Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Freaks and Geeks
So in class the other day, we watched the pilot episode of a TV series called Freaks and Geeks. It was actually a really funny show and I don't really understand why the NBC network chose to cancel it after only one season. I think it could have been a really big hit. The show definitely hit on some of the sociological theories we talked about in class. According to the functional theory by Emile Durkheim, people are always a part of different groups. The show Freaks and Geeks really stressed the many different cliques at a high school and which people are part of them. There was a group of nerds (Sam and his friends), and a group of smokers (Daniel and his friends). These groups interacted positively with one another. Each gave the people in the group an opportunity to find a zone in which they are most comfortable. Also the conflict theory by Marx was mentioned in the episode. The teachers, counselors, and parents had power over the students/children. They had the power because they provide for their students/children, and if the students or children disobey them they can punish them by stopping providing them with an education or a home. Finally, symbolic interaction was also discussed in the episode. The main character, Lindsey, wears an army jacket that is meant to represent her new found rebellion against what her parents and teachers expect of her. I can definitely relate to an object symbolizing something about myself. My car represents that I'm independent and no longer have to count on my parents to drive me everywhere.
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I agree with you that having a car demonstrates independence, but we aren't really rebelling by driving ourselves everywhere. But, I still agree with you that Lindsay's jacket is her rebellion against the people with power in her life.
ReplyDeleteI respectfully disagree with the statement that the groups interacted positively with one another. One example when they didn't coexist was when Kim looked down on Lindsey because she was a "rich girl trying to piss off her parents." Kim also terrorized Sam in the hallway because he is small and weak. Alan contributed to the disruption of the peace between groups when he kept going to the nerds and threatening them.
ReplyDeleteI also believe that Lindsey wear's her father's old army jacket as a symbol of her transition of not knowing who she is to finding herself. I think that as she starts gaining more of a sense of who she is a person, she will wear the jacket less and less.