The contribution of American sitcoms to the daily life of teenagers

Résumé du document

A television situation comedy, popularly known as sitcom is meant for teenagers to relate to their life, to manage their life and solve their problems. But at the same time there is a debate whether sitcoms really has an intention to educate, or whether its intention is only to entertain. Inspite of this sitcoms seem to influence teenagers. The language used in a TV series called "Friends" is considered to be inappropriate for teenagers. If teenagers act so, it means that TV shows might be having a negative ampact on them. The power that TV has over teenagers is often discussed and makes us wonder whether TV series really help teenagers to solve their problems.

Extraits

[...] Whereas some teenagers may feel comforted and soothed when watching series that match their own experience, some won't relate what they see on TV to what they go through in real life. If some teenagers identify very easily with TV characters, a good many people, on the other hand, find TV series too far away from reality to identify with a character. Those people will only consider TV series worth entertaining them, and nothing more. In addition, even though I'm certain that TV series can be helpful to some teenagers, I'm still aware that no show can replace a psychiatrist, a doctor or a real friend to talk to. [...]

[...] How can TV shows help teenagers? However, how come these TV shows can help teenagers feel more confident, for example? Mostly, I think, because they tend to reassure teenagers, who are often full of doubts about life, or ill at ease in their own life. As Joss Whedon, the creator of “Buffy the vampire slayer” says, “Buffy's universe is an emotionally safe place”. As a matter of fact, the main characters of the show form a very tight group of friends who care a lot about each other, who share the same vision of life and serve a common goal. [...]

[...] The only and limited power of TV series would be to give advice, or to help teenagers talk about their troubles. Series such as - aimed especially at teen aged girls which deal with problems like birth control or Aids prevention, do, I'm sure, help some teenagers become conscious of these problems. Even if it's in a very didactic way, why blame them if it actually works? Young teenagers can, in fact, think a piece of advice is worth following if it comes from their favorite TV show; and show producers also use this influence they have on teenagers for good purposes: you can often see, at the end of an episode of or “Growing Pains”, for instance, the actors give direct advice to their audience, speaking in their own name. [...]

[...] In “Felicity”, the psychology of the different characters is thoroughly tackled, and all of them share their feelings and emotions with intensity. This way, it is very easy to identify with these students; and seeing them express in a sincere and simple way what may seem impossible to say can help teenagers find the courage to proceed in life. By providing role models who do not always succeed, who also make mistakes and who doubt a lot, shows such as “Felicity” or “Dawson's Creek” may help teenagers to either identify their problems, or to find a way to cure them. [...]

[...] Far away from (which, by the way, I'm sure has also helped lots of teenagers face problems like drugs, Aids prevention, abortion and so on) these new shows have totally cast off the didactic way that had, especially on its early days. “Felicity”, for instance, is the story of a sophomore at NYU, who moved from California to New York out of the blue, just to follow a boy she had a crush on. She is experiencing a situation that many American college students go through: being alone in a campus, far away from home. [...]