Over the first 50 years of television, a commonly held belief has been that people who watch TV (and movies for that matter) tend to model their behaviour after the people they watch. Hence the strict censorship of TV in the 1950's to the 1980s. The normative behaviour theory has been the basis for forcing networks to impose some sort of ratings system to warn-off people from programming that might be considered offensive.
From shows like "Daddy Knows Best" (even though his wife and kids usually did know best) to "The Cosby Show," Americans were presented with "ideal" middle class families. The implication being that we all ought to live like, act like, and aspire to the types of behaviour we were watching.
Now cable/satellite TV gives us "Swamp People" and reality shows about Texas women and wild hogs in Texas and the people who hunt them.
Is this the new normal?"
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