The history of sitcoms Essay Example

The history of sitcoms Paper My Family are immediately recognised as an upper middle-class family, as they are typical of West London, the soft underbelly of the South. The sofa and living room are used as the main setting in both of these 2 sitcoms, but the way that props and cameras are positioned further reinforces their different social classes. The Royles cramped living room is shown at awkward angles and no windows or open spaces are shown. This gives the impression of a pokey terraced house. The living room of My Family is airy and spacious, a wide area of it being shown and lots of carefully placed ornaments and windows. The Simpsons is also a working class family, whose standards lie between those of the two extremes; My Family and The Royle Family. The big difference, however, is that The Simpsons is set in a fictional area of America Springfield. As with the two English sitcoms, the living room is the main scene, but more of the outside world is explored than in My Family or The Royles, which are both quite inward. OCCUPATION: In this sense, the Simpsons and My Family are more conventional in work than the Royle Family. Ben and Homer the men of the families, both earn money for the rest of their family with quite advanced jobs (Ben works as a white-collar dentist and Homer as a blue-collar nuclear power plant controller). However, Jim, (the leading male of the Royles), is unemployed. His wife Barbara is the main earner, a blue-collar worker in a bakery. Both of the other women are between jobs, although sometimes Susan works as a tourguide, and rely on their husbands as a main source of income. Each of the three sitcoms have at least one child in school. We will write a custom essay sample on The history of sitcoms specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The history of sitcoms specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The history of sitcoms specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Bart and Lisa, the child characters of The Simpsons, are young and both attend primary school. Anthony of the Royles and Michael of My Family are the only child characters of these two sitcoms, and are in secondary school. Another similarity in occupations is that one character in all three sitcoms stays at home; The Simpsons baby Maggie, My Familys unemployed son Nick, and the retired Nana Royle. PRODUCTION BACKGROUND / AUDIENCE READINGS All three sitcoms are now shown on the BBC channels, but originally they were made in very different ways. My Family, the most recent of the three, was first shown in 2000, and was written as a BBC in-house production. The Royle family debuted in 1998 as a Granada production and The Simpsons, which first started out as 48 shorts in a separate program, first made its appearance as an independent sitcom in 1987, on American television. It is a C20th Fox Production. The Simpsons and MY Family are designed to appeal to the whole family, and are thus shown pre-watershed time. They are shown on mainstream channels, and entertain with more than one genre of comedy to suit children and adults alike. The Simpsons is probably the most widely enjoyed of the three, as it is a cartoon so it relates most to children, without losing out on adult viewers. The Royle family, however, appeals to a much more specified genre of people. It is shown late at night, and is put in the alternative comedy slot along with programs like Alan Partridge and The Office. Although its audience is small, the Royle Family has developed a loyal cult following with its unconventional situations and controversial humour. Some aspects of production, however, are true to all 3 sitcoms. An example of this is the inclusion of well-known actors. In each sitcom this is done for different reasons. Ricky Tomlinson and Sue Johnston play the Royle Familys Barbara and Jim. This adds to the realism of the sitcom as these actors previously acted the realistic soap Brookside. The producers of MY Family have included a well-known cast aswell, for example Zoi Wanamaker starred in Harry Potter. The reason for this is to boost My Familys ratings and make it more popular. Adding familiar faces causes more people to relate to the sitcom. The producer of the Simpsons uses celebrities to add humour. As this sitcom is a cartoon, caricatures and deliberately bad voice-overs can be used to make the sitcom funnier to watch. CREDITS/TITLE SEQUENCE Each sitcom introduces their characters by showing them in their typical environments. Both the Simpsons and The Royle Family include the couch scene in their opening sequences, this Simpsons including originality by showing a different humorous sofa scene every time. My Family, however, ends their title sequence more conventionally, showing a family portrait of the characters. All three-title sequences are accompanied by music. The Simpsons and My Family are both introduced to an upbeat theme tune, whereas the Royles dreary Oasis song immediately sets the depressing mood. The lyrics, half the world away, suggest the Royle Families cut off, inward status from the outside world. Also, the Royle family uses black and white shots to complement this mood, whereas Simpsons and My Family are less explorative, shooting their credits and title sequence in colour. TYPES: Generic characteristics have been shown since the start of sitcoms MY Family, The Royle Family and The Simpsons being no exception. This point is most clearly portrayed in the men of the families. This point is most clearly portrayed in the men of the families. Ben of My Family is arrogant, cynical and delusional, and holds the dominant place in the family, as does Homer Simpson. Homer is blundering, immature and stupid, yet still a character that audiences sympathise with. The Royle Family is probably the odd-one-out, with its leading male Jim. Jim is seen mostly on the sofa watching television, therefore in that sense he is domesticated, and he also doesnt work, unlike the men of most sitcoms. Subtle role reversal is used with Jim and his wife Barbara, for uniqueness and humour. However, he is the dominant person of the household, as he has his own particular seat on the sofa whereas the other family members dont, and also has permanent possession of the remote control. These two characteristics are needed to establish Jim to the audience as the head-of-the-house man. The women of these 3 sitcoms also share generic characteristics. They are all domesticated, and hold their families together, but some of their traits are very different. Marge Simpson is a typical affectionate mother; she cleans, tidies, cooks for and looks after her children (and husband), trying to make hers the perfect family. She is also seen as the stereotypical nagging housewife, her discerning moaning acting as her motif throughout shows. Barbara, of the Royle Family, also cares for her family, but in a different way; she goes out to work. Given this, she is less domesticated than Marge, spending more time socializing with her family or working than cooking and cleaning. It could be said that she tries harder to hold her deficient family together, as she has the burden of an idle husband and immature yet adult children, and doesnt moan about it. This is effective as Barbara is a character that the audience will sympathise with and respect. Susan, of My Family, has very little maternal or loving characteristics and therefore doesnt make a very strong bond with the audience. She is not very domesticated, as she often states she cannot cook, and also she is more the head of the household than Ben, instructing her children and husband on what and what not to do. The fact that she works also takes any maternal nature out of her character, and her sarcastic, tempestuous and sometimes-immature nature is used to get laughter from the audience rather than to make a bond with them. In fact, there is no palpable affection shown between any of the rest of the Archer family either. Every character contains an element of sarcasm, and the main entertainment from My Family comes from The Families ridicule and general intolerance of one another. One thing that most sitcoms have in common is the inclusion of one normal voice a character that possesses no prominent qualities. This is effective in keeping some reality to a sitcom especially if in all other aspect its is unlikely that any of its situations would happen.

Sikh marriages essays

Sikh marriages essays The Sikh Marriages Ravi General purpose: Inform Specific Purpose: To inform about Sikh Marriages. Attention Getter: Stereotypes. I know that everyone has some sort of stereo about an aspect of culture. The Sikh culture has its stereotypes of arrange marriages. I know that in the last 10-15 year this stereotype has began to fade away. Im here to educate your mind on this stereotype. v Most of the time the marriages are arranged. v Its not just not when two bodies are being unites its more like the two souls being untied v The marriage ceremony (Anand Karage) is performed in front of Guru Granth (religious book of Sikhism). v They are being united by the use of the Anand Karage. This is a way in which the 2 souls are being brought together. v Each verse explains the four stages of love and married life. v This marriage Ceremony is preformed by reading the 4 verses called (lava) from the holy book, which is called the, Guru Granth. Later we will discuss the meaning of the crucial lava verses, and the significance it has on these arranged marriages. With educating you on arrange marriages I would like to tell you all aspects of it. Which would include divorces in some rare cases. Now Sikh culture mind you does not encourage divorces. Sikh marriages are not treated as a damn social contract but rather as a fusion of 2 souls into one. According to the guru the bride and groom should love each other above anyone else. 1.Arranged marriages and love marriage 1. Anand Karage meaning, ceremony of bless. The fourth Guru, Guru Ramdas originally composed Lava, the wedding song, to celebrate a holy union between human soul (Athma) and God (Parmatma). The Guru wishes that our married life should also be molded on the ideal laid down for our union with the Parmatma (God). ...

What is the Most Effective Leadership Style in Local Government Essay

What is the Most Effective Leadership Style in Local Government - Essay Example As the report highlights simplification and transparency are needed to transform local government into a truly proactive, citizen centred form of representation. Along with local government reform what also needs to take place is a transformation of leadership. For too long, local government has concentrated on managing, or trying to manage, and many have forgotten, or never learned, what leadership is. This essay declares that the UK is comprised of a diverse array of local forms of government. The first tier form of local government is Parish or Town Councils. These councils are selected via the normal democratic process of elections. The sizes of the councils vary greatly, ranging from small rural parishes with several hundred stakeholders to the largest urban parish with over 70,000 citizens. Their authority varies depending on locale. In addition to parish or local councils there may be second tier council that provide local services to the community. In the major urban areas on England there are a total of 36 metropolitan borough councils. The areas with these larger councils include: Greater Manchester, the West Midlands, Merseyside, South and West Yorkshire, and Tyen and Wear. The councillors for these larger councils are elected for four year terms. Additionally, elections are held yearly with one third of the seats being up for election yearly. Every fourth year there is n o election.

Is Chinese currency (Reminbi) Undervalued Essay

Is Chinese currency (Reminbi) Undervalued - Essay Example emand to appreciate its currency since this is primarily viewed as one of the main reasons of loss of manufacturing jobs in the United States and its general deflation (Yang & Besnainou, 106). The RMB is the official currency of the People’s Republic in China having principal or base unit which is yuan. Literally, the RMB means people’s currency. Currency is significantly use for modern exchange of goods and services and this play important role how the country’s economy should operate. There must be significant unbalance economic activities between nations when for instance the US currency is overvalued while China’s currency remains undervalued. On the other hand, suppose the US continues to go for devaluation, this will necessary create significant impacts on its internal economy particularly on the growth of its industries. Considering that US economy and China’s are interrelated and both have active participation in exchange, the move of the ot her may significantly create impacts on how the other should run. Thus, there is a great consideration of knowing if RMB is really undervalued. There are two basic reference rates often considered when evaluating the valuation of currency exchange rate. The first is with respect to purchasing power parity. The next is comparing exchange rate needed to induce trade balance, or balance on the current account. Despite there are basic measurements in finding currency valuation, there are disagreements whether RMB is undervalued or not. There are different arguments whether RMB needs to appreciate or needs to decrease. The question now is how really it is to evaluate RMB which would be fair enough in order to understand its valuation. Reported in Roubini.com (par. 1 – par. 15) are different opinions from economic experts regarding the undervaluation issue of RMB which also involved different measurements they used. Structural shock and technical difficulties facing China’s economy provide no fair measurement

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas Essay Example for Free

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas Essay The word revenge is defined in the dictionary as : get satisfaction by deliberately causing injury in return for a person or oneself suffering. Governments and countries often take revenge by fighting, like with after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor the U.S government gave an order to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki as revenge. Kings and dictators also take revenge by invading other countries, and even the ordinary people, like us, take revenge on smaller issues. But is it morally justified? The answer to this question is largely depends on whom you ask, and it may vary according to the concepts and values that he/her was raised on it differs among different peoples, cultures and traditions. In this essay I will try to answer this question from the point of the story The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. In order to discuss the revenge issue of this book let us begin by a brief summery of the story. Edmond Dantes, a young sailor, gets a reward to be a Captain of a ship, but unfortunately four men arranged that he will be imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. The four men are Danglars, Villefort, Fernand Mondego, and Caderousse. Dantes has spent fourteen years in prison and then he escaped with a friend that taught him many things and gave him a map to a treasure. The friend (Abbe) died, and when Dantes finds the treasure he becomes rich and famous and is known as The Count Of Monte Cristo. During all of this period he didnt stop thinking about revenging his enemy. He just waited for the perfect time and now it came. His mission is to revenge the people who imprisoned him and help the people who helped him. The Count Of Monte Cristos opinion about revenge and death is that people who made other people suffer for a long long time should not die quick, in other words you dont just kill them, you torture them so that they will die slowly and painfully. Dantes wants them to be miserable and give them a hard time for a long period of time just like he suffered for a long time in jail. That is why he did not hire anyone to kill his enemies or kill them himself. This is proven in the following quote that The Count Of Monte Cristo said: If a man has tortured and killed your father, your mother, your sweetheart, one of those beings who leave an eternal emptiness and a perpetually bleeding wound when they are torn from your heartdo you think  society has given you sufficient reparation because the man who made you undergo long years of mental and emotional suffering has undergone a few seconds of physical pain? For slow, profound, infinite, and eternal suffering. Id try to avenge myself by inflicting similar suffering-an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. This last sentence in the quote, is a sentence from the bible and I think that by telling us this, the author wants to show us that even in old time, in a book that suppose to teach us about life, revenge was taken and was not immoral. This sentence also serves as well as a justification for him to carry out his revenge plans. Monte Cristo was very smart. He looked for the weak points of each person of whom he wanted to take revenge of, and there he hit. He learned a lot about his enemies after he escaped from prison. For example we know that Danglars loves money, so Monte Cristo arranged for him to have no money, he destroyed him financially. Another example is Fernand Mondegos case. After Fernand reaches a high position and became Count de Morcerf, Monte Cristo told the public that Morcerf is a traitor, and by this act he wrecked him socially. We also learned from the story, about Morcerfs love and devotion to his family. This was another target for Monte Cristo and he succeeded in separating him from his family. Fernand was so miserable that he committed suicide. Villffort, for my opinion is the most egoist person I have ever heard of (even though he is fictional). He would do anything and sacrifice anyone to his desire. One Quote in the book even stated so: I would sacrifice anything to my ambition, even my own father. Because of his political craving, Villfort was eager to have an innocent man imprisoned for a whole life time. I think that in this case revenge is very morally justified, because for a man such as Villefort, who was willing to put an innocent man in prison, then revenge is very morally justified. Danglars framed Dantes (wrote the letters), because he was envy and jealous at him because he gets the reward to be the captain of the Pharon (ship), and also at his spirit and self confidence Dantes had. I think that it is very obvious why Mondego framed Dantes. He was jealous of Dantes Fiancee, Mercedes. Gaspard Caderousse, was to greedy. Monte Cristo actually gave Caderousse a chance to  change and become honest, but Caderousee didnt. He was killed while trying to rob the Counts house. But Dantes was not revenging all the time he was a moral, good, and generous person. For example when the Abbe was dying, Dantes did not abandon him. Which shows us that Edmond Dantes is a good man. As we can see, Monte Cristo took his revenge in a way that didnt involve any act that was illegal. I think that revenge is morally justified in this particular story, because he did suffer a great deal, and there was a very good reason for his revenge. In every day life taking revenge is somewhat childish, but not taking it is surrendering. In my opinion revenge should be taken, and a person should be punished for a bad thing he did. The power of revenge is found in everyone of us, but we all have to know how to use it wisely.

Anti Social Disorder Essay -- essays research papers fc

Anti-Social Personality Disorder In a world full of fears, perhaps the worst one a human being should have is that to be afraid of his fellow man. The human that should be most feared is the one that has Anti-Social Personality Disorder or in laymen's terms the psychopath. The psychopath is probably the most deviant mind that exists and treatment is not very successful because there is not a cure or drug to control it. The solution in my mind to control the problem of sociopaths is to let them live in colonies with each other. Through my research I will develop an understanding of this personality disorder and convince you the reader that my solution might be a viable solution. The sociopath is a combination of other mental illnesses that are incurred in childhood as a result of heredity, trauma and the lack of emotional development. The lack of moral or emotional development which gives a sociopath a lack of understanding for other people's feelings which enables them to be deceitful without feeling bad about whatever they do. The under developed emotional system as explained in the video "The World of Personality Disorders volume 5" says the sociopath is "emotionally retarded" . The sociopathic behavior problems that start as a child have links to heredity, a family with a pre-disposition to perform crimes, alcoholic parents that do crimes, irresponsible behavior that persists and parents that do not discipline. The child that will eventually be a sociopath exhibits certain feeling inside that they are inadequate, shamed and because of that they are teased and made fun of. The child characteristics of a future sociopath consist of being incapable of following the rules. The youngster will skip school, bully, steal, torment animals, run away from home and the child is likely to develop Attention Deficit \Hyperactivity Disorder or AD|HD. At an earlier age than their peer group the child will smoke drink, do drugs, and become sexually active. The diagnoses of Anti-Social Personality Disorder is not used for people under the age of 18. The Psychopath is defined in the dictionary as a person suffering from, especially a severe mental disorder with aggressive antisocial behavior which is a nice way of saying a really bad and mean person. There are many characteristics of a sociopath and each sociopath has thei... ... if they were caused to interact with fellow sociopaths it would keep them interested because it is not as easy to manipulate or con. The possibility of violence in my colony is great but the sociopaths would not mind because it is in their personality and it would serve us better if they killed or hurt each other rather than us. In closing the sociopath is so hard to deal with we should make strides to control their behavior in public. --- Bibliography BOOKS Wing, John Kenneth, Reasoning About Madness, Oxford Press, Oxford 1978 Milt, Harry ,Basic Handbook on Mental Ilness,Scribner, New York, 1974 Hales, Dianne, Caring for the Mind, Bantam Books, New York, 1995 ARTICLES Salama M.D., Aziz A., The Antisocial Personality, The Psychiatric Journal of the University of Ottawa, Ottawa, 1988 Malaney M. D. , Kathleen R., Patients with Antisocial Personality Disorder, Post Graduate Medicine, 1992 Unknown, unknown, Psychopathic Patients Pose Dilemma For Physicians and Society, CMAJ, 1995 Hare Ph.D., Robert,Predators, Psycology Today, Feb. 1994 Hill, Heather,Monsters In Our Midst,Homemaker's Magazine, Oct. 1995 VIDEO The World of Abnormal Psychology Personality Disorder

My ambitions in life Essay

My name is Jennis Dave Mirafuentes, I am now 16 years old. Were all 5 children in my father side, why I say in my father side only? It is because my father before was having his first family but they were separated because of some instances. We have 3 girls that is daughter of my father in his first wife and we are 2 in my mother side and we are both boys. We are now living in Km. 8 Ulas, Davao City. I finnish my primary study in Talomo Central Elementary School and my secondary in Talomo National High School. My first ambition in life when I was only a child is to become an architect because I love making an illustration of an house before but it was changed when I grow up because I realize that having an architecture course is difficult. When I was in my fourth year in high school I was still thinking of what course I will take in college. And from that time I realize in myself what if I will follow the steps of my mother. I will continue her job in teaching other people because before my mother was graduated of education and she is also a board passer but when the time that she raise me and my younger brother she doesn’t have enough time in teaching so that she decide to stop teaching and focus in caring of us. That’s why I decided to become a BS-Math student, Math because it was my favorite subject. Why I should become a teacher? Maybe now I still don’t have an ability to teach wisely other people but I didn’t refuse my ambition because the reason I studied is to learn the techniques on how to become an effective teacher. Maybe now I was only holding one quality to become a teacher and that is my determination and willingness to teach.