Tiereny's column on TV's "doofus dad" is suprisingly perceptive today. Well worth a pre-father's day read. It is, after all, a pretty interesting TV phenomenon. If the majority of shows presented other demographics the way they present fathers, they wouldn't survive a day. Ignorant blacks? Bitchy, materialistic moms? Moronic, accident-prone dads? The whole set fits, but only the last is widely allowable.
Odd. Maybe white males, as the dominant majority, are secure enough in their power and public image not to mind? Maybe they're the last demographic group safe to infantilize because, as of yet, they haven't protested their portrayals? And is it white males, or do the black-acted sitcoms work off the same format?
Ah, the mysteries of pop cultures. Tierney's answer, which makes sense, is that 3/4ths of sitcom viewers are female, and this is what they like. Maybe. Or maybe it's just that the stereotype works for everyone. Aggrieved women get to laugh at a father worse than their husband. Uncertain fathers get to laugh at a dad who makes them look superb. And confident fathers get to pat themselves on the back for their superb, clearly atypical child-rearing abilities. After all, nothing we all like better than a fairly harmless stereotype that makes us look good -- the soft ego boost of low expectations.
-Ezra
