Givhan makes good points about the dearth of black middle class and professional characters on television, and especially the lack of multidimensional black women. But when she starts talking about TV's application to the real world, her argument just gets strange. She writes,

Time and again, observers grasp for adjectives to describe Obama's combination of professional accomplishment and soccer-mom maternalism. It's no wonder so many eye her with awe and disbelief. Or why a minority still view her with suspicion.

And the reason? "There have been few broad cultural precedents for what she represents." Translation: we haven't seen enough characters like Michelle on TV! The exception is Claire Huxtable, "a cultural comparison more apt than the one made to Jackie Kennedy" (Jackie: real but white. Claire: fake but black. Advantage: apparently Claire). Givhan writes that "television, in particular, speaks to viewers intimately, in the privacy of their homes, building long-term relationships and weaving complicated narratives." Know what else speaks to people in the privacy of their homes, building long-term relationships and weaving complicated narratives? Human beings.

It's true that America is still highly segregated country, and that many non-black people don't live in areas with a thriving black middle class (in Iowa, for instance, black people make up 2.6% of the population and own just 0.7% of businesses). Givhan quotes Cosby Show writer Susan Fales-Hill, who says, "There's a generation with very little exposure to the black professional class, and they stand in amazement. [...] People say, 'You're so articulate.' And it's because I can string a sentence together!" Fales-Hill's experience is in line with many things people said about Obamas on the campaign trail, but Givhan's take on that experience is troubling.

Through her description of the power of television ("TV builds kinship") and her vague analysis of the American psyche ("what [people] do not see on a regular basis, they assume to be rare or even nonexistent"), she implies that it is television's responsibility to prepare us for successful black women like Michelle Obama. This is offensive to black people (invisible unless they're on TV), white people (too dumb to know anything but what they see on TV) and television (not an art form, but rather an educational medium for dumb people). Rather than tackling the social and economic reasons why people might still be uncomfortable with Michelle (racism? Large-scale segregation in cities? Lack of education about other successful black Americans?), Givhan weirdly turns to an outdated fictional comparison, and then wonders why there aren't more outdated fictional comparison to turn to.

Far more enlightening was Ta-Nehisi Coates's look earlier this year at Michelle's roots on the South Side of Chicago and what her life story really says about race in America. Coates quotes Michelle's mother Marian Robinson, who says,

I keep saying this: Michelle, Barack, and my son are not abnormal [...] All my relatives, all my friends, all their friends, all their parents, almost all of them have the same story. It's just that their families aren't running for president. It bothers me that people see [Michelle and Barack] as so phenomenal, because there's so much of that in the black neighborhood. They went to the same schools we all did. They went through the same struggles.

And he closes his piece with the assertion that people like Michelle Obama

offer a deeper understanding of African American life, a greater appreciation of the bourgeois ordinariness of our experience. "People have never met a Michelle Obama," the soon-to-be first lady said toward the end of our interview. "But what they'll come to learn is that there are thousands and thousands of Michelle and Barack Obamas across America. You just don't live next door to them, or there isn't a TV show about them."

There is now.

Even if white people once needed to think of Claire Huxtable in order to understand Michelle Obama, the Obamas have been in the White House almost six months now. Michelle Obama is regularly on television, and Claire Huxtable is not. Why would we compare Michelle Obama to a TV character when, as Coates points out, she has her own show now? Of course, this show is also real, like the lives of millions of black middle-class people who existed before the Huxtables, and will continue to exist after them.

Echoes Of TV's First Lady [Washington Post]

Related: American Girl [Atlantic Monthly]
What Michelle Can Teach Us [Newsweek]
Cosby, Part II [Columbia Journalism Review]
And Claire Begat Michelle! [Columbia Journalism Review]

Earlier: Michelle Obama: The Best Black Female Role Model Since Claire Huxtable?

Lesson 1: Ice Pops Are Not A Sufficient Meal
D.J. Tanner desperately wanted to look good in a bathing suit for dumb ol' Kimmy Gibbler's boy/girl pool party. Sadly, she decided to obtain the perfect body by subsisting on "ice pops" and working out too hard at the gym. After passing out during a somewhat creepy family fitness excursion (who goes to the gym with their dad, real uncle, and fake uncle, at the age of 13?) , D.J. learns an important lesson: crash diets don't work. Years later she will look back on this incident as the beginning of her seething hatred for the Gibbler. The Gibbler remains oblivious to said hatred and sends D.J. a Christmas card every year with "HOLA, TANNERITO!" written in hot pink marker across the front.


Lesson 2: It Is Important To Not Leave Your Mom's Side At The Grocery Store
The entire premise of Punky Brewster is built on the horrifying incident wherein Punky's mother just ups and ditches her at a grocery store. This terrified me throughout my childhood. If I lingered too long in the cereal aisle, trying to decide between Boo Berry and Count Chocula, and my mother had wandered along to the next aisle over, I had a full out panic attack and started truly believing that I would end up an orphan living with a curmudgeonly photographer. This show is the reason why I insisted upon riding in the cart until I was about 10 years old. Thanks, Punky.


Lesson 3: For The Love Of God, Take Off That Refrigerator Door Another lesson from the crew at Punky Brewster comes to us via Cherie Johnson, who decided to hide in an abandoned refrigerator, and ended up passing out due to lack of air. She was later rescued via CPR, but not by stupid Allen, who had neglected to pay attention in CPR class. Therefore, there are three lessons here: don't hide in a refrigerator, take the doors off of your old refrigerators, and pay attention in CPR class, lest you end up looking like a total tool, Allen-style.


Lesson 4: The Nerd Next Door Just Might Have A Magic Machine That Makes Him Cool
Have a Steve Urkel in your life who won't leave you alone? Perhaps you can take inspiration from Laura Winslow, who actually fell in love with the nerd after he "transformed" into Stefan Urquelle. Because being super shallow and falling in love with someone only after they give themselves a magical makeover and lower their voice a few octaves is just a classy thing to do.


Lesson 5: Just Don't Give A F&*k
If there's one thing we can learn from Kimmy Gibbler, it is to just be the most annoying, loud, ridiculous version of ourselves we can be. Because nobody stops the Gibbler. NOBODY. And if you cross the Gibbler, you'll be labeled a "geekburger with cheese" for the rest of your life. So watch yourself!


Lesson 6: There's No Hope With Dope, Caffeine Will Mess You Up, And Driving Drunk In A Toga Is Always A Bad Idea
Over the course of the series, the kids of Saved by the Bell showed us the dangers of smoking pot, popping pills, and drunk driving. Caffeine pills derail super feminist genius basketcase Jessie Spano's geometry midterm AND her pop group, Hot Sundae; a visit to a toga party results not only in a totaled car, but a totaled lack of trust between the kids and their parents after drunk driving is revealed as the cause; and smoking pot, according to the "Johnny Dakota" episode, results in turning you into a giant Hollywood douchebag with no hopes or dreams. The episode also provides us with Lisa Turtle's best line: "You know, when I wanted to talk to you, I couldn't. And now that I can? I don't want to." OH SNAP!


Lesson 7: You can't always get what you want
That's pretty much all we ever learn from Jan Brady. Life sucks sometimes, even for kids who have their own traveling singing group. And yes, I know she is technically a 70's sitcom heroine, but I grew up watching the reruns as a child. A middle child. A sad, doomed, brace face glasses wearing middle child. I'd tell you more, but I'm late for a date with George Glass.


Lesson 8: Be Your Own Designer!
Does your brother need an awesome designer shirt? Pull a Denise Huxtable and create your own Gordon Gartrelle rip-off. So what if it's slightly ill-fitting? That's what makes it unique.


Lesson 9: If You're A True Friend, Someone Will Thank You For It
Rose, Sophia, Blanche, and Dorothy taught us several things: namely, that women don't become sad sexless beings as the age, but instead live full lives with great friends and wacky adventures. The most important lesson of the Golden Girls, however, is that a good friend means more than anything in the world. And also that St. Olaf is a slightly bizarre place.


Lesson 10: Your Family Will Stand Up For You In The Most Awesome Way Possible
With Claire Huxtable or Julia Sugarbaker on your side, even the biggest jerks will be put in their place. Here, we learn that even if you and your sister don't always get along, she will shut down a hater in your name with love and sass:

What lessons did you learn from the ladies of the 80's? Feel free to post them in the comments.

A Very Special Episode [SanFranciscoChronicle]
Earlier: 10 Cheesy TV Show Opening Credits

• Love was in the air this week, especially for these gorillas who were doing it missionary. From now on, missionary sex will be referred to as "gorilla style."
  
• Maybe they should have bought condoms first, like the Golden Girls did. That Zbornak is always prepared!
  
• Another old broad, Jane Fonda, said cunt on the Today show.
  
• We pondered polyamory, which seems like something Jane would have been into in the 70s.
  
• Mariah Carey = Hello Kitty + Einstein. Think about it.
  
• Our favorite animated bleeding heart, Lisa Simpson, choo-choo-chooses Ralph Wiggum.
  
• Also involving choo-choos: the Darjeeling Limited-esque Free People catalog.
  
• Obama's campaign is like a runaway train! Hop on it!
  
• The Witch of Blackbird Pond inspired fantasies of dripping breeches.
  

• Butterfish gives a whole new meaning to dripping breeches.
  
• So watch out for anal leakage, get your rocks off, and watch some Cosby reruns. It's Friday!