Reflective Analysis Of The Movie 'All In The Family'

For my reflective analysis, I decided to watch the famous All in The Family series that had aired back in the early 1970’s. This is truly one of the most subversive television series in all of entrainment programming history. Norman Lear, the creator of All in The Family, catered moments to television that were so provocative they would have even made the famous director of Blazing Saddles, Mel Brooks, blush a little. Archie Bunker was a character who harkened back to an older time, A WWII veteran, a blue-collar worker, a short tempered family man from Queens, NY, and a very “opinionated” conservative. This character, Archie Bunker, reflected the very real extremes of white America as the stereotypical conservative and racially insensitive

The Jefferson’s were loud and proud and didn’t take any shit from anyone. One can perceive that as being disobedient or crass but others can also take that as a stand to take ahold of your rights as an independent person. There is a lot to be said when you think about the context of the humor being made during these very racially charged times in the 1970’s. Though the Jefferson’s didn’t have the lawyer like treatment of the Huxtables, George and Louise were still dynamos who were blazing a trail towards the “American Dream”. The fact of the matter is a lot of these culturally related jokes within the All in The Family series were more degrading and derogatory. You can spin it however you want, whether the culturally centered jokes illicit laughs, in no real situation should any person of colored be referred to as a “spade” or a “coon”. When these “humorous” judgements and statements come from a more demeaning approach there is no way to justify the use of this culturally specific humor. Many minorities want to break down the barriers that our majority white tv programming often conditions into our society. The overused delinquent and poor narrative has exhausted itself from the minority perspective. The diverse perspective of George and Louise Jefferson was a step towards television programs like The Cosby Show and Family Matters which gave a more accurate representation

At the time of the 70’s the bigoted father trope could have been seen and presumed upon just about anyone of Caucasian descent and admittedly, rightfully so in most cases. Regardless, engaging in this stereotype only pushes the narrative that these people will always be stuck in their ways and less likely to engage because of your differences. These are the narratives that divide us as a community and perpetuating these characteristics only make the discussion of race relations harder than it already is. Having Archie’s Polish son in law, Michael Stivic, made a wonderful foil to his staunch conservative views. Michael gave a bit of hope and a reflection of what the baby boomers and what white youth cultures were thinking during this racially charged time back in the 70’s. He is a Democrat and a professed Yippie sympathizer. Michaels progressive views allowed to challenge those who wanted to glorify Archie’s bigoted way but more than likely this balancing act only made the show partially redeemable. There is still a lot to frown down upon when it came to the lack or minimal use of positive identity development in these