WK8 Material culture: Television and Cultural forms

 TV and I have an interesting relationship. When I was a kid I sat in front of the TV watching Cartoon Network, Jetix, Boomerang, and the sorts, but I wasn't actively following a show. Rather, I was just catching what was on at the moment. Around the age of 10-11 we got access to HBO and that's when I started playing back shows and watching full seasons but even then it wasn't as prominent for me as it is today. At that age I enjoyed films more, I found them more practical than watching countless episodes on and on. But as I slowly grew up I started watching all kinds of shows more and more, going online and reading discussions, analyses, theories, and immersing myself not only in the story but with everything going on behind the scenes. I become obsessed with extracting every single detail possible regarding a show that hooks me, because if I don't then I feel as though I have failed to take in absolutely everything it has to offer. Most shows I watch today I stream on Netflix or HBO GO. However, shows that I follow on a regular basis I immediately find a place to watch the newest episodes ASAP. After I watch the episode I go on Reddit to read a discussion for the episode and see all the minute details I might have missed. Watching TV was a social activity when I was a kid, watching all those cartoons with my brother, and I believe it to be a social activity today as well. I can understand how the technological advancements in streaming might complicate the notion of it being a social activity, perhaps now that we can watch everything and anything everywhere and anywhere will lead to us watching shows more on our own at home in our room. But I would argue otherwise. From my experience, the advent of streaming has only strengthened TV as a social activity since it is easier for us to find absolutely anything to watch together when we're over at a friends. An interesting thing occurred around the world during the mass lockdowns we underwent. You would think that in these circumstances the possibility of watching shows together with our friends would be stripped away from us. But that wasn't the case. A browser plugin became widely popular which allowed people using Netflix and HBO GO to create "parties" which people could access through a shareable link and watch the same episode of the same show synchronised. During a period of mass social distancing, we were able to preserve TV as a social activity. Remarkable, really.

Mythology of gender roles

The Sopranos ushered in the new Golden Age of Television, opening the door for the medium to explore various themes and life situations in a more serious and focused fashion. Aside from it being a (subversive) mafia tale, it also portrays family life. In both these aspects of the show, gender roles are portrayed a mostly typical fashion. Of course, this is to be expected of one of the first TV shows of the golden age. The more revolutionary portrayals will occur only a few years down the line. Just by glancing at our protagonist, the anti-hero Tony Soprano, we notice a number of stereotypically male traits. He's bulky, which goes nicely with the preconceived notion of males having to take up as much space as possible to assert dominance. Alongside that he is very dominant , often yelling over people and being physically violent towards them. To top it off, he is a philanderer, using his natural charm and notoriety due to his profession to seduce women and start numerous extramarital relationships during over the course of the show. He continuously betrays the trust of his wife, Carmela, who is riddled with a plethora of stereotypes not only as a woman, but also as a wife of a mobster. Carmela is expected to always be there for everyone's needs, take care of them, look over the house, cook lunch. To make matters worse, she is aware of Tony's philandering but must put on a smile and ignore the fact so as to save face for the family because of their inherited Italian notions. But all the mobsters' wives are aware of their husband's goomahs, which furthers the humiliation they live with within this social ecosystem. Carmela is a cultured woman, chained by these notions imposed on her, who longs for an escape and an opportunity to apply herself in any way. For a brief moment or two during the show, during her almost-fling with Furio or when she actually separates from Tony, she feels this freedom, albeit short lived. She eventually returns to Tony, believing he has changed and that he will respect her. She most certainly knows these are empty promises, but the ideas of what her family life should look like have already been instilled into her for too long that she doesn't know how to live anything else. She is roped back into it. In the words of Tony's consiglieri Silvio Dante, quoting Al Pacino from the Godfather: "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in". Just when Carmela thought she was done, Tony pulls her back in, further showcasing his dominance as a male against female figures in his life. However, not everything is so black and white in The Sopranos. Yes, for the most part these gender roles are portrayed stereotypically to the extreme, and that's fine. It works well with the story being told. But The Sopranos tries something different. Aside from Tony being a mobster, he is a mobster who goes to therapy. This goes completely against everything we have mentioned so far of what a masculine figure such as Tony is supposed to represent. At the beginning of the show other mobster even look down on him for it (even though some reveal later on they're in therapy themselves). Here we have an archetypal masculine figure digging deep into his inner psyche and trying to come to terms with his feelings, with the help of a female therapist, Dr. Melfi. This was a crucial decision necessary to make a despicable anti-hero like Tony seem empathetic and it was a genius choice. Not only from a story-telling perspective, but from the perspective of gender roles. Having a TV show so impactful, one which will be viewed by generations and generations (I myself watched the show for the first time this year) and telling them it is okay to seek help and that you aren't required to understand everything. I would just like to add another important portrayal, that of Dr. Melfi. As we have mentioned she is Tony's therapist and she represents academic woman who has battled her way through a patriarchal society to achieve her goals. Behind the scenes she could still play the part of the nurturing, caring mother, but it is an important representation for all women who struggle with finding the strength to press on in this society.