Do we care?

Television watching is often an escape from our normal day to day lives. Many people now watch television as a mindless act to unwind from a long day. It is often used as white noise just to have something going on. There are Prime-time dramas that do tug at our heart strings and keep us on the edge of our seats, but sitcoms rarely do so. Sitcoms help us make light of our daily situations. Sitcoms reflect common occurrences of day to day life such as a child getting into their first car accident and how they tell their parents. Sitcoms take these events and make them comical, making the viewers feel better about their current situations facing them. 

Sitcoms do not examine the deeper struggles that the characters could potentially face. Characters such as Rachel and Joey on Friends who are in minimum wage making jobs. Producers of Friends do not show the economic struggles that both these characters would face if really examined. But do we want to examine the struggles? Class and money status are topics that are rarely discussed because it is seen as taboo. When the topic is brought up, it is a sensitive subject that many do not like discussing. But why? Why can't producers address potential economic issues facing their characters? As viewers do we care or want to see those issues? Or does the issue hit too close to home? When watching television is used as an escape many do not, for at least 30 minutes, want to think about the current dilemmas in their lives.