To be fair, situational comedy the very definition of a sitcom, and expecting a TV woman to solve a problem without minimal pratfalls or misunderstandings is pointless. Still, even though the fictional women of TV are designed as comedic foils, each of their lives is defined by a quest, be it for a significant other, professional success, or a certain kind of life. Liz Lemon—a 30-something woman, not a 20-something "girl"—is ending her run by deciding to have kids and getting married (triggering all sorts of feminist controversy). Jess is clearly determined to organize her life around regular encounters with vintage stores and crafts. Mindy is a somehow-successful doctor obsessed with turning her personal life into an equally successful romantic comedy.
These goals might be the products of a successful life, but they hardly ensure it. Marriage as "happily ever after?" Coordinated wardrobe as proof of contentment? As signs of female success, these are hardly revolutionary clichés.
When I encounter difficulty, or even frustration, I am looking for a solution that is more than a detour or a distraction. I want something that teaches me how to live. I often start with personal experience or guidance from someone I trust, but I look for actionable answers in my Bible or in prayer. After all, if wisdom is "more precious than jewels" then isn't it a logical goal for the endless quest of modern life?
I know – to my own shame – that sometimes the tired idea that religion is a crutch can hold me back from fully expressing the ways God gives meaning to my daily life. As much as I enjoy TV, it helps to acknowledge that these characters endlessly wield their own tired crutches in the same quest every episode, only to stay stuck in an endless loop that will never reach the fulfillment and contentment God can bring to our real lives.
I still wind up with a funny story to share with friends and mentors at the end of the week. Call me crazy, but I suspect that the more fully I am abiding in Christ the more I get a kick out of the ridiculous, every day situations and people I encounter. Everyday problems in real life seem more like sitcom problems when you're tapped into the wisdom and joy and peace of God.
Ali Goldstein / NBC
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Comments
Devon torchiana
I actually just blogged about this the other day, so I found this article especially applicable to my life right now. I see these same patterns of thinking in my own life and in the lives of my friends. I think we are afraid that if we give up on these distractions, we will have nothing left to hope for, nothing or no one left that will love us. When we take our eyes off of God, of course we are disappointed, but keeping our eyes there takes an discipline that has to be cultivated and practiced. http://hopefullydevon.blogspot.com/2013/03/no-fear-in-love.html
Frank Keefe
Its heartening to read such positive posts from Christian women..Here in the UK its sex 24/7 even in the daytime shows its why my country is in such an immoral mess.
Anne Acker
"'Shame-free virginity: not currently a fictional TV offering.' But that's a whole different post." Oh please, write that post. We need to have a discussion about that media stereotype. I call it the Myth of the Forty-Year-Old Virgin. You know, we're all neurotic, socially maladjusted losers who can't get a date, and that's why we live in our parents' basement playing video games and collecting sci-fi memorabilia. Our culture is so accustomed to think of losing one's virginity as a rite of passage to adulthood that virginity has become synonymous with arrested development.
Laura Stammberger
Last week I borrowed the first and only season of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency from my library and was completely bowled over. It is a completely winsome depiction of a young woman, having been well raised by her father, striking out on her own and winning the respect of her community. She wins the heart of a man not by her flirtatious manner, but by her intelligence and kindness. I heartily recommend it and recommend writing HBO to bring it back.
Karen Smith
Where are the good sitcoms? I haven't found any good ones in years! Why don't we have a show like "The Cosby Show" on the air right now? Why no "M*A*S*H" equivalent? Where are the shows that educate families - adults as well as children - while entertaining them? Almost every sitcom is about single people, workplaces discussing topics that would usually get them fired, or about revolving relationships. Where are the shows about the loving couples and families? The closest thing to a family sitcom on TV now is The Simpsons.
Kathi Vande Guchte
If young, single women want to gain understanding about how to remain pure, they should consult the 40-something single women - those who are still virgins, and those who are not. TV/movies are not a good place to receive guidance about life, because what they depict is not real life. The shows in my day - the 80's - were pathetic enough, but today's shows have only one resolution to EVERYTHING: sex. "How I Met Your Mother" is a funny show, but it is also a pit of a show, considering the dynamic among Charlie, Robin, and Ted. I haven't watched the Mindy Project and New Girl, because they're just stupid, shallow shows. The only other option is non-humor, such as Criminal Minds which has such awful story lines I wonder about the writers and their ability to continue writing about violent content - mostly against women and children - year after year after year. Go out for coffee with your girlfriends. Spend time with your parents, siblings, nieces/nephews. Life goes so fast.
Gina Dalfonzo
Fantastic analysis, Alicia!
JANET W
1. As christians we shouldn't be drawing our role models from secular sitcoms. 2. Secular sitcoms view the world through a no-God lens -- and it seems obvious to me that OF COURSE, these people will be desperately searching for something to fill their lives with, because they don't have GOD.
Amy Peterson
I think this is a pretty good analysis of the ways in which our tv heroines fail to offer helpful examples. I'm not sure what plot lines make you think Jess organizes her life around wardrobe and vintage stores, though- the most satisfaction she gets comes from being an inspiring teacher! (She's still my least favorite of those three, though.) But the best parallel to Tina Fey is Amy Poehler! She's my real favorite.
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