Can you envision a household without a woman? Well this is the circumstance in "Two. 5 Men". It is an American tv set sitcom, with Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones as the key individuals. This sitcom commenced demonstrating in 2003, with the storyline encircling Charlie Harper - a jingle writer (Charlie Sheen), his uptight brother, Alan (Jon Cryer) and Alan's kid, Jake (Angus T. Jones). Charlie relished his carefree life, but things commenced getting complicated when Alan gets divorced and movements, along with Jake, into Charlie's beachfront Malibu house. This essentially was the premise, until the ninth season. The storyline now adopted Charlie's fatality, and Alan attempting to move on along with his life after the death. He is helped by his new "best ally", Walden Schmidt (Ashton Kutcher), who also has his own problems; that of a terrible divorce. Walden, Alan and Jake eventually get deeper, even becoming close friends, and creating a surrogate family product. I thought we would analyze this tv show as I experienced it is a successful comedy with many hidden meanings pertaining to larger meaning, and general commentary on the real human condition, particularly the American society and its societal norms.
The show starts off with Alan relocating with Charlie, after his partner divorced him and kicked him away. What makes issues worse is the fact Alan was the main one who payed for the house. Right from the outset, one can see that sitcom is made up of many examples of societal norms regarding intimacy and gender.
Two. 5 Men makes women out to be objects of sexual pleasure for Charlie, the primary character, and then later for Walden. Even the theme tune, 'men, men, manly men" suggests the show will focus on the theme of gender stereotypes.
Charlie Harper is portrayed in the show as a very masculine man, in line with the American stereotype. By this I mean he wines and smokes a great deal, as well as sleeps with tons of random women, and he just splashes his money around in order to get what he wants. He also drives a Jaguar and has a big, Malibu beach house. All this coincides along with his assured demeanor. Alan however, is the complete opposite. He would be considered a slightly feminine men based on the North american stereotype. This is so as he is weak minded and even has trouble with women. His trouble with women is made quite obvious from the outset, having been divorced by his "overpowering" wife. Other contrasting features in comparison with Charlie include, he wines weak "womanly" refreshments, his car is in no way comparable to Charlie's as it is low end and always has mechanised trouble, and always appears to need to borrow funds from Charlie. To add salt to the wound, Jake, his own boy, will not really value his manhood. Inside the American culture, most males look up to Charlie, as this is what the stereotypical masculine man is, while they try not to be like Alan. Being truly a fair representation of contemporary society, and being truly a comedy, the items come across easily.
The second point I would like to touch on is Jake and the many views of masculinity that are constantly being thrown at him. His view of gender is continually being changed as a result of his relationships with his father and uncle. Seeing as though they both love Jake, there are just shopping for him, by constantly aiming to mold him into what each feels is the correct form of masculinity. However, since they are two "different variants of men", they often contradict one another. The main thing Charlie attempts to instill in him is how to be better with young girls. However, Jake also indirectly learns another thing from his uncle; that to a extent, he will not desire to be like him, as Charlie eventually ends up dying a unhappy man, even though he previously so many pointless interactions with several random women. This swayed him to more follow the path of his dad and care more about having a family group than money. Just like how Jake has been influenced, Charlie was also influenced by his mother. She too uses her money to get whatever she would like, in addition to using her body. Her actions are so bad sometimes, that she was even referred to as "the mother of most cougars". Charlie is therefore just moving the traits which he learned from his mom down to Jake. Jake now has to decide. He must either follow Charlie and his beliefs, therefore conforming to what world says is masculine, or make an effort to emulate his daddy, who of course does not worry much about what population says. However, he has to follow one of those paths, while simultaneously taking into consideration what his mom thinks masculinity is. To a lesser extent, there's also the norms of the other young boys at institution that he must keep in head. Many young guys in the American population have this same problem. These are being pressured by their peers as well as by their family, and must decide. By presenting this in a humor, it is simple for males of the age group to grasp what is taking place in the show and connect it with their life.
My third point is on classing people socially, and advantages and disadvantages of this. It really is clear that Alan and Charlie was raised in an higher school family. Alan is a chiropractor. Through the entire show, he is ridiculed that he is not really a real doctor, which runs combined with the "feminine" jokes. However, he still likes the benefits which come along with being in top of the category as he lives along with his sibling, even without paying hire. In Charlie's sight, nothing is too expensive; he spends whenever he feels as though. Most times he spends on pointless things such as liquor, prostitutes and vacations to Vegas. The guy can do all this as a result of being in the upper class, which coincides with him not being limited monetarily. It is believed that the United States performs under the misconception that each of them live in a class society, and there is clear information in the show. [Langston, 75]. Jake signifies the stereotypical higher class teenager. Similar to the upper class teenagers in the American society, he's free living without a care on earth and puts out little effort as it pertains to his schoolwork. Much like Charlie and his behavioral qualities, Jake probably works this way because of his cultural position and because he's male. Inside the American modern culture, it is thought by a lot of people that males aren't likely to do as well as females in institution.
In my estimation, the show accurately represents the notions and ideas of what world is, and exactly how people within the American culture take action. By this, After all there are people that represent each of the three social classes. For example, Charlie is upper school, Alan is middle class, and Berta, the housekeeper, is lower class. Regardless of the difference in category, they all live "happily" together and socialize well with one another. You don't get the sensation that any persona is wanting to keep the other down. Even Berta, although she is at the contrary end of the public class hierarchy, she is treated as if she actually is in the same communal class. This is probably consequently of each identity respecting the other person and realizing that they cannot do without each other; Berta needs the job as it is her only income source, while Charlie really has no idea how to do any housework whatsoever. However, one definitely benefits more than the other, that being Berta, as making a living seriously outweighs Charlie's needs in cases like this, and Charlie does know this. There are a few occasions in the show where she stands down, probably because of this of this. This is really similar to what happens in the United States. The upper course often use their power to keep carefully the other classes down and in their place.
The show attempts to depict gender and interpersonal issues, but there are situations where they intersect and affect each other. For instance, being both male and highly affluent, Charlie is better off than most people in the United States.
The final point I would like to touch on is privileges. As mentioned by Dictionary. com, a privilege is a right, immunity, or benefit enjoyed only by a person beyond the good thing about most. Inside the show it is clear that Alan, Charlie, their mom, and Jake all enjoy their privileges, though in several ways. Within the American society, the male is the dominating group, and Charlie, Alan, and Jake all take good thing about this. They being males has helped them achieve success. Just when you think they curently have an advantage over others, they also have something else choosing them; they are really male as well as a part of the upper class. Because of this, their privileges far outweigh those of the "regular Americans". Types of this include, they do not have their intellect questioned because they are male and white, and their capacity to cover something is never questioned, because they are in the upper class. To see how this relates to the American society, just look at who makes the rules in the united states; the customers of the Senate and the House of Associates, who also are actually made up typically of white males from the top class. Unfortunately, these guidelines more benefit the dominating group, who happen to be these white, upper class men, and are modified to ensure the dominant group remains in ability. However, each person in the United States, no matter your contest, gender or sociable status, must follow these rules. Much like in real life, Alan and Jake gain greatly from this, while other individuals in the show suffer. Therefore, the show attempts to show both edges of culture and how the interpersonal classes treat each other; the good and the bad.
One can therefore note that "Two. 5 Men" is a sitcom that can be enjoyed by various age ranges, from teenagers to adults. You are guaranteed to giggle at least a few times during each instance. However, behind the humor there are covered meanings. Some of which include sex and gender issues, gender role and development, racial and ethnic examples, and an effort to influence gender identity, specifically with Jake.
