Assignment 1-3 Article Analysis

Heartland TV: Prime Time Television and the Struggle for U.S. Identity.

The so called “Heartland” of America is said to be a very rural part of America that holds the core values of the country and is the corpus of normalcy according to most. This concept of an area of America that is incorruptible and holds the values that this country was founded on is used by many people including politicians, marketing campaigns, and the media. Some even believe that you are not a “true American” unless you live in this area.
This article analyzes the view that many in the public have towards the heartland. Despite being a major urban country, people think that the majority of citizens live in the rural heartland and that all measures of normalcy should be compared to the values of those that live in the supposed heartland. The article shows how the Midwest as the heartland was conceived thorough the start of radio and network broadcasting. It also shows how these values were reinforced by television shows during the 50’s and 60’s like Jubilee, U.S.A. and The Lawrence Welk Show. You also see the urban Midwest represented later in the 70’s with TV shows like The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and The Bob Newhart Show, These shows did not talk about the war in Vietnam, conflicts of morality, or left wing political ideas. These shows suggested that the Midwest heartland was a “straight American” part of society. This article also speaks of the move into controversial subjects of TV during the 90’s in shows like Roseanne and Ellen when they started to discuss subject like lesbianism.
The article is obviously written by someone with left leaning views, it is very critical of how politicians, especially ones on the right depict the heartland of America.
This article also depicts American as people who blindly think of the Midwest is the “Holy Grail” of American normalcy, morality, and values. You see this depiction on TV constantly; I have especially noticed this in situation comedies and with political pundits. I personally don’t understand why people think this way, many people in the Midwest have primarily right wing views, but not everyone. The media simply depicts the heartland as all farmland and people who lean to the right on political issues which is simply not true. If anything, people who farm have been taking up other vocations as the years change.

Refernces:
Sherry, Douglas. (2008). Heartland TV: Prime Time Television and the Struggle for U.S. Identity. Pennsylvania College of Technology, 391-392. Retrieved from Ohio Link database.