Caught in circles: John en Marsha as representation and evaluation of the political, economic and cultural history of the Philippines from 1986-1990

Chaves, A. (2010). Caught in circles: John en Marsha as representation and evaluation of the political, economic and cultural history of the Philippines from 1986-1990. Unpublished undergraduate thesis, University of the Philippines, Diliman.

   This study describes how the sitcom John en Marsha represented and evaluated the Philippine political, economic and cultural condition from the year 1986-1990. Guided by the concepts of Michel Foucault’s discourse approach, the research reconstructed the Filipino people’s way of thinking during that particular period, and how the sitcom used the dominant issues of that time to reinforce or change this thinking. Thirty-six (36) episodes of the sitcom were reviewed for the political, economic and cultural themes embedded in its narrative structures. Forty-five (45) issues of the Manila Bulletin from 1986-1990 were analyzed to be able to determine the most dominant issues of that period. The findings revealed that the most common issues during the time interval in question dealt with the affairs and conflicts in government, the country’s economic problems, and the balancing of traditional and modern values in a contemporary setting. Meanwhile, power relations, references to actual political and economic events, traditional gender roles, and pop culture were the dominant themes in the program. Overall, the study found the sitcom to be an adequate representation of Philippine history from 1986-1990, and that it maintained prevailing ideas, although it had efforts to change the dominant outlook of the people from time to time.   

File:Chaves2010.pdfDepartment of Broadcast Communication Thesis