Explain why you think (or may be not) that Tv shows or Sitcoms portraying a well sculpted world, with friends for support and effortless enjoyment can posses a serious threat to how people view reality and their life outcomes?
Another approach could be exploring the dependence people have on such television shows as a form of escapism. By illustrating an alternate sitcom reality to our own, creators are effectively entrapping people in a make belief society with different rules that follow the laws or comedy rather than reality. – ninaphillips277 years ago
i don't think those shows necessarily demonstrate consistent support, rather they should how friends often take the mick out of each other to keep them grounded. the characters in big bang theory are often mocked and ostracised my most members of society and find solace within their own little community. A common trope of sitcoms given its a common sensation in the human experience – Iliasbakalla7 years ago
I agree with Iliasbakalla and Munjeera. These series often extrapolate characters' quirks to the extreme for comic effect. It would be interesting to discuss why this results in a broadly enjoyable experience, e.g. perhaps we identify with characters' flaws etc. The cultural setting of the show and the assumed cultural setting of the viewer would be another interesting aspect to explore, e.g. What is the cultural setting that producers are assuming when they write and produce the show? Do viewers from other cultures have more or less difficulty enjoying these shows? Why/why not? – bethlauren7 years ago
Its definitely an interesting theory... do we change our own behaviours based on what we see as successful in a tv show? Do we try to become more sarcastic because me might find Chandler so incredibly funny and relatable? And then, is this notion of "what we should be living like" having a negative impact on our lives or a positive? – miaraszewski7 years ago
Could it be helping people in some way? As a child, watching shows like that helped me to develop communication skills and made me strive towards finding friends that would support me the same way. I really think the fabrication of such strong friendships is a good thing, it may seem unrealistic but it's also quite endearing. – pixiehabits7 years ago
I have to say that Friends in particular had me wondering what they did for a living. Constantly swanning around the coffee shop, and living it up in their expensive inner city apartments. Not exactly a deeply moral tale, but it's difficult to hypothesise about its effect. Also, why can't I have my own canned laughter!? – Dion7 years ago
Not if you're white suburban and lame. – Antonius8657 years ago