The topic that I chose for my analysis this week is the television show Reba. This is a television show about a woman who is divorced and has three children. Her oldest daughter Cheyenne is married and has a child. This child was a result of a teenage pregnancy. Cheyenne and her husband Van live with Reba and her two other children Jake and Kyra. Reba’s ex-husband Brock and his wife Barbara Jean live across the street. Brock and Barbara Jean have a son named Henry. The entire show is based on the struggles that this family goes through in daily life.
The formula that is used for this program is that bad things happen to good people and live goes on. The divorce was very difficult for Reba and it took her a very long time before she considered dating anyone. I think that the producer of this show wanted to appeal to the audience of divorced families. This show can let people know that their problems are not unique and they are not alone. I also think that the producers wanted to appeal to teenagers and let them know that teenage pregnancy can be survived. That even though the circumstances are not ideal, life goes on.
Many of the rituals portrayed by the television show are rituals that any family has. I think that this is an important part of the show. It shows the audience that even if your home life is different from others that many of the rituals that are performed happen in any family. For example, dinner at Reba’s house, many nights the entire family sits down for dinner at the table together. This may be a different setting than some families but many families try to have dinner together.
I really appreciate shows like this because I when I was growing up there were not many shows with divorced families in them. This made children from divorced families feel bad because they are different. Television shows like Reba show the world that everyone has problems and everyone’s problems are different. Anyone can overcome their problems if they work hard and are diligent. I think this show provides many good lessons for people of all ages.
References
Reba. (2009, June). Retrieved June 21, 2009, from Crazy about TV: http://crazyabouttv.com/Images/reba.jpg
My mom loves this show and after visiting her recently, I started watching it too. I like the fact that this show depicts a different kind of family life. In today's society, the "normal" family keeps changing. I think it's good that television shows are starting to realize that too.
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