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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DMaA who wrote (254436)	6/14/2008 3:18:08 PM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 793706

a spin off of that episode. The best thing I have ever read on the subject about sterotypes in American TV and Movies is "The View from Sunset Blvd." "I read this book over 20 years ago. It taught me "how to watch TV." Critics have compared it to the film book classic, FROM CALIGARI TO HITLER (an analysis of how Weimer Germany films reflected German sociological undercurrents). Ben Stein watched popular TV shows from the 1970s, both sitcoms and dramas, then analyed how various social groups are protrayed: businessmen (as criminals), the military (psychotic sadists), minorities (good-hearted), criminals (driven to do bad by racism and poverty) clergy (nice but ineffectual), govt social workers (noble, idealistic, hard-working). Watch any episode of a 1970s show (Beretta, Kojak, Good Times, Rockford Files, The Jeffersons), and you'll be amazed at how consistent the formula is. Ben Stein also interviewed many TV writers and producers, and demonstrated how their own backgrounds and lifestyles gave rise to the liberal biases reflected in their shows. (They really believed the world was as they portrayed it). Maybe half were Jews, the rest mainly Catholic, who were raised in working class environments and felt the sting of prejudice from "country club WASP Republicans." Today, TV is not so liberal as in the 1970s. TV writer Rob Long wrote in National Review a few years back that 1990s sitcoms are apolitical, because a newer generation of TV writers has replaced the old. Most modern TV writers come from wealthy Hollywood families, or from the Ivy League (as was Long), so they no longer have the same liberal biases. Even so, Ben Stein's book is STILL AS RELEVENT today as ever. Not because of what he discoverd about 1970s TV, but because of his method of analysis. Stein's book TAUGHT ME HOW TO WATCH TV. It's simply the best TV analysis book out there, great reading for anyone who wants to be a TV critic, or just to see TV more clearly. Plenty of film theory books, but this is one of the few really great TV theory books. Also, it's a quick, easy read. Much intelligence, but in accessible language. And YES, this is the SAME Ben Stein who hosts Comedy Central's WIN BEN STEIN'S MONEY. amazon.com