That 70's Show featured the lives of six teenagers in Wisconsin during the 1970's. In it, many stereotypes from that time period, and even today's, were presented and counterbalanced. So when examining this show, it is important to remember the "norms" that are supposed to be conveyed from that time period. (Mayne) Kelso was too attractive to care about being smart and very sexist. Hyde was the anti-government stoner. Jackie was the rich, glamorous, and materialistic girly-girl. Fez was, well, basically just the stupid foreign exchange student. Eric was the less-than manly Star Wars nerd. And Donna was the tomboy, often just thought of as one of the boys of the group. Donna and Jackie are polar opposites, with Jackie being super feminine and fitting into most norms, but both break the hegemonic norms that Lull mentions. They are oftentimes the in-charge person in their relationships. Throughout the series, the main focus became Donna and Eric's romantic relationship.
In the particular episode I examined, "Hot Dog," Donna and Eric end up becoming engaged. The first scene is of Donna in her Catholic school uniform looking at college brochures her guidance counselor gave her. She says that there is no point in reading them because she is planning on following Eric to whatever school he decides to go to. After Donna says this, Eric decides that he should do something nice for her, since in a way she is putting her whole future on the line. Always the materialist, Jackie suggests jewelry, and that there is a price tag on love.
Following Jackie's advice, Eric goes to the jewelry store. He tells the salesman that he wants to show Donna how much he loves her and that he wants to be together forever, but since they are in high school still, he feels an engagement ring says too much. However, the clerk convinces him that in fact, that is what the ring says verbatim. When Eric returns to the basement, he tells the gang, minus Donna of course, that he bought the engagement ring. Kelso asks if it's meant to be a joke, Eric replies that he wants to marry her, and again Kelso says, "As a joke?" At this point, his friends make him wear the "stupid helmet" and explain that high school is too early to decide that you'll be with someone forever, and that you don't get engaged when you're happy, but instead when there is no way out. To further compound the "stupidity" and scatterbrainedness of teenagers, Eric storms out with the stupid helmet still on and has to reenter the room to put it back.
In an attempt to prove that marrying Donna is a great idea, Eric poses the question to his parents. His dad tells him to think about his future, not Donna. When he tries to say that Donna is his future, his mom interjects by saying that even though he loves Donna, they are so on-again, off-again that it's likely that they will be off-again sometime soon. This makes it seem as though no romantic relationships formed in high school years can be truly lasting, because teenagers don't know what they want. Further showing how it is thought that teenagers are unsure of their wants, his parents go on to plan his future career, pretending that he is not even in the room.
When the time finally comes for Eric and Donna to meet up so he can give her a present for following him to college, Eric has decided that the engagement ring was in fact a stupid idea. He tells Donna about it after she prods him to tell her what the real present was, and he says that because everyone said it was stupid, he decided against it. He is allowing others' opinions to shape his decisions. Donna says that she wants to be with Eric forever, so they decide to follow through with getting engaged, and then they both go on to say how stupid they are for doing it, but they sound happy as they say it. This representation of adolescents being playful (Powerpoint, 3/9/11) and unable to be taken seriously and make well thought out decisions is displayed very well in this episode, especially with the reactions of the parents to such subjects.
Works cited
Lull, James. “Hegemony.”Brown, Adriane. Class Lecture. "Self Representation" The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH. 24 February 2011
Mayne, Judith. “Women, Representation, and Culture.”
It’s interesting to think back to the 70s and see how the show represents stereotypes during that time. To me, Donna’s character is interesting because as a tomboy most people who believe her character to have a more feministic attitude during man and marriage. Even for the 70s, most women were expected to settle down, start families, and often times receive no college education because men were still the “bread winners” of society. Typically, as it is today, women who are more tomboyish are not seen as the type to really be in a committed relationship and fall into marriage. But here, Donna’s character defies what the typically tomboy should be. She says she is going to follow Eric wherever he goes as she is truly in love with him.
ReplyDelete(FOR PARTICIPATION) I think that That 70's Show does a really good job of showing the "norms" of that time period. I think that they use satire to depict these stereotypes, which isn't totally obvious sometimes, but is an effective way to show viewers the stereotypes of both that time period and today. Some of the episodes and themes of the series are so ridiculous that it's obviously satire. They seem like they flip flop between obvious and subliminal satire throughout the series.
ReplyDeleteI love “That 70's Show” but do not remember this episode. Regardless, this reminds me of a real life example involving one of my really good friends that I have known since second grade. My friend and her now husband met junior year before prom and started dating almost instantly. After graduation from high school, she went to a community college in Ohio and he went to a college down in Florida. They announced their engagement in December when he was home for break and were married by the following June in 2010. She dropped out of school and moved to Florida with him. While he goes to school, she stays at home. This episode of “That 70’s Show” reminds me of this situation with my friend because her dad wanted her to finish school and really think about the decision of getting married at the age of 19. Just like Kelso in the show, all of her friends did not believe that they were actually going to get married right away after getting engaged but they did.
ReplyDeleteI remember this episode, and what this show is based on is the 70's. The producers are interpreting actions that were the norm for woman of the 70's. So Donna giving up essentially her own independent future was expected just like Jackie's dreams of marrying someone rich. Eric making a hasty decision in purchasing a ring, first was blown up and secondly an attempt to make a move that pacifies a situation. As for Fez in the show he is the "surface level inclusion of a minority".
ReplyDeleteI find it very interesting that Eric’s father said to think about his future rather than about Donna, and Eric’s mother gave him the on again off again explanation. I think this would be many parents’ reaction/answer if their son wanted to propose. The idea that adolescents do not know what is best for them is a common discourse seen in society and is clearly reinforced in this episode. In simple terms, the adolescent (Eric) is told that he shouldn’t propose because at his age you don’t know who you really love, and those feelings change. It is as if adolescent’s feelings and emotions don’t matter because they only think they know what they want.
ReplyDeleteFrom this description, I believe that this episode of That 70's Show does a great job of representing the immaturity that the teenage years are known so well for. All of the characters have an aspect about them that leads the audience to believe that they are "less than" normal adults, and not just in age. They are shown to have less intelligence, less reasoning, be less suave in behavior, the list goes on. This way in which the characters are presented lead the audience to view them in a way that simple cannot be taken seriously. I think because of this aspect of the series, the idea of romantic love in youth and in general is undermined because of the light-hearted exchanges of love that we are exposed to throughout the show.
ReplyDeleteI think you did a great job of analyzing this episode. The young, high school couple is only focused on themselves as one. Donna following Eric instead of making her own plans and Eric wanting to propose just to do something nice in return would just seem ridiculous in today's culture. Back then though, I don't think college was taken nearly as seriously as today because you didn't necessarily need a college degree to get a job. And, as we read in Harris' article, the can-do girls today are more focused on their own planned path to lead successful lives rather than a boy's. I understand the norms of the time must be understood but it is todays audience who is viewing this and continuing the idea of adolescences as immature, self-absorbed and unable to make choices for themselves.
ReplyDeleteI think this episode is a perfect example of a very mainstream stereotype around teenage relationships. Society tells teenagers that they cannot possibly find their husband/wife at a young age. High school relationships rarely last in popular culture, reinforcing these stereotypes. It is interesting because just a generation or two ago, 18 was a common age to get married. Donna is portrayed as the ideal "At-Risk" in this episode because her own career takes a back seat to her relationship. Although I don't agree with Donna's decision to follow Eric anywhere he wants to go, I believe that they could have worked something out where they both went to college, had successful careers, and stayed together through it all. Popular culture is rarely optimistic about these situations, which in turn affects how teenagers view their own relationships in reality.
ReplyDeleteThat 70's Show is a great example of teenage relationships I feel. You constantly see Kelso and Jackie, and Hyde and Jackie go back and forth constantly. But you see the somewhat consistency in Donna and Eric. I thought it was interesting how Eric's parents didn't want Eric to propose to Donna because they wanted him to think about his future. At that time I feel like that wouldn't have been the case. In that generation you wanted to get married and have kids as soon as you could it seems like. This episode is trying to send a message to those watching at home I feel like. Donna displays at risk girl potential when she says she would follow Eric wherever he went and wasn't independent for herself. It's hard to take this show seriously with all of the on again off again relationships I feel like, and doesn't have a very good message for teens with their own relationships.
ReplyDeleteI love this show!
ReplyDeleteAlthough the show is centered around the 70s era, alot of the depictions regarding teenagers way of thinking and gender norms. An example of the gender norms would be the response of the guys when they found out Eric's plan to propose to Donna.The guys' comment about "not getting married if you're happy", goes with the gender norm regarding males not wanting stereotypically wanting to get married/marriage is something that women in relationships have to force upon men.
Also, i have to say that I do agree with the decision of Eric & Donna to ultimately get engaged is a good depiction in support of Harris' article regarding the carelessness of adolescents and lack of seriousness because although the two of them admit that it is a "stupid" thing to do;they do it anyway, laughingly.
That 70's Show is a great example of stereotypes. I think it is also interesting that the one person of color, Fez, is depicted as childish, in his love for candy, and often times stupid. Also, Jackie and Kelso's relationship through the series is a great polarization or Eric and Donna. Kelso cheats frequently and Jackie only seems to be concerned with what Kelso will buy her. On the other hand, Donna and Eric have their little fights but are generally happy and content in their relationship. In this episode I think that adolescent carelessness is reinforced through Donna just deciding to follow Eric in whatever he wants to do instead of following her own dreams. It shows that during this time men still had the upper hand in relationships.
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