An "Alex P. Keaton" Republican... or how a fictional character...

..created "young republicans."

Conservative blogger who owes it all to Alex P. Keaton.



I'll bet this author of this is Skippy! Spurned by Mallory one time too many, he's now a virgin 40-something woman hating Republican!

why he hung around that twit Alex is beyond me.

the Smothers Brothers a bunch of years back. I never really watched the show Family Ties but I was familiar with it just enough to know who he was. He was really funny too.

I don't know why I needed to add that, he just did not seem like a Republican to me but those were the calmer, more same Clinton years.

Great, Alex Keaton clones. Sheesh. :eyes:

that was shoved down the collective throat of America.

Famlily Ties was an 80's sitcom no different than any other 80's sitcom. If it was meant as propaganda than so were most of the similar sitcoms that preceeded and followed it.

Besides, these people forget that Michael J Fox is a Democrat.

http://www.newsmeat.com/celebrity_political_donations/Michael_J_Fox.php

children into viewing republican conservatism as a form of rebellion against their parents. It fits right in with the right wingers' anti-boomer, anti-liberal, anti-'60s propaganda barrage that was shoved down America's throats during the Reagan 80's.

The first time I ever watched that show I thought it was being used as a RW propaganda tool. It is possible that the scriptwriter used the Alex character satirically, but unfortunately children (and many adults) do not recognize or understand satire, and many kids may have emulated the Alex character. Obviously, it worked on the freep discussed in the OP, and there is no reason to believe that it did not help brainwash a good number of other Reagan era kids also. The fact that Michael J. Fox is actually liberal is of no consequence to these (now) adults that were brainwashed by the show in the 80's. It was not him in real life, but his television character, that they watched and emulated.

Film is an incredibly powerful propaganda device and the propagandizing effects of film have many ramifications. Sitcoms and other television programs viewed for entertainment are possibly one of the most effective brainwashing techniques used on television, and can even define what is "normal" to and for a corporate controlled consumer society.

are probably not smart enough to vote Democratic anyway. If there had never been Alex Keaton, they would've just bought into the "Kerry will let the terra-ists win" argument.

The 80's was about rampant materialism and militarism.

A look at 80's television is telling. The themes of man shows can be distilled down into "money will get you laid by a hot chick." I was part of the generation that grew up watching Family Ties. Many guys in my school tried to emulate that Alex P. Keaton look... we called these people "preppies." Who can also forget the show Miami Vice with the exotic cars that come standard with hot women. Movies like "Weird Science" showed that a couple of geeks could get hot chicks when dressed up like preps and drive hot cars. The theme in Pretty In Pink shows us the pretty girl from the wrong side of the tracks falls in love with a rich boy from the right side of the tracks. It is little wonder with this type of propaganda the preps grew up and morphed into "Yuppies" and the "We Generation."

Militarism was also a rampant themes 80's movies. "Top Gun" comes to mind which was partially funded by the USAF. It was pretty much a recruiting tool which painted the picture that you do really cool things in the USAF and get hot chicks. There's also "Rambo II" which makes toting a machine gun around seem like fun and it paints a very innaccurate picture of the Vietnam War. There was LOTS of pro-USA propaganda and pro-military during this time.

It's not as if the writers of the show actually were trying to promote such views through a character.

It is as if they followed Archie Bunker.

I remember when I first started lurking at the freepers' site, I thought, "These people sound like Archie Bunker!" Come to find out that they LOVE that character, even though the show was making fun of them.

....and said it publicly, therefore legitimized it

once I heard my brother's reaction, I could never again watch the show thinking it was just funny

I do think many took heart from his character b/c they were 'finally' hearing their views on prime time

the show was meant as a parody but legitimized bigotry

didn't he?

I seem to remember that he'd start out all selfish and money grubbing and then realize that doing good for people was more important.

A Christmas-Carolesque holiday episode comes to mind, but I'm sure there were others.

Fox is Democrat! And so are Michael Gross and Merideth Baxter!

:shrug:

an American..Tracy Pollen.


Even if he can't vote..he's still a Dem at

but the main producer and writer Susan Borowitz donated $500 to Dukakis (unlikely she was a republican).

Looking back at it, it was an interesting concept (though it was pretty much just another silly 80s family sitcom) because the former flower children (the parents) were professionals (weren't they like in real estate or something?) and basically became yuppies which happened to many baby boomers.

And, what? Steve & Elise only had 1 belief and it was liberal?