Comments on: ‘Housewife’ TV Shows Scoring Big: A Sign of Latent Conservatism?

By: M. Brewer

M. Brewer — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 06:47:21 +0000

I will agree with your statement “if Hollywood had any common sense”. Sadly, I see very little. I also agree that the Artistic efforts coming from the Hollywood-New York nexus (well phrased, btw) is heavily left-leaning.

However, when I see the root of music, fashion, and TV, I do not see liberal left. True it is not exactly “family values”. That said, music, fashion, magazines are all about the _individual_ looking good, or “getting paid”, or having the latest “bling” to stand out from the crowd, or tuning in to the latest episode of XYZ show so that you can be entertained (with commercial breaks of course). That is all right leaning capitalism.

In spite of themselves, liberal Hollywood-New York espouses liberal “common good” ideas that help even the lowest person, yet make millions and live in expensive mansions. Then they go to exclusive parties and talk about how much good they have done by donating a couple hundred thousand to ABC charity without really looking into said charity to see how the money is really spent.

Apologies if it sounds like I am ranting.

By: Govindini Murty

Govindini Murty — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 20:26:30 +0000

Hello Looksoverpark, thank you so much for your impassioned comment in defense of housewife shows! They are certainly a form of entertainment that, while often escapist and occasionally unrealistic, do nonetheless address the real concerns of women. There is so little to enjoy nowadays on TV if you’re a woman, and these shows certainly seem to fill a void. I would personally like to see more reality shows that feature successful working women, but all these shows are good for promoting women at all on TV. I will have to watch more episodes of “Desperate Housewives.” It certainly sounds like they have been upping the drama on that! I generally wind up watching more of the Bravo “Real Housewives” series because it happens to be on when I’m eating dinner, and also I generally like Bravo as a network since it is focused more on artists, etc. The only “Real Housewives” show that is remotely watchable though is the one set in New York – the ones set in New Jersey, Atlanta, and Orange County are just too absurd for me and I just can’t relate to those women. I will have to check out the Washington D.C. installment though, it sounds like it may be amusing. Thank you for commenting!

By: Looksoverpark

Looksoverpark — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 19:58:05 +0000

Govindini, how delightful that you are commenting on another of my favorite TV shows, “Desperate Housewives”. Like “Sex and the City” a major feature of the series is the friendship between four women. This does seem to be a great formula for success as each episode features a story for each woman, a story that is often, but not always, interwoven with the story of each of the other women. There are secondary characters who are often featured as well, but you are always aware of who the main characters are. Am I conscious of anything politically conservative or otherwise as I watch this show? Rarely…although they have tended to be women who live comfortably because of a good income based on what their husbands do, this is not always the case. Or, to put it more accurately in terms of how the story has developed in the six years since “Desperate Housewives” first appeared, sometimes the men have problems that prevent them from earning a good income and the woman has to step in to make it herself. Lynette, for example, did give up working for a while when she started having children, but then had to go back to work when her husband was having career problems. They have both had many career ups and downs since and never really had a marriage in which the husband totally supported the wife. Gaby’s husband lost his sight in an accident and could only work as a masseuse in a country club after losing all of his money after the number of a numbered account was blown away in a windstorm. After regaining his sight, however, he was able to move back into an executive position where he could support her comfortably again. Although Bree’s first husband, a doctor, appears to have left her comfortably off after he died, she married again, this time a dentist. Unfortunately he had a stint in jail and during this time she created her own catering business and started publishing cookbooks, both of which were very successful financially. Even Susan went to work as an art teacher’s assistant when she wanted to have her son go to a private school and couldn’t afford the fees. Her plumber (second) husband is currently having financial problems so they decided to rent out their Wisteria Lane house and go live somewhere that was cheaper. Perhaps the story is becoming a parable of current American life as many deal with difficult financial circumstances due to the recession. It does deal with the occasional social issue like gay relationships (in one case the desire of one gay couple to find a egg donor for a surrogate mother and in another, Bree’s gradual acceptance of the sexual orientation of her gay son, Andrew.) Occasionally, and lately, the series has gone off the rails a little bit in that it had not one but two murderers on the show. This raising of the threat level seemed so unnecessary. As a lover of mystery stories I feel that a writer has let me down when they introduce more than one killer in a story. Multiple murders are within the bounds of reason, but not multiple murderers. In fact there has been another scary character on the show recently…so there are three people to be afraid of. Don’t quite know why the writers have been doing this as the show doesn’t need all this drama. Have not watched any of the “Housewives” reality shows but for sure will be watching the Salahis in “Real Housewives of D.C.” (Some of us have low tastes.) In retrospect, can’t help but have a grudging admiration for their brazenness…in addition, she certainly looked spectacular in her beautiful Indian dress. Let’s see what they are like on reality TV. There are a lot of us housewives out there to enjoy these shows!

By: Govindini Murty

Govindini Murty — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 19:39:57 +0000

Thank you for your comment M. Brewer. I do make the distinction that there is a difference between the left-leaning output of Hollywood and what the ideological beliefs are of the rest of the country. That said, I think one can speak of the popular culture and say there are “latent” signs within it of conservatism because the popular culture is really generally quite liberal – just look at the movies, music, TV, fashion magazines, etc. The overall political culture of the US may lean toward a general conservatism (and that includes amongst people who may call themselves ‘liberal’ but often still have quite conservative values), but the artistic ‘popular culture’ which is created by the Hollywood-New York nexus is really quite left-leaning. That’s why I find it all the more interesting that there are so many of these ‘housewife’ TV shows being made that seem to express a quite traditional, ‘conservative’ (in the sense of being old-fashioned) view of women’s roles in the world.

Of course though, I completely agree with you that anytime there is a movie or TV show that espouses patriotic or conservative values, it does better. If Hollywood had any common sense, they would make many more pro-American, patriotic movies and TV shows. And I believe these movies and TV shows would do just fine and make plenty of money in the rest of the world too.

By: M. Brewer

M. Brewer — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 07:51:33 +0000

You mention in this article that there are “signs of latent conservatism in the popular culture”. There is nothing latent about the conservatism of the US. The only thing latent is the acknowledgment of conservatism in the US by Hollywood and the liberal media in general. If you look at talk radio and cable news, you will see that conservative formats always do better. Look at movies that portray the military in a good light and in a bad light and see which ones do better in the American markets. America is a center-right country. Try as they might, Hollywood can’t change that.

By: Govindini Murty

Govindini Murty — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 21:59:59 +0000

Thank you for your comment Josy. Yes, I would certainly agree with you that “Army Wives” is different from the reality-TV ‘housewives’ shows such as those on Bravo and VH1. My focus in this piece was more on the the reality ‘housewife’ shows that are egregious in portraying a fantasy ‘housewife’ lifestyle of shopping, gossiping, partying, etc. that seems to be remote from the experiences of average working women. Certainly the characters on “Army Wives” do not lead that kind of lifestyle.

And I would heartily second your comments about the valuable contributions army spouses – both female and male – make to our nation. A few years ago I had the opportunity to speak at a California-wide women’s conference that was organized in honor of military wives. There were hundreds of military wives in attendance, and I was honored to meet a number of them. Two things amazed me about them – one was how young many of them were, and the other was how strong and cheerful they were even in the midst of difficult circumstances. Truly, more films and TV shows should be made about their daily sacrifice.

Finally, since this is primarily a film site, I must mention the many classic films that were made in the 1940s that honored the women left behind on the home front – whether they were the wives of servicemen, as in David O. Selznick’s “Since You Went Away” (starring Claudette Colbert and Jennifer Jones), or women who rallied their families and fellow citizens – as in the Academy Award-winning “Mrs. Miniver” (starring Greer Garson).

In any case, thank you for your comment. We welcome a diversity of viewpoints here at Libertas and enjoy the exchange of ideas.

By: Josy Erne

Josy Erne — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 20:40:24 +0000

I’d like to make a distinction between Army Wives and the rest of the shows you list. The Real Housewife shows are kind of like watching a train wreck…as, in some sense is Desperate Housewives–funny, soapish, with moments of absurdity and moments of pathos. Army Wives is a different animal. While, critically speaking, this show is pretty well written and dramatically compelling–and it casts light on a somewhat closed society about which the rest of us ought to know more. It shows spouses–men too, as it happens–placed in a difficult position–keeping households running, in effect, as a contribution to our nation (in the same way that the spouses of police and firefighers do). They face low pay, bureaucratic insanity, and of course, long absences, sudden relocations, and the constant fear of losing their loved ones. It shows not just the burdens of duty, but also the pride and the courage in that dedication. And by the way, I’m a dyed-in-the-wool liberal, which in no way excludes me from thinking our armed services are important, or from feeling truly grateful for the costly contributions we receive from our military personnel and their families. Not too many episodes of Real Wives of Orange County make me feel that way.

By: Govindini Murty

Govindini Murty — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 19:47:03 +0000

Very true Prehistoric Woman – just look at my reply to M. Riva above. All these shows are a vindication that actresses/real women in their 30s, 40s, and 50s can still make it in the popular culture and draw in audiences. Classic Hollywood really used to cater to this audience in the ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s with the films of Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Katharine Hepburn, and others, but seems to have forgotten about this audience in recent decades. I chalk it up to the ongoing Baby Boom rebellion of the 1960s that advocated the abandonment of mature adulthood and of the related insights that mature women bring.

By: Govindini Murty

Govindini Murty — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 19:43:04 +0000

Thank you for your comment M. Riva. I agree with you that these housewives do not often act in the traditional “lady-like” manner, but they still do seem to address many of the concerns of women today. I just wish that there were reality shows about professional women pursuing careers – I would personally find that more interesting – but I’m just glad that there are shows like this at all on TV that feature women. The fact that all these shows are so successful is a big vindication of the fact that women are the largest audience out there and Hollywood could be making a lot more money if they catered to them more.

By: Prehistoric Woman

Prehistoric Woman — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 19:14:51 +0000

I think people enjoy the housewife shows, even though they may not lead lives like the rest of us, because there is so little good programming on TV or in the movies that addresses the concerns of women. That is why “Sex and the City 2″ was also so popular, even though it got ripped to shreds by critics. Many women who don’t want to just watch the usual teenyboppers are just glad to see women their own age on the screen.