Monday, September 16, 2013
Consumerist Morals
What does George Lipsitz mean when he suggests that working class ethnic sitcoms of the 1950s put the borrowed moral capital of the past at the service of the values of the present? Based on his essay and your viewings this Thursday, how did these sitcoms demonstrate how "wise choices enabled consumers to have both moral and material rewards"?
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In his article, George Lipsitz suggests that the working class ethnic sitcoms of the 1950s put the borrowed moral capital of the past at the service of the values of the present—meaning that essentially the 1950s sitcoms borrowed the “collective social memory about the 1930s and 1940s” (Lipsitz 73), morals of frugality and selflessness, and twisted them around to encourage consumerism and living above one’s financial means. During a time of great new expansions to the consumer market, and a general social consciousness of one’s wealth and updated kitchen appliances, consumer goods and marketing industries had to find a way to “sanction and justi[fy]” purchasing new goods, as well as “demonstrate that the hedonistic approach to a life is a moral one, not an immoral one” (Lipsitz 77). In order to do so, television programs employed working class ethnic families to moralize the decision to buy a new stove or television set—turning the act of purchasing something into a symbol for upward mobility and a pure American dream.
ReplyDeleteFrom the Thursday viewings, I thought this idea was most prevalent in the episode of Mama. The episode we watched was framed around Aunt Jenny being almost swindled out of a fairly great sum of money—of course it ends with Aunt Jenny and her hard-earned money being safe, and the episode is capped off by a comforting male announcer extolling the virtues of Maxwell House Coffee. The announcer harkens back to the narrative of the episode, comparing a cheaper coffee brand to that of being cheated, and to buying a more expensive “quality” brand as being the moral and sound choice. By making this comparison, the act of purchasing Maxwell House Coffee ascends from a mere act of consumerism to that of not only a wise use of money, but also that of morality and selflessness—purchasing the very best for your family.
The social memory of the 30s and 40s, that is to say the Great Depression, is "undercut" by the 50s era consumerism. These ethnic, working class sitcoms addressed this clash. By doing so, these shows could highlight the way in which "rising standard of living, urban renewal and suburbanization contributed to declines in ethnic and class identity". Though in order to address this they "resolved tensions [...] by binding them together in false unities and collectives defined for the convenience of capital accumulation." These shows therefore addressed these concerns by offering false images of the working class life in minority communities. My understanding is that these shows offered false identities of ethnic life in order to encourage consumerism. Though, at the same time, they "generated and circulated critical dialogue as an unintended consequence". Therefore these shows, while false interpretations of working class life, started a conversation on the true state of life for minorities and the working class.
ReplyDeleteMoreso than any other era, the television of the 1950s presents a unified vision of American ideals such as consumerism and capitalism. The biggest, and most obvious, reason for this is that there are so few stations. Of course today, with hundreds (if not thousands) more channels available - not to mention if one thinks about the implications of the internet and all the emerging problematic things there - it is much harder to be cohesive. But in the 50s, all this programming could be closely monitored by the government to portray the average American as a middle-class suburban drone. Most characters on scripted television aspired to the same ideals of achieving the nuclear family and minor (even if they don’t view it as so) success within their given career choice. Most programs took place in the home because advertisers were trying to appeal to the housewife who would buy household products and then watch television about her ever-so-exciting life as a slave to the American Dream. Thus, sitcoms demonstrated how "wise choices enabled consumers to have both moral and material rewards" by showing that citizens were an outstanding citizen only if they conformed to this very narrow viewpoint of what it is to be an American (white, middle-class, heterosexual, etc.)
ReplyDeleteThe ethnic working class sitcoms were used in the 50s to help the nation recover from the woes of 1930s depression. In a postwar America, the networks used the nuclear family staple as puppets to promote consumerism.The shows established the common lower middle class family working and buying. The programming was closely under the scope of government oversight and the government wanted to strengthen the ideals of the American dream. False identities of these characters were transformed into norms to encourage people to believe that anything and any object (material) was obtainable under a capitalistic system. A culture of consumerism replaced a culture of financial fears.
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