With the large popularity of 90’s television series, it is easy to assume most viewers have basic knowledge of the TV plots. The stereotypes in gender roles played on shows such as Boy Meets World and Full House greatly influence the theme and morals followed by the shows. For my essay I would be interested in interviewing the creators of the show Michael Jacobs and April Kelly. I would probably also interview the main character Ben Savage. For the directors I would ask if they knowingly added the typical gender role stereotypes, and what their motives were for twisting character Amy Matthews role from typical at home mother to uncommon businesswomen of that time. I feel like understanding their viewpoint on the importance of adding in those typical stereotypes would benefit how media is affective. Discovering they may not have even known they added these stereotypes would add even more significance to the fact that stereotypes have become to general to our knowledge. People subconsciously gender stereotype. For Ben Savage I would probably ask how playing the “good boy” was difficult or easy, and how fans perceive his real life personality. In addition I would ask how his boy meeting world incidences may or not be stereotypical to the life of a growing boy. It is easy to assume his role may be what really goes on, but his approach on script and approach in real life may differ. The information I gather from these interviews will help compare and or contrast the real life situations of stereotypes in young maturing adult hood and real life adult perception of the teenage world. Unfortunately I will not be able to interview them but I could interview a fellow peer who has viewed the show and ask if the gender roles displayed on the show are what they stereotype people as, and if the show affects they way they thought prior or after.
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I think this is a good idea to write about and unfortunately you will not be able to interview the characters from the show. I used to love that show when I was younger and though it seemed pretty realistic at the time I have to wonder how much of it was realistic. It would be interesting to find out if the writer’s had planned all the different stereotypes in the show because they all have such contrasting personalities that fit as friends, but you wouldn’t think you would see that group of people every day hanging out. It would also be interesting to find out from the characters if the roles they played shaped the way they stereotyped people in their real lives. Playing the same character for so long, did they subconsciously take on some of the behaviors and beliefs that those characters had and do they agree with those beliefs.
ReplyDeleteI love your topic. I think that it would be amazing if you could actually interview the actors, but since you can't maybe you could look into other interviews that they did in the past and see if you can find any of the answers to the questions you were asking. Also I think looking at the viewpoint of others is a great idea. I think that using different genders would also be helpful to see how their views differed. Also I think it would be interesting to see how different age groups felt about the stereotypes and see if their views were the same.
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