I Love Lucy | media-criticism

Lucy: The Golden Girl of the Golden Era.

by Tina Cortineli, '17

Major: Communication

The 1950’s were a thriving and tumultuous time for the United States- a crucial time for post-war America. The economy was expanding, technology was developing, and society was changing. It was the Golden Age. American middle class grew, and the media followed accordingly. Television shows depicting ‘typical’ American families emerged; Leave it to Beaver, Bonanza, Lassie, and I Love Lucy. Unlike the rest, I Love Lucy had a strong female protagonist in a society so built on single, nuclear family patriarchies. Despite playing the role of a menacing and ditzy housewife, the desire for independence and to break from the ‘norm’ that had been established within society during this time is what acted as an empowerment to women. The thought– the idea– that women want to and can do more than act as an obedient number two to the man of the house. She wanted to be more than just a house wife. Lucy did this all whilst being funny, which is what makes her character timeless. Society continues to develop past patriarchal dominance- in the modern day, Lucy’s desires and attempts are not as empowering as they were sixty years ago– her ability to make audiences laugh is.

The format of virtually every episode was the same- Lucy has an idea or desire, and goes about pursuing it in a head strong and elaborate fashion. She employs the help of her best friend and landlord, Ethel Mertz, and usually tries to hide any hint of wrong doing from her husband, Ricky. Her ideas and motivation were unlike the loving mothers and housewives of the 1950’s women- they were rooted in trying to promote her own career, independence, and division of the sexes.

“[Lucy] rebelled against the constraints of her role—taking a job, scheming to make money, disguising herself to perform at the club, and generally messing with Ricky. The plots directly exposed the absurdity of the restrictions placed on women in the 1950s, ” (Egge).

In the episode Lucy Writes a Novel, Lucy does precisely that. Upon reading in the paper of another woman who had won a $10,000 prize for writing her first novel, Lucy becomes inspired to do that same. She attempts to establish some sort of financial independence whilst promoting herself as a novelist– sending copies of her ‘novel' to publishing companies. In true nature of the sitcom, the plan goes array and Lucy’s copies of the novel end up burning in a furnace- but it is the determination and the belief she has which breaks the societal barrier.

Lucy’s entrepreneurial mindset is seen again in The Million Dollar Idea. Encouraged by her landlord, Fred, to sell her salad dressing, Lucy decides to begin marketing her product via television advertisement. The demand for her product ends up being incredibly high- to the point where she cannot produce enough. Rather than rescind the orders, Lucy goes into problem- solving mode and manages to gather nearly 1,500 bottles of the dressing. In true economical and hilarious fashion, Lucy ends up hand delivering the orders on roller blades to save on delivery expenses. Although unprepared and unaware of the intricacies of business and entrepreneurship, her desire to break into the male dominated market was virtually unseen anywhere else in media and pop culture.

The division of the sexes were also a recurring theme which Lucy tackled in a fashion unseen at the time. She challenged ‘the man’. “The basis of conflict between the genders is the women’s struggle to break free and the men’s struggle to maintain control over them; in their constant scheming and plotting, Lucy and Ethel are creating a subculture of resistance,” (Egge). In the 1953 episode Equal Rights, Lucy fights Ricky on the constitutionally equal rights of women in the United States. She defends her rights and demands to be treated as an equal to her husband, Ricky, who was holding himself as the patriarch of the house and making finalized decisions with according to this notion. The debacle that ensues lands Lucy and Ethel in the back of a restaurant cleaning dishes due to the fact they have no money with which to pay their bill. They get their revenge on the men though, who end up in jail for trying to scare the girls and act as burglars. The power of this episode, as is with many, is the idea and attempt to break past the control of the man in society.

While women have gained independence, control, and power in society over the past several decades, an area which is still male dominant is the world of comedy. “Comedy has a reputation for being a boy’s club, and both comedians and club owners say little has changed... female comics still have a hard time winning over new male crowds and finding acceptance in spaces full of male performers-“ yet Lucy Ricardo is still making audiences laugh sixty years later. Not only is it making us laugh, but the female protagonist recently took the honors of being voted the ‘Best TV Show of All Time’ (Green & Gomstyn, 2012).

There is no denying the grandiose influence of the 1950’s cult sitcom, I Love Lucy on modern television. Lucille Ball’s portrayal of Lucy Ricardo is multifaceted, and genius in that is remains timeless in it’s popularity and influence on media and society, despite times having changed.

References

Doty, Alexander. “The Cabinet of Lucy Ricardo: Lucille Ball’s Star Image.” Cinema Journal 29.4 (1990): 3-22. JSTOR.
Egge, S. (n.d.). “I Love Lucy” Confronts the 1950s American Housewife Ideal. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
Green, J., & Gomstyn, A. (2012, September 18). 'I Love Lucy' Voted the Best TV Show of All Time. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
“Equal Rights” I Love Lucy: The Complete Series. Paramount, 2007. DVD.
“Lucy Writes a Novel” I Love Lucy: The Complete Series. Paramount, 2007. DVD. “The Million Dollar Idea” I Love Lucy: The Complete Series. Paramount, 2007. DVD.