One of my good friends is obsessed with Dallas. I am not talking about the hometown of the Dallas Cowboys, but the soap opera “Dallas”. He says that his mother used to watch the show. He watches it now because it makes him think of her. Although I had never watched the show before, I had heard of it quite a bit. Brazil (I am originally from Brazil) was one of the dozens of countries that translated and broadcasted “Dallas” to their national audience. My parents watched “Dallas” too so I was able to relate to my friend’s interest in the show. I decided to watch a few clips on YouTube. The show revolved around the Ewing family. They were an extremely wealthy family from Texas who made their money in the oil industry. The series lasted 13 seasons from 1978 to 1991. “Dallas” became a national phenomenon during the 1980 season with the episode in which the main character JR was shot. Close to 42 million households tuned into the show to find out who had shot JR. This episode is still the second most viewed event in all American television history.
For anyone who does not have personal reasons to watch “Dallas”, the show might not make much sense nowadays. However, it was huge during the 80s. Why was it so popular at that time? It was popular because it was relevant for viewers of that specific period of time. Many media texts will only make sense when considering the context in which they were created.
Most of the show took place in the 80s. During that time, the country was going through significant social and economical changes. It was the Reaganomics period. A time in which the federal government reduced spending, controlled the money supply to reduce inflation, deregulated corporations, and lowered income tax and capital gains tax. All these policies were implemented to increase the circulation of money in the economy. People were sold on the idea that the country was rich and everyone could become rich. They believed that one day they too could live luxuriously like the Ewing family.
Taciani D.
Very insightful. What do our current economic conditions suggest about current popular media?
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ReplyDeleteThe show “New Girl” revolves around four adults who have to share an apartment in order to live comfortably. It seems that none of them would be able to afford such a big apartment on their own. Three of the characters (Jess, Nick, and Schmidt) have “stable” jobs while the fourth one (Winston) is a former athlete who gets temporary jobs once in a while. Nick is a bartender and Jess is a teacher. Although these might not be considered very glamorous jobs in the eyes of society, the characters seem happy with what they do. Schmidt has a corporate job that apparently pays well since he is the one who can eat sushi and “fancy cheese”. However, he still has to live with his friends. Considering the characters’ living situation, the show seems to represent our current economic condition. Moreover, these characters appear to be more privileged than the average people. They dress nice, their apartment looks upscale, and they seem to have extra money for entertainment. In one episode, Schmidt was planning his birthday party. He wanted a party bus. Jess and Winston ended up getting a school bus decorated for the party. They had to improvise because they did not have money to throw a fancy party. They made it look very “homemade” which was thoughtful. However, the whole idea of getting the school bus only happened because Schmidt could not find any available party bus. It seems that if there was a party bus available, money would have not really been the problem.
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