Norman Lear: Using Sitcoms as Activism
In 1931, a Jewish youngster in New Haven, Connecticut, turned on a radio set that broadcast an anti-Semitic priest’s hateful sermon. Norman Milton Lear, now 99 years old, recalls this simple incident as the beginning of his political and social awareness of his surroundings.
This heinous lecture left an indelible mark on Lear. For the first time, he knew he was different, and a big number of people in his country despised him solely because he was Jewish.
Not only that, but Lear had been slapped by reality since boyhood. His father, Herman Lear, was arrested for alleged fraud when Lear was just nine years old. That night, his home was suddenly mobbed by reporters and detectives. He regards his mother as a highly narcissistic individual, immediately planning to sell home goods (including his father’s beloved chair) amidst the arrest. These early wounds, however, acted as the primary motivator for Lear’s artistic achievement in the decades that followed.
After serving in the Air Force during WWII, Lear began a career as a television comedy writer. Surprisingly, the variety special that Lear wrote was a success. The name “Norman Lear” has become synonymous with the late 1940s to 1960s comedy style. Lear also dabbled in film, producing and directing several well-known comedies for about a decade.
However, Norman Lear’s return to television in 1971 with “All in the Family” was a watershed event in which Norman Lear became more than just a name read in the end credits of comedy films, but a crucial figure in advocating social justice in America.
The social environment in the United States in the early 1970s was one of concern and political upheaval. In that current society, the ideological difference between conservatism and progressivism is palpable. Hundreds of thousands of hippies are marching to end the Vietnam War, and President Nixon is embroiled in the Watergate scandal, which ultimately led to his resignation.
In the midst of this enormous sociopolitical upheaval, US television is at an all-time low. The number one rated sitcom was “The Flying Nun,” which depicts the story of a Catholic nun who can fly using her headgear.
During a period of enormous political moral bankruptcy, Lear saw an opportunity to participate in the social change that was going place through the strength of the television sitcom medium. All in the Family premiered on CBS on January 12, 1971, with this unusual disclaimer;
“The program you are about to see is All In The Family. It seeks to throw a humorous spotlight on our frailties, prejudices, and concerns. By making them a source of laughter, we hope to show — in a mature fashion — just how absurd they are.”
The main character of the sitcom is Archie Bunker, the head of a working-class family, he appears to be the poster-child for bigotry in the most endearing way. Despite clashes with family members, particularly his son-in-law, Mike Stivic, a liberal, anti-war activist with long hair, he remains staunchly conservative.
In other words, All in the Family integrates all of America’s conflicts into one living room, condensing all of the ideological clashes of the period into a hilarious family dispute. As a creator and producer, Lear believes that by giving fanaticism or prejudice a face, the audience may embrace Bunker as a human being while simultaneously admitting and rejecting his ugly ideology.
Using the medium of a television sitcom, Lear constructs a family to make societal statements that he believes are important. Through the program, he attempts to create a fresh outlook in society and to see the disconnection through the window of humor. Regardless of the fact that differences of opinion and ideology seem to separate us, we essentially live under the same roof, because we’re “All in the Family.”
Lear has always been upfront regarding his ideological views, identifying himself as a liberal, a prominent critic of Nixon, and a vocal supporter of the Democratic Party. All in the Family, on the other hand, didn’t fully side with one viewpoint and attack another. Despite his racist and extremely right wing beliefs, Archie Bunker was a good husband and father. Bunker was constructed by Lear as a whole endearing character, not as a parodic archetype.
All in the Family does not try to stay away from discussing sensitive subjects of the time. Racism, antisemitism, feminism, homosexuality, religion, sex, infidelity, abortion, and many other topics are dealt frankly, eloquently, but with hilarious design.
All in the Family became a remarkable phenomenon. The controversies and discourse that arose within society helped to propel the sitcom towards the top of the Nielsen ratings for five consecutive years, becoming the first sitcom in history to done so.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Lear continued to produce outstanding sitcoms brimming with forward-thinking concepts. Maude (1972–1978) is a Norman Lear sitcom about a middle-aged woman with progressive views who resides in the New York suburb of Tuckahoe. The Jeffersons (1975–1985) portrays the story of a wealthy black family living in Manhattan’s neighborhood, rejecting the stereotypical ideas that African Americans are unproductive, and for the first time in television history, the sitcom depicts an interracial relationship.
Many of Lear’s sitcoms broadcast simultaneously for several years. The sitcoms garnered an estimated 125 million viewers per week, outscoring the Super Bowl, that’s only telecast once per year. Within this one year, Lear developed seven of the ten highest-rated sitcoms. Today, Lear is regarded as one of the forefathers of the sitcom medium, and he’s also committed in activism, primarily for social justice.
Norman Lear is clear evidence that television is a human construction, where the distinctive sitcoms are designed to insert social or even moral arguments that he thinks are essential. At the same time trying to unite an ideologically divided nation. The Bunker family shows that despite all our differences, we all live under the same roof.
Norman Lear is clear evidence that television is a human construct, using his distinct and unique sitcoms aiming to introduce social or even moral arguments that he deems are important. At the very same time, trying to bring an ideologically divided nation united. The Bunker family illustrates that, despite our differences, we all share a living room.
Originally written for the class “World Film and Television Studies” in Jakarta Institute of the Arts 2021.
