Most cultural products, such as films, commercials, or television shows, have no significant influence on society’s life. They are mostly dedicated to providing high-quality leisure and relaxation for a general mass of people. However, in certain cases, even ordinary products with trivial storylines might develop strong though implicit arguments concerning serious social issues. The authors of the sitcom The neighborhood satirically demonstrate that the traditional notion of good manners in the neighborhood is not valid in today’s reality due to the intersocial conflicts and new lifestyle development.
The story mainly takes place in the typical Los Angeles Afro-American quarter. One of the central roles is dedicated to Cedric Antonio Kyles, who starred under the name Calvin Butler. This individual represents a typical black male who has a job with no need for a higher degree and who has a strong convenience that only the Afro-Americans should unite only with the people of the same race. His wife, Tina Butler, played by Tichina Arnold, was a perspective singer, but she decided to dedicate her life to the family business and became a front desk worker at her husband’s auto repair.
This family is compared with the white family throughout the whole story. Max Greenfield played Dave Johnson, a white male who possesses a higher degree and works by his main specialization, conflict mediator. This character clearly demonstrates the perfect type of neighbor who is concerned about making contact with people in any situation. His wife, Gemma Johnson, played by Beth Behrs, also has a higher degree and works as a private school principal.
By analyzing the intermediation process of the two families, it becomes clear that they are an unspoken conflict on a social basis due to the inequality in the income sources. Moreover, the conflict is mainly enforced by the Johnsons’ excess loyalty to their new neighbors, which illustrates their non-understanding or ignoring of the inequality existence. In addition, Blackwood and Parcell, in the scientific research article named “Curating inequality: the link between cultural reproduction and race in the visual arts,” agree with the presence of social conflicts due to racial tensions on the one hand and misunderstanding of the issue from the other hand (Blackwood et al., 2014).
Finally, even though the general storyline is provided in a comedy version, The neighborhood’s case represents a real-life example of social burdens on a racial and income inequality basis. The sitcom helps to effectively address today’s realities and lower the conflictual pressure by resolving many conflictual situations in a comedy manner.
Reference
Blackwood, A., & Purcell, D. (2014). Curating inequality: the link between cultural reproduction and race in the visual arts. Sociological Inquiry, 84(2), 238–263. Web.