The "Father" in the Media

I will be looking at the “father” media type for this assignment. I would like to credit Rick Filipkowski in our class for giving me the idea, based on my commercial selection for the commercial analysis assignment of earlier this week. I will be attempting to work through this type chronologically, as the media’s view of it has changed throughout the decades.

In the television series of the 1950’s and 1960’s, such as Leave It to Beaver, Father Knows Best, The Dick Van Dyke Show, I Love Lucy, and others, the father was in charge of going to work to support the family, and that was pretty much it. He would also discipline the children with “a talk,” or help his wife through this crisis or that, and these situations were the basic plot of the episode. In short, the father was the ultimate “head of the household” in television’s earlier years.

Films also ascribed to this view of the father. In the short film, A Date With Your Family (Simmel, 1950), which was shown in schools to educate children on proper behavior, “Dad” is treated like a god when he comes home from work. All others in the house wait for him to start eating, and “Mother” should have dinner waiting for him on the table after a “long day at the office.” Thank you, Mystery Science Theater 3000, for giving me this example!

The values that were the basis of these assumptions of the father figure were that a male needed to be in charge of the family because the children were too young and the wife too concerned with the children and keeping house. He was the only one who could keep a level head in times of turmoil and lead the house. These values came, in part, from the American government. After WWII much of the American citizenry viewed their government the same way. The federal government would take care of the country just as you, in turn, would take care of your family. The government would provide for you, guide you, and protect you.

This view of the father figure continued partially into the 1970’s, with shows like The Brady Bunch. Mike Brady was still in charge of financial matters and had “chats” with his many children (and step-children). A change here was the view of the father-figure as being more approachable, more like a friend than the authority of the house.

However, this decade also brought shows like All in the Family. Archie Bunker was still the authority figure in his own mind, but the viewers could plainly see that he was just as fallible as anyone else. This was a great shift in the media’s image of the father. “Dad” was no longer solely correct because he was dad; he could be just as wrong as anybody else. His authority was questioned more starting in this decade, and this questioning continues to be acceptable today.

In these decades the value assumptions were questioned and, ultimately, were changed. Father, it turns out, doesn’t “always know best.” In fact, he is sometimes very ignorant of the issues concerning the nation, or he simply is frightened of them. The valuation now was in questioning dad/authority. The media, with its coverage of the Vietnam War in the later part of the 1960’s and continuing into the 1970’s, allowed viewers to see what was actually happening overseas (see the Museum of Broadcast Communications website). After viewing some tough images, people questioned their government’s actions, and thus also were able to question the father figures that were being portrayed in the media.

In the 1980’s and 1990’s, and through today, the father type, as portrayed in the media, has taken itself even beyond Archie Bunker in terms of being a non-authority. Homer Simpson in The Simpsons and Peter Griffin in Family Guy are perfect examples of the modern image of fathers. They are not authorities on anything, not respected by their children, and often are guided by their wives rather than being the leaders of their household.

Films, too, portrayed the father figure this way. Adam Sandler in Big Daddy and Steve Martin in Father of the Bride both were arguably ineffective as the father figure. Yes, they ended up fine in the end, but you certainly wouldn’t have seen a dad in films of the 1950’s acting like they did. The value assumptions today are that dad, while certainly flawed and often incapable, will help out as best he can. He is still a leader in the house, but not the kind of leader that he was in the 1950’s.

What will fathers look like in the coming years? I think that you will see a return to a smarter, more authoritative father as some of us are looking for a more authoritative government (and those that aren’t looking for it seem to be getting it anyway).