Sunday, November 17, 2013
Yuppie Guilt in Contemporary TV
After reading "Yuppie Envy Vs. Yuppie Guilt" by Jane Feuer and from our screenings of "thirtysomething", "Moonlighting", and "Miami Vice", we have seen that yuppie guilt is characterized by glorification of consumption, but a nagging conscience of an idealistic past. Is the portrayal of a yuppie limited to just the 1980s, or can we find examples of it in modern TV? In which genres is it most prevalent? How might this new version of the yuppie be different from the one explained by Feuer? (Also, post YouTube clips of the shows you're discussing! YouTube clips are fun.)
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(Yes, I am answering my own prompt...)
ReplyDeleteThe portrayal of yuppies (young, urban professionals with money and glamour to spare) is certainly not limited to the 1980s. Arguably, our current economic situation is similar to that of the early Reagan period. Coming off a few years of economic downturn, markets are gaining their strength and the rich are getting richer, while the poor are poorer. And since economically disadvantaged people are rarely portrayed on TV, shows about rich folks are more popular now than ever.
Many obvious examples would come from programs like "The Real Housewives" of whatever city, where the very wealthy wives of moguls and sports stars glorify their consumption of plastic surgery and designer handbags and constantly whine about their "rich people problems". But the representation of yuppies even extends past reality TV.
When watching "thirtysomething", I couldn't help but think of the HBO series "Girls". Despite the fact that the main characters are supposedly broke recent college graduates, the show is practically an ad for the iPhone and the characters have the same whiny guilt as "thirtysomething" 's Michael. In last season's finale, Hannah is feeling sorry for herself and her "scary, intense" life and mourning her bad haircut, and uses FaceTime to chat her former boyfriend, Adam. Adam then runs through the city (still connected to FaceTime, of course) and races into the arms of his apathetic and sad girlfriend. The swelling music as he picks her up make this scene as dramatic as any epic film climax, which is pretty ridiculous considering that this is the re-coupling of the show's most unlikeable and whiny characters. Even the dull visual style is supposed to make the show look realistic, but like "thirtysomething", it is only realistic for a certain group of viewers. Most watch "Girls" and are confused by its depiction of Brooklyn as an all-white, rich, young, and stylish neighborhood populated entirely by one circle of mopey friends. These yuppies might be younger and more tech-savvy, but their guilt over their recent independence from their parents and relationship drama provide many parallels with their 1980s yuppie counterparts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94vEy2PXr24
ReplyDeleteI believe that we can find examples of yuppie guilt in today's television. Where I think it is most prevalent is reality TV. One show that I think is a great example of this would be Jersey Shore. During one of the episodes that I watched Snookie and one of the guys were at an ice cream parlor serving ice cream to customers. Snookie was trying to hide in a trash can because she didn't want to be there and she clearly didn't like to work. What I think is funny is that in reality each of the people on the show don't have to work because they are getting money just by being apart of the show. We see them buying all these glamorous things and living this high society lifestyle, yet episode after episode they are always complaining about something or some aspect of their lives goes terribly wrong. What gets me is that they don't really have to complain or make the drama but in order for the show to be successful and for people to watch week after week they have to play up the drama and make it seem like their lives are complicated. I believe that this is found all over reality television. Another show I think would fit would be the bachelor and the bachelorette. There is always tons of drama between the characters. And if they aren't chosen week in and week out until they are married to the other person their life is not complete and it's the worst thing that has ever happened to them. I don't watch any of these shows very much, or reality television but any of the clips can be found on youtube and can be very relevant.
A TV show that uniquely stands out to me when thinking of modern-day yuppie guilt is Weeds. It's been a while since I've watched the show, but from what I remember, it's based on a family who is well off, only to then experience the death of the father (who happens to be the breadwinner) due to a heart attack. Although it's not explicitly discussed, I'm sure there's life insurance involved to where the family would be able to survive had they lived within their means. Of course, if TV were that realistic it wouldn't be very interesting. The yuppie-guiltness that I find in Weeds manifests in the fact that the mom, Nancy Botwin, begins to sell drugs as if that's what she has to do to make ends meet as opposed to getting a day job. Even from watching the first season, it's clear that this show is marked as an upper-class family trying to maintain their socioeconomic status by whatever means necessary (“means” implying the hardships of being a kingpin in the drug trade). Referencing "The Hills" clip we watched in discussion last week, I feel as though the theme of the show basically becomes "dealing drugs is harrrrrrd," as if there is nowhere left to go but the black market.
ReplyDelete(SPOILER ALERT for "HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER" and "THE O.C." - not really interesting spoilers, but spoilers nonetheless)
ReplyDeleteI would agree that the typical yuppie-guilt theme described by Feuer is ever-present in contemporary television; however, I think that two distinct plotlines have diverged for so-called “yuppies” in modern television based on whether or not the audience is meant to view these characters as sympathetic. In the majority of cases in which a character is an unsympathetic and one-dimensional character, the audience views this “yuppie” lifestyle that the character is complacent in negatively.
In contrast, there is a further storyline occurring in television of the new millennium, in which protagonist “yuppie” characters return to their youthful ideals and still seem to “have it all”. The two examples that came to my mind immediately were Sandy Cohen of The O.C. (Josh Schwartz, 2003) and Marshall Eriksen of How I Met Your Mother (Carter Bays & Craig Thomas, 2005).
Both characters were introduced as idealistic legal professionals who aspired to serve the under privileged and fight the evils of corporations. Marshall wants to be an environmental lawyer who fights big oil companies in order to preserve landscape and wildlife; Sandy is a public defender who helps troubled teens in the under priveledged urban area neighboring his swanky Orange County community. Throughout the course of each series, the characters under go hardships and eventually secure jobs in the corporate firms they were so opposed to. Marshall works for a corporate law firm in which his only client is an amusement park that riddled with safety violations; Sandy goes into private practice and eventually takes over his late father-in-laws company, the Newport Group – who he previously had launched lawsuits against for their legal infractions despite his marriage due to his moral compass.
In the 80s, the message would’ve been for these yuppies to shut up, stop complaining and continue to consume. Nowadays, however a different narrative results; the characters find that despite their financial gains, their discontent and guilt over compromising their ideals are overwhelming. They decided to leave their corporate jobs and return to their lofty original ideals, blantantly stating that their happiness is more important and they will naturally be just as professionally successful in these less prestigious and less financially stable jobs. Marshall returns to environmental law and Sandy returns to work as a public defender.
Obviously there are other plot points going on throughout the series that effect the men’s choices, but overall there is a clear message in both these series that yuppies should listen to their conscious, reject the conformist attitudes and return to their youthful ideals – and that everything will all work out in the end if they do.
I think the idea of having yuppie guilt/envy is an interesting one for our generation. Unlike those in the 1980's, I think most of the young generation is saddled with economic burdens, such as school loans and the like (even though it might not seem like it in this school), but like to live well above their means in the mean time. We're taking our parents money to sustain this yuppie lifestyle, yet burdened with loans and a crappy market once we go to get a job. So I think we're in more of the yuppie envy stage, in which we want to act like we're yuppies, but we're not quite there yet, unless we're born well-off. We can see this in our obsession with shows like Laguna Beach, the Hills, the O.C, etc. These shows parade around money like its no big deal, and then we internalize this and try to emanate it so we can be just like them. I personally know some people who barely get by, without food to eat, yet they buy $100 leggings. I think for most of our generation, until we really hit our stride, we will continue to try to reach for this yuppie lifestyle, but without the stable job and loan-free background that those in the 80's had (from what I can understand with the reading).
ReplyDeleteAlso, this is totally accurate:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgW5M08GQ8c
I definitely think that the yuppies portrayed in thirtysomething and L.A. Law set the tone for television shows of the modern day. I love the comparison Chloe drew between yuppies of the 1980’s to Girls. Though I personally love the show and do not find the constant whining of the main characters to be overly annoying, I understand that many people believe the show to be about nothing and that characters have nothing to complain about. I find spectatorship to be extremely important here, because the frame of the viewer completely shapes their enjoyment of the show. As a 21-year old girl whose graduation date is (disturbingly) only five and a half months away, I harbor all too many of the same thoughts and ruminations of Lena Dunham and co. But I do understand how people outside of this demographic are loathe to find value in the show and how people within it aren’t happy to be reminded of what they sound like. I think Saturday Night Live’s parody of the show does a great job of reminding viewers what people with “real” problems sound like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZwsozPPSqg
ReplyDeleteI feel like the yuppie of 2013 is concerned with all of the material desires previous yuppies shared, but that the modern yuppie has far less guilt about it. Possibly this is because their parents were amongst the original yuppies who fought said guilt and therefore did not shame them for wanting material goods (if anything, they probably fueled their desires for them). Girls’ main character Hannah is in her mid-twenties and is still living off of her parents, who appear to cover far more than her rent and other necessities. I think that this lack of guilt is a point of contention that truly sets modern “yuppies” apart from their parents and other yuppies of the 1980’s.
What a fabulous thread, my thanks to all for participating! (As Oprah would say, you get credit, and you get credit, and YOU GET CREDIT!) Also, some hilarious clips. I think you've collectively done some great analysis of how yuppies do and don't show up in contemporary TV, and perhaps how the young(er) yuppie of today is presented in a more positive light, which has its own implications for whether the figure of the yuppie is sympathetic, critical, or complicit with capitalist/consumerist ideals.
ReplyDeleteI think yuppies are very present in modern television programs. Personally, a good number of shows I currently indulge in feature yuppies as the main characters. Additionally, these programs aren't limited to sit-coms and dramas, but are also present on reality programs as well. For example, The Real Housewives (of any city) and Keeping Up With The Kardashians are two guilty pleasure of mine which feature yuppies as the main characters. Both these shows undoubtedly glorify consumption, but do contain yuppie guilt in the sense that characters are frequently made to feel bad for their actions and behaviors. Also, the aspect of charity work and functions is very prominent in both shows and can be considered a form of yuppie guilt, as the characters wish to feel better for their yuppie behavior by giving back to those less fortunate. However, this charity work usually is in the form of charity dinners which also serve as another outlet to glorify consumption. These charity dinners allow the characters to show off their extravagant homes, clothing, shoes, and lifestyles.
ReplyDeleteI have included clip from the Kardashians that demonstrates yuppie tendencies that are frequently featured in the show.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRn2bSoAMTw