed the story line of Jessica instead of Eddie.

In this episode in particular the topic focuses on Eddie Huang’s crush on an older girl. All she cared about was dropping out of school to go to beauty school… ok. This is problematic. But they don’t portray all women like this. The only female main roll is the mom, Jessica Huang. She is obsessed with being the best at everything and encourages her kids to be the same. Her determination is so strong that she temporarily quits her efforts to become a realtor because she is worried she will not be the best realtor in the district. So we have a strong female lead. She’s determined to work her hardest and refuses to even be associated with stay at home moms, because she wants to be associated with the image of a powerful working woman. The side characters are stuck in the past. We have the previously mentioned crush. In addition, we have a huge culture of stay at home moms that the show features who are aggressively conservative and look down upon working mothers (bad) but the show frames them in a way that is clear that they are looked down upon for not supporting fellow women (good). In this episode in particular one of the moms tries to encourage Jessica to work hard to accomplish her dreams, while playing the role of a very stereotypical mom.

this is a look into the stereotypical moms on the show

Although the show presents gender through stereotypes, it endorses women being proud of who they are, and supporting other women. In the end that’s the whole message of the show, be who you are.

Does hip hop make him supreme – or is it all a scheme?

One of my favorite parts about Fresh off the Boat are the voice overs. Eddie Huang, a middle schooler, narrates the first and final scene of every episode, but as an older post-pubescent man. As the main character, he is telling the story from his perspective and how he views the plot. Therefore, this implies that this is how Eddie sees himself. This is just a hilarious ploy by the writers to me.

The voice of this character is unique to say the least. He reflects Eddie’s love of hip hop by using popular slang terms, because those terms are ~cool~. The speech used by this narrator is based off the speech of the popular hip hop artists who act as Eddie’s role models. The voice drastically contrasts with the voice of the real Eddie Huang which is high pitched, and the slang terms don’t sound quite as natural, because he’s a little kid. When Eddie uses the same slang it looks like a kid who is pretending to be cool when in reality he’s not, but the narration voice really is. Again, what this says about Eddie is that he genuinely believes he’s really cool.

This says a lot about Eddie’s character. Eddie’s character struggles to make friends. He is often rejected by the kids at school. In season 1 episode 5, the episode starts out by Eddie narrating how he doesn’t get invited to any sleepovers. This statement alone is a bit odd, considering the narrator is an adult and adults don’t exactly have sleepovers (in the traditional sense of the term…).  The narrator continues by saying he was “mad siked” about getting invited to the sleepover which is something a ~cool~ person would say. And then the shot pans to Eddie, a small pudgy middle schooler who lacks in eyebrows (no offense Eddy, still love you). Despite this you might start thinking Eddie was actually a cool kid, because he finally got invited to a sleepover and was making friends. But again, the show reminds us that he is not. The next shot is of Eddie’s mom telling Eddie that there is “no way” he’s going to that sleepover. Again we’re reminded that he’s just a little awkward kid (again no offense).

I mean look at him… his cheeks are so chubby.. he has baby fat!

This really just serves as a constant reminder that people view themselves as a little bit cooler than we actually are. Not just kids, adults too. If the joke didn’t apply to adults, it wouldn’t be funny. Obviously low self esteem is a real thing, but the way we view ourselves is never exactly how the outside world views us.

More Homework Means “I Love You”

For this blog post I chose to discuss the theme of season 1 episode 2 – Home Sweet Home-School. This episode focuses heavily on family values versus personal wants and needs.

To begin with, here is a quick summary of the episode. It begins with Jessica Huang being disappointed that her son, Eddie, got straight A’s because school is too easy. Evan is annoyed with Jessica because she is too commanding at the restaurant so he sends her to tutor the boys afterschool for more stimulating work. Eddie is annoyed by this because he wants the free time to play outside like the American boys. While Jessica is gone, Evan bonds with restaurant employees and makes the restaurant a more joyful environment. Eventually, Eddie discovers what his dad has done, and helps his mom Jessica catch him, so she moves the studies to the restaurant. A few boys dine and dash on the restaurant which would not have happened had Jessica taken care of it instead of Evan. When a few of the workers offer to pay for the meal themselves, Jessica realizes that the restaurant is benefiting from spending money to foster a better environment. She tracks down the boys who dined and dashed and forces them to apologize to Evan to restore his faith in the goodness of people. She also gives the boys the afternoon off from their studies in order to play basketball with their dad.

Throughout this episode, every character learns a lesson. Jessica learns that relationship growth and happiness are also worth time and money. She begins to change her actions at the end of the episode. By giving Eddie free time and forcing the boys to apologize to Evan, she shows how her perspective and values have shifted.

Eddie learns a similar lesson, while playing basketball with his dad and siblings. While he plays, one of the neighborhood boys approaches him and is jealous that his family pays attention to him. His dad was playing basketball with him and that shows how much his dad cares. He then finally understands how much his mom cares. All together the family realizes the importance of prioritizing each other’s needs and recognizes that they show their care in untraditional ways. They don’t say “I love you” but they show it.

The Huang family does not say they love each other unless they are hiding something. They show their love in different ways.

This connects to the rest of the show by proving that the Huang family doesn’t have to conform to look and act like those around it. All the other families don’t spend as much time together or don’t care about grades that much, because the members of the family don’t care about each other that much. The Huang family can be unique and independent and has nothing to envy from other families.

This is what the show is trying to portray to the audience. All families or individuals are special in their own way and being different from those around you isn’t necessarily a bad thing. All families and individuals are unique and awesome in their own way!

Gender Roles in Children’s Television Annotated Bib

CherneyKamala London, Isabelle,D. “Gender-Linked Differences in the Toys, Television shows, Computer Games, and Outdoor Activities of 5- to 13-Year-Old Children.” Sex Roles, vol. 54, no. 9-10, 2006, pp. 717-726. ProQuest, http://prx.library.gatech.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/225367898?accountid=11107, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11199-006-9037-8. This article analyzes the preferences of male and female children with regards to their sources of entertainment. It found that female children have a general tendency to watch more television while male children spend more time partaking in other activities. One of the more interesting findings was the opposing trend in the femininity of girls’ television shows and other forms of childhood entertainment. Girls’ choice of television tended to become more feminine as they grew older, while their other forms of entertainment tended to become less feminine over time. There was an noteable preference for entertainment within a child’s gender. However, this was more present in boys than girls. This article is relevant, because it shows the rapidity of the formation of gendered opinions in a child’s mind. While this focuses on a variety of forms of entertainment, the most relevant focus for our research is on television. One issue with the relevance of this source is that rather than focus on the effect entertainment has on a child’s gender stereotypes it focuses on the gender-stereotype’s effect on a child’s choice in entertainment.

Childs, Nancy M., and Jill K. Maher. “Gender in Food Advertising to Children: Boys Eat First.” British Food Journal, vol. 105, no. 6, 2003, pp. 408-419. ProQuest, http://prx.library.gatech.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/224679133?accountid=11107. This article focuses on food advertisements and the roles of the genders within them. Based off certain categories such as main characters, primary product users, and voice overs, the study managed to quantify the bias. Despite the foods being advertised to both genders, the study found that there was a statistically significant gender bias within the advertisements – more so than for non food advertisements. Boys played a more dominant role in these commercials than females did. This therefore reinforces the idea of male superiority and dominance in a child’s mind. Furthermore, it might begin to instill the dangerous concept that females should consume less food, because food advertisements are not targeted for her. This article is important, because it shows how things that are not normally thought of as gendered could have a large impact on a child. Children spend an increasing amount of time watching advertisements, so it is important to be made aware of the effects on a child’s mind. While this is relevant to our research, because of its presence on television, it may be flawed because its focus is not on television shows.

Meyer, Michaela D.E., and Megan M. Wood. “Sexuality and teen television: emerging adults respond to representations of queer identity on Glee.” Sexuality and Culture, vol. 17, no. 3, 2013, p. 434+. Gender Studies Collection, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A343054749/PPGB?u=gainstoftech&sid=PPGB&xid=5342f42b. This particular study focused on adolescent responses to sexuality in the popular teen show Glee. In terms of the sexuality, teens were much more prone to notice the queer sexuality rather than the heterosexual. This is despite the shows major plot lines and main character focus on heterosexual relationship. This reveals teen tendency to relate sexuality with a nonhetersexual outlook. Many of the male participants in particular mentioned that they were ashamed to say they watched the show, because of their heteronormativity. The show involves song and theater which are normally associated with queer stereotypes, therefore the men were scared to be identified as nonheterosexual for their enjoyment of the show. The show was commonly viewed as progressive for its high population of queer characters. This study truly highlights a teens view on sexuality and the development of it through shows. It is relevant to our research, because teen audiences are still developing their minds based off the television they watch, yet it is clear that by the time they reach their teen years significant biases have already been formed.

Powell, Kimberly A., and Lori Abels. “Sex-Role Stereotypes in TV Programs Aimed at the Preschool Audience: An Analysis of Teletubbies and Barney & Friends.”Women and Language, vol. 25, no. 1, 2002, pp. 14. ProQuest, http://prx.library.gatech.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/198879860?accountid=11107. This article is arguing that gender stereotypes begin to be enforced on children starting at very young ages thorugh popular television shows such as Barney and Friends and the Teletubbies. Through analysis of the roles of males and females on the show, this study found that males tend to be leaders while females just follow within both television shows. They also found that the traditional roles of mother and father were reinforced as caretaker and working man respectively. This is relevant, because it shows a lot about what standards modern society is pushing through to further generations. These shows are some of the first introductions children get about gender roles. Therefore, it is worth noting so that stereotypes can be corrected for further generations. This is exceptionally relevant in our research on gender stereotypes in children’s tv shows, because while it covers that topic, it narrows in on the very youngest audience. These are the first impressions youth have to form opinions on the matter.

Preston, Elizabeth, and Cindy L. White. “Commodifying Kids: Branded Identities and the Selling of Adspace on Kids’ Networks.” Communication Quarterly, vol. 52, no. 2, 2004, pp. 115-128. ProQuest, http://prx.library.gatech.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/216483170?accountid=11107. This article focuses on the new role of children as consumers and how  children’s television networks are using this to sell adspace. Theses advertisers are branding children in a way that it is already idealizing what a child should look like and the kind of lifestyle they should live. When the child realizes they do not have that they proceed to asking their parent to buy them the product. This quickly brings the idea into a child’s mind that their worth is defined by the brands they use. This materialistic consumerism is being introduced to children at a very young age and they going to be influenced by these ideas as they become active citizens. This is relevant to our research for its mention of gender in these ads and how some brands are throwing away gender neutrality in order to target a smaller group better. This however is a minor point in the article and therefore might not be entirely relevant.

Schooler, Deborah, Janna L. Kim, and Lynn Sorsoli. “Setting Rules Or Sitting Down: Parental Mediation of Television Consumption and Adolescent Self-Esteem, Body Image, and Sexuality.” Sexuality Research & Social Policy, vol. 3, no. 4, 2006, pp. 49-62. ProQuest, http://prx.library.gatech.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/858939798?accountid=11107, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/srsp.2006.3.4.49. This article studies the implications of parental involvement on a child’s self esteem and self acceptance. According to the results of the study, children whose parents simply sat with them to watch television experience higher self-esteems when they grow up. The higher the parental involvement in the child’s television, the higher the self-esteem. For girls, parental involvement was also correlated with positive body image. This is because for girls self esteem has a much higher correlation with body image than it does for boys. This journal seemed to show a particular bias against sexuality, because of its constant recommendations about how to remedy and avoid adolescent discovery of their sexuality. This is quite relevant to our research. Not only does it discuss the effect of gender in television on children, but it also describes certain effects of some of this television being filtered out. It is worth reading to find out the different effects television can have on young girls versus boys.

A Colorful View of American Culture – Or Not?

This week I started Fresh Off the Boat, and had no idea what I would write my blog post about. It wasn’t until my second viewing that I started noticing all the little details about the cinematography that are actually worth talking about

In terms of the shots, there is a pretty steady mix of long and short shots. While during conversation there are long steady shots, there were often short shots in between. These shorter shots were used to flash images of other characters faces to gage their reactions to the conversation. These shots help the viewer take the conversation less seriously and highlight the absurdity of the conversation. These are mostly used for comedic effect, but the more interesting analysis can come in the choice of color and lighting in the episode.

The first thing I noticed were the colors and lighting. At the start of the episode, as the Huangs arrive at Orlando, the colors and lighting are bright. In flashbacks to Chinatown, the colors are very dim. This creates a very positive image about white, American culture in the viewers mind. For example, upon arrival at the house a gang of moms wearing a bright neon assortment of colors approaches Jessica Huang (the Huang family mom). When Eddie is eating lunch on the first day, he looks around and his eyes skim over the bright colors on other children’s lunchables.

Note here all the busy patterns and colorful nature of the attire worn by the other moms

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However, as the episode progresses forward, colors surrounding the American culture begin to become more dim and lighting becomes dark. The colors don’t become dim because they are different, but rather because the darker lighting makes the colors see that way. The next time we see this gang of moms roller skating with Jessica, they are in the shade and their colorful activewear suddenly looks much more dim. This shows that the realization is setting in that American life is not as appealing as it looks. This same strategy is repeated in the supermarket scene. It is night time and dark out, but the colorful sign for “Food for All!!!” is glowing in the darkness. When they walk inside on the other hand, it is fully monochromatic and bland looking. Jessica even refers to it as looking like a hospital. At the end of the episode, as the Huang family walks away from Eddie’s middle school, their surroundings seem dull in color while their clothes are bright enough to stand out in this scene. This signifies the Huang family’s realization that the true happiness does not lie in conforming to American culture, but rather through acceptance of their own.

The Huang family had to learn to accept their culture like this man loves himself

 

Netflix and I – A Love Affair

Howdy, everybody! My name is Sofi Soto and I am a business administration major (showing scheller some love woohoo!). Business is a weird passion to have (trust me I know), but to me it is super exciting and rewarding to learn about. I am a first year and have every intention of graduating in 2022 in order to avoid being disowned by my parents – no pressure. I have a long journey at tech ahead of me, but I am very much looking forward to everything ahead.

 

me realizing I have four years left before I graduate

My past experience with English courses has been very traditional. It comprised mostly of analyzing literature and writing essays – nothing to get excited about. As much as I enjoy reading literature, it gets repetitive in the sense that there are so many modes of communication I have barely touched and have been working on written since a very young age. I am very excited to continue learning about electronic communication. It surprises me that despite being in the 21st century there is still a huge lack of electronic media education in most public schools. It is such a relevant topic in the modern workplace and think it is the most effective platform to communicate to today’s youth and eventually the world. Electronic media has a huge global impact unique to this mode of communication only.

 

I definitely struggle most with verbal and nonverbal communication – generally presenting myself on a regular basis. In terms of verbal communication I have tendencies to stumble on my my words due to lack of confidence. This lack of confidence also tends to impact my nonverbal communication through awkward hand movement and body language. I am hoping this class will help give me the practice I need to gain the confidence to correct these issues.

 

I am so excited to explore the realm of television. I am definitely a lover of netflix (and hulu I won’t discriminate). I spend hours on the platform every week. I need netflix to refuel like most people need coffee. This is why I am in this class. It made a lot of sense. I have never truly analyzed a show for social commentary, but am excited to see things from a new perspective.

 

I chose to watch Fresh off the Boat for this project. The show is focused on an Asian-American family who moves from New York to Orlando to open a restaurant. It intrigued me because of the central focus on an Asian American family which is not commonly represented in American television and I thought that it therefore could have some interesting social commentary to analyze. I also tend to enjoy more lighthearted shows and the structure of this as a comedy sitcom fits my preferences.

 

I am excited for a fun year! Until next time, bloggers!

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