First off, the FOX-series "Malcolm in the Middle" is among the top-three TV-shows in my book. You know it, I am sure. Malcolm is the third of four sons in a chaotic lower-middle-class-family, whose dumb and yet so typical shenanigans make everyone feel right at home. The father is dimwitted, the oldest son is on military-school (and hates it), the second is a bully and the youngest is, well, somewhere between junior high and hamster. And Malcolm is the ordinary one, that is, until he tested an IQ of 165 and came into the class for the "gifted" children. Of course, there are a lot of opportunities for cruel and stupid jokes in school, at home, between the brother and the parents and so on. And as in every good, modern tv-show, there are several layers of humour, some overtly grotesque and stupid, others more refined and subtle. ("Malcolm in the middle" comes from the same insane-genius mind that invented "3rd rock from the sun", so that is enough credit.) Moreover, the show is shot in various strange and distorted angles, with Malcolm constantly talking to the camere / audience, which makes it even faster and more fun to watch. Even though the constellations and dialogues seem simple at first, really they are not. Which makes a good tv show to me. And even though there is a certain theme in every episode, there is never a moral stance pronounced, as in the "Cosby-Show" or others from the lets-talk-about-it-genre. If you want another comparison, take Calvin & Hobbes - another comedy-product in which everyone can find at least something that reminds of his / her family.
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The family life ... |
... is just so beautiful! |
But that in itself doesn't make it worth being listed on this website, right? I mean, as you know, I do have certain standards and even though I probably consume every stupid, new media-trend, I don't write about them right away. Well, the thing is: lately I discovered that the middle-class of today's society was being erased from the tv-screens completely, at least as far as real-life-tv-shows are concerned. You either get really well off people, as in BH 90210, or the supposedly middle-class people look so wholesome and well-off, that they have to actually be real rich, as in Dawsons Creek. On the other hand you will be served really low-life-scums as in "Married with children" or "the Simpsons", but these have been so hyperbolized in the last seasons that they don't really count as "real life" anymore. ("The Simpsons", though technically cartoons, more so than the Bundys.) Familes like the Waltons or the one on that little farm with Michael Landon, whose name I keep forgetting, have completely slipped into oblivion.
| The family from "Malcolm in the middle" is lower-middle-class, which means, as long as both parents are employed, they can hold themselves above the poverty line. That message in itself is something to behold. The storylines never dwell too much on the fact, which is good. The household might be a mess, but with three boys and a working mother, which household wouldn't be. Also, the houses to the left and to the right of the home of Malcolm's family are for sale, a joke which has only come through to the very observant, because it is never mentioned in the dialogues themselves. |
There is one good thing about childhood - at one point it ends. |
Now, why was the middle-class erased and why is bringing it back in this way such a huge success? In my opinion, the dissappearance of tv-middle-class is closely connected to the dissappearance of the real middle class. With the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, the rest of the middle class is either struggling hard to get into the upper class or struggling even harder not to fall below. So the last thing they want to see is someone presenting them with a societal problem that is finally their own and no solution for it. Poor and middle-class people make up the vast majority of the tv-audience as well as of society. TV-shows have to appeal to mass audiences. That is also why Dawsons's family or that of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is supposedly middle-class, even though they dress, act and talk absolutely upper-class. If Malcolm's family is poor, it is for reality reasons, not so much for appeal. This world we live in, has become ununderstandable for most everybody. Life has become a grotesque chain of events that are usually triggered by unseen forces and beat upon you with all sorts of troubles and problems without any solution in sight. "malcolm in the middle" overdoes all that - not too much, though, mind you, just that tiny little bit that seperated the cynic from the surrealist.
The homoestatic distance between the funny and the real is hard to achieve and even harder to maintain. Nowadays it takes a lot more from the humour-side and less weight on the realism to have a good mix. "Malcolm in the Middle" has that. This is everyday, this is real and it is hilariously funny - which is a positive sign to every watcher. It is way more than "don't worry, be happy", because that is not enough anymore. It offers no solutions because there are none. I know that is hard to swallow, but at least, you still have something to laugh about, while those kids in the expensive clothes and the clean hair keep on talking about their problems in relationships.
P.S.: If you need another reason to be convinced that the show is cool, take the credits for the theme: They Might Be Giants contribute a perfect imitation of the typical US-fratboy-punk a là Sum 41, Blink 182 or American Hi-Fi that has the epic teenage-lyrics of: "Yes, maybe, I don't know, can you repeat the question / You're not the boss of me (3x) / and you're not so big / life is unfair." Yeah, whatever.
