There are several aspects within the series that highlights the way the four women were conveyed together as a family
. Dorothy is always placed in the centre of the group and therefore became the main focal point of every
conversation, the others centring on her for guidance and advice. Her job role as a substitute teacher contributed greatly to her articulate lines and more cultured demeanour. In one particular episode, their Miami home was burgled and when the characters discovered this, all four ladies walked around their home to investigate what may have been taking. (See Opening Sequence for every episode), Naturally as the signified leader of the house and therefore father figure, Dorothy led the way while the others huddled behind her for somewhat protection.
. With the representation of a father figure, there should be some indication of a mother figure and this would be in the form of Blanch Devereaux, who actually owned the property the characters were living in. Her character consistently had the final decision with regards to homely issues like animals and male guests. Her constant denial of her age is another sign of “The Lady Of The House” or in some cases the mother of the house.
. Every family needs children to add a level of innocence to their lives, In “The Golden Girls”, Rose and Sophia can be classed as the family kids. Rose’s nativity and constant reference to children’s television and books made her the most obvious replication of a child. Sophia may have been portrayed as the oldest member but she also lacked the most tact and self control much like those of a child. There were notable scenes within the series where the character Dorothy speaks to Sophia as a child and even reprimands her to her room.
Through these semiotics, we can see the connection and relation of the show’s characters to that of a real family. None of the characters fitted any particular stereotypes that audiences had come to associate with sitcoms. Like a realistic family, the central point of the character’s discussions and activities were conducted in the kitchen, as a female based sitcom, the appeal of conforming to standard portrayal of domesticity is absent. Each character spent an equal amount of time cooking, cleaning, answering the door, hosting and engaging in familiar feminine groups like “The Elvis, honky tonky burning love fan club”, which was featured In one of the episodes.
After establishing the characters as a working family unit, we now need to analyse how realistic the representations were? And if they were based on the lives of real elderly women?
In Jonathan Bignell’s “An Introduction To Television Studies”, he uses the American sitcom “Sex And The City” for his case study and relates the aspects like those illustrated for “The Golden Girls” to mark the similarity between the show and real life women.
“The programme establishes a structure of feeling that is not unique to Sex and the City but that television audiences are already familiar with and in which they are invited to participate”. Based on his theory we can deduce that a unique audience found interest in the series as well as a sense of fantasy lifestyle that also appeals, but this study is based on a sitcom surrounding middle aged women. “The Golden Girls” featured a much older cast and received more recognition and an even bigger fan base. This can be blamed on two factors:
1, The show was original in its making and casts the viewers eye on the way women, even elderly women can be perceived with no generic stereotyping.
2, The show never relied on a realistic aspect to attract viewers but instead drew on many topics around at the time, much like a talk show and illustrated them through the episodes with possible solutions supplied by the individual characters.
“ From some perspectives, television can be seen to be a particularly salient instrument of hegemony. Surrounded as many of us are by television in our private lives, its images may come to seem more real to us than our own experiences”. (Press L Andrea: Women Watching Television, Gender,Class and Generation in The American Television Experience). As mentioned earlier the success of the show did not rely on the realistic nature of the series or how the audience related the characters to real life as this would not be the case, we have come to not expect elderly women to have discussions about sexual escapades so flippantly and we certainly do not come to expect elderly women like those on the show to still be sexually active. The show’s sense of realism came from its topics, which in the 80s were considered controversial but they were issues that many people dealt with on a daily basis. Issues like a homosexual marriage, gun control, drug addiction, domestic violence, suicide and homelessness. Each episode that highlighted a particular topic saw more viewers able to relate and see themselves within the confines of the show. This sense of realism was increased by the characters as most people associated wisdom with age, with four much older actresses tackling, discussing and offering reasonable solutions to these topics, there is a natural desire by any age group to listen.
Unlike a more recent offering (Sex and the City), the show reflected a way women were not up that point being represented, The series threw out those conventional women stereotypes and instead offered viewers:
. Characters that were all independent and supported each other, emotionally and in one case financially.
. The emphasise of women needing a man was not a vital point in the series.
. A typical stereotype of a domestic woman was not apparent. (spending all day in the kitchen, sewing, tending to a man’s needs)
. Although other shows highlighted the importance of a conventional family unit, the show changed that stigma and instead highlighted four elderly women living together as a family unit.
“The Golden Girls” received 65 Emmy nominations, 11 Emmy awards, 4 Golden Globe awards and 2 Viewers for Quality Television awards as well as a huge fan base of 27.2 million and still growing. The show approached female representation positively and opened the doors for other shows based solely on an all female cast. Each main character was depicted with a sense of an alternative view on women. Like Sex and the city, viewers tended to see themselves as one of the characters based on their own view of life. The show reached its final episode in 1992, when Dorothy married Blanche’s Uncle played by Leslie Nielson and moved away . Another short lived sitcom was made after the finale and featured the remaining three characters Blanche, Rose and Sophia but unfortunately it did not receive as much interest as the previous series. This was undoubtedly due to the fact of a missing element in the form of Dorothy, without the presence of a family unit or in the case of Dorothy’s character, a father figure, many viewers could not relate or feel a sense of realism within the show and so it was taken off after just two seasons.
The original “Golden Girls” is an exceptionally good comedy series and is a must have in any DVD collection, it’s a shame there will never be another sitcom much like it which would represent its intended minority in a positive but entertaining fashion.
Sources
. An Introduction To Television Studies: Jonathan Bignell.
. Women Watching Television, Gender, Class and Generation In The American Television Experience:
Andrea L.Press
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