Unpopular Entertainment Opinions • Page 390

I always find it curious when people act like art isn't impacted by the dominant cultural trends of the time it is made in.

Modern Family is very much of its own moment. It couldn't have been made much earlier because of stigmas toward mixed race or gay relationships, but it also couldn't be made much later than that because it becomes a non-issue. As I was leaving the house yesterday morning I saw a commercial for some medicine with a gay couple, and no one seemed to mind. However, anyone who has paid attention to media for a long period of time will remember how much of an uproar there was when these things first started appearing on television. The show Six Feet Under suggested in a flash forward that same-sex marriage would be legal one day, but now that scene doesn't seem to suggest anything other than the development of those characters.

When I think of awful network shows like Two and a Half Men, I think of how ultimately disposable it will be in the longterm. It's like how Jay Leno always dominated the ratings but David Letterman is remembered as the man who innovated the talk show. It's like how indie rock bands will sell a fraction of what a pop star makes but their legacy will influence many future artists. Modern Family thinks it's groundbreaking but it's just Two and a Half Men for people who shop at Target and know how to use a bidet. It seems as insidious as the West Wing or Beasts of the Southern Wild.

 

No one said anything about art not being impacted by the dominant cultural trends at the moment. I just think that sometimes you can simplify things by saying that some people don't care. Sometimes the show just pops on TV and you laugh because something funny happened. I don't feel like I'm doing my "liberal duty" because "part of watching that show is doing your performative task of looking like you are enlightened because it has LGBT people and peopleof color, even if their character attributes seem to be just acknowledging that fact."

The grandeur picture? Sure, of course there's a lot more behind the decision of the network pushing that show and why it got made in the era it got made in, but sometimes it can be broken down as simply as this: it's just not as shitty as Two and a Half Men.

 

Yeah, I blocked him months ago because of what should be obvious reasons.

 

And what about people who just watch it because they think it's funny? Where do they figure into this?

This is what sends me up about analysis like this. It always seems so clinical and scientific but doesn't take into account that people are just people, taste and humor are subjective, and not everyone fits into lines on a graph. It's insufferable.

Also, I think considering the political climate of today and the amount of incels bemoaning the "woke mob", to say no one is bothered by LGBT representation anymore feels like a stretch.

 

What gets me about "I just like to watch it" is that that applies to virtually all cultural criticism. That's fine that you like to watch it but you do, as they say, live in a society

 

I don't think it is a criticism of the audience. He is saying the creators of modern family tried to create a more didactic morally virtuous show but the audience consumed it the same way they would 2 and half men; a disposable easy mind off sitcom.

 

Where did the "we live in a society" thing come from? Joker?

 

Seinfeld

 

Oh, snap. That does sound familiar. Thanks!

 

Well yes there is still a lot of homophobia, but the tide has shifted enough that there is more money to be made to be inclusive than appealing to the people still fighting that culture war.

I'm sure if I did a poll a lot more of the people I like and respect watch Modern Family as opposed to stuff like Two and a Half Men. However, the fact that someone finds that type of humor funny tells us something about them, just like it would if they said they found Curb Your Enthusiasm funny. They've done polls comparing stuff like political party preferences and the art they consume, and there are definite tilts in certain directions. It isn't 100 percent; my two bosses at my night job love Seinfeld and the Sopranos but they have very reactionary politics. Not everyone gets or signs on to the intent of art, as you can usually find one young Republican every day getting mad at Rage Against the Machine for suddenly getting "too political".

This argument comes up often when I make my worst films of the year list. I'll probably have some well reviewed awards contender on my list this year but someone will ask why Madame Web or The Crow isn't on there. It is coming from a place of expectations; I expect more from the director, cast, and crew making the movie for adults. I think of it like sports; if I say that Deshaun Watson is a terrible quarterback, I am comparing him to his professional competition. Yes, he could go and humiliate a high school defense, but what is the point in that? That is the soft bigotry of low expectations.

 

You know that's not true.

 

I have no complaints about any of this and I do especially agree with and understand the latter reasoning. Low hanging fruit is low hanging for a reason, and all.

I like Curb too. And Seinfeld. I like to laugh because it beats the alternative.

 

dropping the W quote at the end there absolutely insane tech

 

Who is this toward, because I honestly can't tell anymore since no one quotes anyone and clearly some people still engage with Vase.

 

Opening this thread, I would never expect “Modern Family” to cause so much controversy. I thought the first three or four seasons were pretty funny and inoffensive.

 

Not sure I'd call this controversy. We've had better. We've had worse.

 

There can be value in using art to critique an audience's culture. You can use the success of Two and a Half Men to point towards a culture's sexism. When asked an audience would never say "I like watching it because I hate women" they just think it was funny and that would be true, but the argument is that it would never reach that level of success in a less sexist society.

To use this criticism effectively the reader requires a prior knowledge that even though we consider sexism immoral a culture isn't sexist and does not become that way because they are immoral it's shaped by innumerable historic events, its own trends and cultural produce, influence from other cultures it comes into contact with, economic conditions, geography, demographics etc.

That's a lot but we can use art and criticism to say hey look at this! and then try to make our society better.

 

The soft bigotry of low expectations is from a George W bush speech

 

i knowwwww you aren't calling anyone else a dork

(you're right)

 

The pendulum on this is swinging back though. Pride 2023 every streaming platform had big Pride sections. There were tons of commercials and rainbow capitalism pride collections. That was borderline non-existent this year. I know it’s not really the main point of the conversation at hand but there was actually quite a big step backwards this year. Every year GLAAD does a big report on the status of LGBTQ+ characters and storylines in television and at the time of last year’s report, there was a 24% decrease in queer television characters and storylines.
I’m not trying to defend or attack Modern Family here nor am I trying to attack anyone in the conversation, just point out that progress (and lack thereof) in regards to the LGBTQ+ community is entirely nonlinear and very much a gray area

 

What is up with this type of post? I’ve seen like 10 of them in the past month. Do these dorks think people weren’t laughing during slashers during the 80s?

 

No I agree people should shut the fuck up at any movie/concert

 

Yeah idk I rewatched NoES recently and don’t think anything is consistently lol worthy

 

I think being obnoxious assholes is one thing, but I’ve seen so many tweets recently being mad at people for laughing at one scene or another - specifically in horror films. You’re not sitting down for Zone of Interest

 

An audience being into a movie is a good thing. Love me a good communal shared experience.