A "Made for TV" Family
In Sag Harbor’s chapter “To Prevent Flare-Ups,” Benji describes his family as “Made for TV,” and as a “Cosby Family.” Both of these phrases have double meanings in the narrative–one is intentional, while the duality of the other was only added years after the book was published.
The intentional hidden meaning comes in with the title, “Made for TV Family.” The upfront interpretation of this is that Benji’s family is the perfect sitcom formula–working upper-middle class parents, three kids, and respectable reputations. To the outside eye, they seem perfectly pleasant and harmonious. However–now the second meaning of a “Made for TV Family” comes into play–in reality, Benji’s family is highly dysfunctional. Their interactions are charged and tense, as they constantly teeter on the edge of the dad having a flare-up due to his alcoholism and mercurial moods. They don’t talk about their feelings with each other, they don’t spend time together, and the most physical contact they share is accidentally hitting each other with a stray limb while watching TV. And that’s another way that the Cooper family is made for TV–they mainly coexist and seek their own forms of entertainment, or more accurately, their own forms of escape from the constant tension in their home. This dynamic is exhibited when Benji turns up his TV show in order to drown out his dad loudly berating his mother. And TV isn’t really a point of togetherness for the family either, as they each have their own media interests that don’t mesh. For example, in this chapter, Mr. Cooper wants to watch his CNN, while Benji wants to watch The Road Warrior. They switch the channels back and forth over time, which doesn’t feel like a sitcom-petty argument, it feels like a tea kettle whistling progressively louder. It's tense and unsettling. So, it isn’t made for TV, but in another way, it is.
The second phrase, “Cosby Family,” within the time period of Sag Harbor, refers to Benji’s family matching the incredibly popular sitcom about a black, upper middle class family. Just like the Cosby’s, Benji’s dad is a doctor and his mother is a lawyer. They do well for themselves and are well liked by their community–a successful “sitcom family.” However, after this book was published, it was revealed in the mainstream media that Bill Cosby, the patriarch of the Cosby family and a very popular public figure, was a serial rapist. Though Colson Whitehead didn’t know about this aspect of Bill Cosby when he wrote this book, it certainly fits with the theme of this family–specifically Benji’s father. While Dr. Cooper seems like a sociable and charismatic man in his community; known for his barbecuing–in reality, he is an abusive, highly volatile alcoholic.
Though not much “plot development” happens in the chapter “To Prevent Flare-Ups,” per say, it reveals a lot about the family dynamic Benji lives in.
Great post! I think you really hit this chapter on the nose with your blog post. The realities of a made for TV family are that on the outside they look perfect and all together but on the inside its dysfunctional and they actually aren't together at all. The family on the outside to onlookers looks like something they should be but when they really take a look inside the dad is rude to the kids and mother due to his alcoholism. Your comment about the Cosby show is true and it is quite similar to how they live due to the parents jobs and socioeconomic status. The fall to the show which comes out later is that Bill Cosby is a rapist which can kind of relate to their family because the dad is very rude to his family. Bill Cosby did seem good at first but learning those things changed how people view him just like how Dr. Cooper appears on the outside vs the inside. Good job!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Adding onto your commentary, the TV not only serves as a way for Benji to find comfort from the tension in his family, but also what he turns to in able to pretend that nothing is wrong when someone else in the family is being targeted by his dad. In a way, the TV serves as a mask that the family wears to feign peace.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Bill Cosby faking the appearance of being a nice guy when in reality he is an abuser is definitely shown through the character of the dad. Everyone else knows him as the neighborhood grill guy, but Benji, Reggie, and their mom know to be worried about how violent he can be behind the scenes.
ReplyDeleteI like your use of the metaphor, made for TV family being used to show their "picture perfectness" and their ignoring of each other. I think that this is even more of an apt metaphor considering how often people will be watching a movie or TV show and comment on how unrealistic it is. For example, that explosion was way too big, or that person definitely would not have reacted that way. The Coopers perfect TV family image and the family underneath just goes to further support that trend of unrealistic expectations or events presented to the public.
ReplyDeleteGood post! I like your analysis of why those two descriptions of Benji's family are multifaceted. I agree that they are a 'made for TV' family, especially in the way that Benji's father is seen by others. Even Benji's friends seem to have a high opinion of him (NP says he makes the best barbeque). Even Benji's mom's friends seem to be okay with him, despite the fact that they probably have heard him yelling at her (especially when he blows up about paper plates).
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