Like many other popular shows, "How I Met Your Mother" shows that Americans live in a big city, and in this case that city happens to be New York. They all have excellent jobs including an architect, a news reporter, a teacher, a lawyer, and an unnamed corporate job. The women in this show are both very thin, dress nicely, and have perfectly manicured hair. The men aren't entirely attractive but they are fit and portrayed as being successful. I think these characteristics would give the idea that all Americans are successful and live in the big bustling cities. Many shows portray this lifestyle versus the lifestyle of a farmer or other small-town employee.
In this show the five main characters eat at the same diner every day with the same exact people. This gives the impression that we eat out all of the time, which some people do, but not everyone and that we don't like to try new things. It also makes us seem very exclusive in our groups of friends and that we don't like to bring in new people. In this show the only new characters brought to the diner are new girlfriends or boyfriends. New boyfriends and girlfriends occur often in this show and I think it makes Americans look desperate and like they can't maintain stable relationships.
My favorite character in this show is Barney Stinson, who is also probably the most morally corrupt character. He is essentially the "player" of the show and is never in committed relationships but always has a woman by his side. Basically every scene with him in it is him at a bar checking out girls and trying to convince them to have sex with him. While this is always portrayed in a funny manner, it still gives the impression that Americans are promiscuous and don't take relationships seriously.
This show is a comedy and uses stupid humor often. The men who are all best friends get in stupid fights often about unimportant events and everyone sort of dates everyone. It basically is an overdramatized version of high school. I think this makes Americans look very immature and that we get all worked up over petty little issues.
While I do think this show is hilarious, I don't think it sheds a bright light on Americans. Many shows give the same ideas as I gave here. For example "Desperate Housewives," "My Sweet Sixteen," "Sex in the City," "Gossip Girl," and "The Hills" all portray Americans as rich and promiscuous. For many people these characteristics may be valid, but for the majority they are not a reality.
Questions: Do you believe people from other countries view us as we actually are or as television portrays us? Do you feel that sexual content on television is accurate of Americans? Is there too much sexual content or do you feel it is too explicit?
Well, I watch the same shows over and over and over. Because of that I don't know if I can objectively answer your questions. But I think movies play a bigger role in the American image than do television shows. With that said, I do think that even the craziest shows, such as "Seinfeld"--the show about nothing--incorporates some truth about our American identity. In regards to sexual content, however, I think television shows overplay plot scenarios involving sexuality. For instsance, even though I enjoy the show "Everybody Loves Raymond," I don't always think that the storylines focusing primarily on sexual content work in terms of comedic effect.
ReplyDeleteI feel like people from other countries view us as we are on tv. They don't really have anything else to go off of. They watch tv shows and automatically assume that is the way we are. They only way they would not see us as what we are shown on tv is if they have actually been to America, or seen first hand exactly the people we are.
ReplyDeleteI feel like there is too much sexual content in American tv shows today, just an opinion though. It's probably true that some people watch tv for the sexual content, but I personally don't agree with it all!
I really think it all depends on what shows other people and if they are seeing more than on episodes. I think just about every TV shows has at least one episode that would give a really bad impression of Americans. So if a person got to see more than episode or more than one series they would get a better impression of Americans. Like you said the sexual content may be true of some Americans but not most. I think there are several other countries that are more promiscuous.
ReplyDeleteI for sure believe that other countries view us as the media views us. They cannot know for sure how are unless they have close friends or family members here i feel.
ReplyDeleteI think that people from other countries view us as they see on tv becuase if they are not surrounded by americans all the time than that's all they have to go off of. Or maybe they view all of us as the way the few people they may know act so if they now someone who is very sexually oriented and rude and obnoxious maybe they would think all americans are like this. But on tv wise I do not think others from other countries would view us as too sexual because the tv that is on air in other countries is usually much more explicit than in America.
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