The War at Home
Ok, so I just finished watching "The War at Home." It’s Fox’s latest sitcom. The plot goes something like this: a closed-minded U.S. Everyman tries his best to adapt to his open-minded, much-more-attractive and much-younger wife, his ambiguously gay son and his (somewhat ambiguously) sexually-active teenage daughter. His youngest son, who is maybe nine or ten years old, seems to be the only other “normal” one in the family (even showing, in the first episode, a pre-pubescent attraction to large breasts).
The man of the house always finds himself dumbfounded and perturbed by his family’s aberrations from societal norms (although I doubt he would know exactly what “societal” means). Yes, he tries to be open to his son’s possible homosexuality, or his possible proclivity for cross-dressing (of course they are conflated-after all, don’t all gay men want to be women?). Yes, he tries to be open to his teenage daughter dating a black man who also happens to be a freshman in college. But his concessions to his son and daughter always come with a facial expression and/or remarks whose implicit messages are clear: how can anyone be so crazy? I’m the only normal one here-why can’t my family be normal?? The show also involves scenes in which the various characters give commentary on what is occurring, their feelings, etc. In some of these scenes, the main character is seen having a heart attack because of some of his family’s “unusual” proclivities. Yes, they disturb him that much. You, the viewer, laugh because, supposedly, such things would disturb anyone.
So, our societal norms are once again reinforced through the mocking of those who do not conform to those norms. One could argue that at least the main character is trying to understand his family’s differences, but his reactions to those differences clearly mock his family, not him. As I said before, his reactions are comical because we are expected to sympathize with him. Also, it may turn out that his ambiguously gay son is, in fact, not gay, but is instead cruising for “chicks.” However, we find out that his friend, whom everyone believes to be his lover, is gay. Thus, we are spared from having one of the main characters be gay. We get to make fun of his homosexual tendencies while not having to face him as an actual homosexual-we get to eat our cake and have it too.
But does this make anyone else just sick? I mean, come on! A gay guy dressing in women’s clothes (a stereotype that I also just recently saw in the movie ConAir. Yeah, I’m behind the times a little)? A white father getting all bent-out-of-shape because his daughter is dating a black man?? Please!!! Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner came out when? I mean, The Golden Girls dealt with this back in the 80s, or maybe the early 90s… and the cross-dresser on that show was heterosexual! Just, Come on, people!!! Get with the program!!!!
The man of the house always finds himself dumbfounded and perturbed by his family’s aberrations from societal norms (although I doubt he would know exactly what “societal” means). Yes, he tries to be open to his son’s possible homosexuality, or his possible proclivity for cross-dressing (of course they are conflated-after all, don’t all gay men want to be women?). Yes, he tries to be open to his teenage daughter dating a black man who also happens to be a freshman in college. But his concessions to his son and daughter always come with a facial expression and/or remarks whose implicit messages are clear: how can anyone be so crazy? I’m the only normal one here-why can’t my family be normal?? The show also involves scenes in which the various characters give commentary on what is occurring, their feelings, etc. In some of these scenes, the main character is seen having a heart attack because of some of his family’s “unusual” proclivities. Yes, they disturb him that much. You, the viewer, laugh because, supposedly, such things would disturb anyone.
So, our societal norms are once again reinforced through the mocking of those who do not conform to those norms. One could argue that at least the main character is trying to understand his family’s differences, but his reactions to those differences clearly mock his family, not him. As I said before, his reactions are comical because we are expected to sympathize with him. Also, it may turn out that his ambiguously gay son is, in fact, not gay, but is instead cruising for “chicks.” However, we find out that his friend, whom everyone believes to be his lover, is gay. Thus, we are spared from having one of the main characters be gay. We get to make fun of his homosexual tendencies while not having to face him as an actual homosexual-we get to eat our cake and have it too.
But does this make anyone else just sick? I mean, come on! A gay guy dressing in women’s clothes (a stereotype that I also just recently saw in the movie ConAir. Yeah, I’m behind the times a little)? A white father getting all bent-out-of-shape because his daughter is dating a black man?? Please!!! Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner came out when? I mean, The Golden Girls dealt with this back in the 80s, or maybe the early 90s… and the cross-dresser on that show was heterosexual! Just, Come on, people!!! Get with the program!!!!