The definition of what consitutes a “family“ has definatly changed over time. Usually, what constitutes making up a family is relative to a specific culture, but as always, there are exceptions to the rule. Ever since the golden age of television had sprung upon American culture, it has tried to mimic the "ideal" American family through it's programming. Even as early as the 1950's, television producers made programming that would represent what exactly the ideal American family was.
Take for example the show "Leave It to Beaver". There was a father figure, his job, or responsibility rather, was to financially support the family, while being an exemplary father to his children. The mother on the other hand, was solely responsible for being a typical housewife, while not neglecting the rearing of her children. The children did not have any real responsibility, but they respected their parents and attempted to stay out of trouble. Television shows for the most part in this early era of programming followed among these guidelines.
However, it is not in a drama that American family life is best represented in the 1990's. Instead, it is in the animated series, "The Simpsons".
"The Simpsons" follows suit with the other dramas that reflected the decade in which they aired. According to the U.S. consensus for March 1998, the majority of households in America are married couples (U.S. Consensus pp. 1,
3,4,6). The Simpson's meet this. Also according to the consensus, the average married couple has approximately 2.6 children per household (U.S.
Consensus, Household Characteristics p.1). Since there cannot be six-tenths of a child, I will round up to three children, in which the Simpson family has: Bart, Lisa and Maggie. Also, the average American is a blue-collar worker. The father figure, Homer, meets this factor with his job at the nuclear power plant within his hometown of Springfield. So according to the statistics, the Simpson family could be considered an average American family. Homer Simpson is the father figure of the household, whose responsibilities include financially supporting the household, since he is the household's primary source of income. He has his flaws like any person would, but somehow he and his family tend to work it out. Some of his mishaps are very similar to those that most of us have had to face. For example, he leaves the keys in his door to the house quite often (Hall, "The Homer File"p. 2). Another example, would be the time when he attempted to un-jam a toaster by shoving a knife in and out of it (Hall, "The Homer File" p.2). Homer also expresses concerns over his obesity as well as being a bad father (Hall, "The Homer File" p. 3). He also has a problem with his cursing, as well as his consumption of alcohol (Hall, "The Homer File" p. 3). Now, do any of these sound familiar to you? Leaving keys in doors are a common thing for most Americans. Whether it is going to or from the car, or even leaving keys in the vehicle lock, is something that everyone has done from time to time. To have Homer do it, well, it is a chance for everyone to laugh at themselves. While trying to unclog a toaster with a knife is relatively uncommon, it still does happen.