The King of what?

            This week’s group process I participated in had me read the article Ralph, Fred, Archie, and Homer by Busch which really allowed me to get a new look into what really happens in television shows- such as the episode of The King of Queens which we watched in class. Doug is seen as the “buffoon” of the episode while Carry is the one that is more relaxed and laid back in the show- overall more serious. In the reading, Busch makes a point that the working-class men are often depicted in some series as what he calls buffoons often bringing them to “shame” when comparing them to the success of women in the show. One of the questions I asked in my group process was- “The author suggests the success of the women of the working-class put men “to shame” in a show (when speaking about a specific example) .Do you agree that it is fair to say that women and the strength that has allowed them to move forward in life really puts men “to shame”? If so, do you think the same could be said about successful men putting women “to shame”? How acceptable or different would that be? If you disagree, would you think the causes of that type of mentality are our overall societal factors that contribute to the shaping of our thoughts?” The reason I asked that question is because I was interested to see if gender played a role in the thought process of people regarding whether or not it differentiates between agreeing that the same “shame” could be applied to women.After discussing this question with the group, we concluded that it did.

            I personally believe that media does a great job in marking the differences among characters especially when speaking about class and gender. The episode of The King of Queens allows for us to get an inside look of how that happens and is great in the further understanding of it.