PLL Tradition"A"l or Not?

Tradition”A”l  or not?

Now a days television shows constantly challenge past issues, whether they be gender issues, class issues, or social issues, television shows are pressing towards new limits. ABC Family’s hit television show Pretty Little Liars is one of these shows that appears to be challenging these traditional issues. At first glance one might see all the examples pressing these issues, but once you dig down into the foundation of the show you will find something exactly opposite.

In traditional television shows the construction of the family is rooted in traditional viewpoints, such as a father mother household where the father works and provides for the family and the mother is a stay at home housewife and cares for the children. Normally in this type of family structure the father is the one with the power and control. Traditionally the kids in the household usually have friends their own age and don’t interact as much with kids of different age groups. If the television show depicts a traditional relationship between the children such as boyfriend girlfriend they are almost always the same age and/or gender.

Ezra and Aria’s relationship definitely goes against traditional age views, considering Ezra is Arias high school teacher. Not only is this illegal, it is definitely not something many people want to promote. Because of this taboo relationship, the scene setting usually takes place in private and in secrecy. This series often shows them in their relationship and makes the viewer understand and root for their relationship to last through all the ups and downs. Some of these ups include the support of her friends and romantic tactics of Ezra, while the downs include the lack of support from Aria’s parents and the other school administration who catch wind of their relationship.

Emily’s relationship tackles a whole different traditional view on gender based relationships. Being a lesbian in the television series, Emily faces many hard times early on in the series when going public with her views. However, unlike Aria and Ezra’s relationship, Emily’s is not illegal. That does not mean to say that she faces any less prejudice along the way. Same sex relationships are a newer revolution within television, and are becoming more popular among modern television shows and movies. Who knows, in the future they might even consider this type of relationship as traditional.

                The traditional family structure is also challenged by Hannah and her mother. Hannah’s mother is a working single mom who raised Hannah all by herself all doing so while having a successful career. This is also becoming more and more common in today’s society and breaking the traditional barriers, however “traditional” movies still have a father and mother figure being casted.

                Along with Hannah’s mom, Spencer’s mom is also successful. Even though Spencer’s mom is still married she is a successful lawyer and juggles managing a family and having a busy and successful career. Even though in the real world it isn’t considered abnormal for mothers to be out working and having full time careers along with raising families, in television the women are still assumed to be housewives, cooking and taking care of the children.

Throughout the series the viewers have this understanding and view that Pretty Little Liars is a television series that has no boundaries and challenges almost every traditional view and stereotype in television. But when you take a closer look, underlying in the foundation of the show, Pretty Little Liars is based on a traditional mindset.  Throughout the series the four girls try to find the killer of their best friend Allison, who they presume is this anonymous person who texts using a signature of “A”. As the show goes along they find out that one of Hannah’s good friends, Mona, is in fact “A”. Or is she? Then later in the series Mona tells the girls that she has been working for someone called “Redcoat”. They find out that “Redcoat” is in fact CeCe Drake. And of course when you think it is all said and done they find out that CeCe is working for the person in charge of the whole thing who turns out to be Ezra. So how does this fallow with traditional viewpoints? The whole show makes the allusion that women are in change and in power by having Mona as “A” then finding out CeCe is “Redcoat”, while in fact Ezra is the mastermind behind the whole operation. This displays that even aver all of the barriers one may think Pretty Little Liars is busting down during its series the very root of the show has the man in charge. The fact that the television show makes a male in charge in the most crucial character that hold the most power in the show exemplifies that Pretty Little Liars is based on traditional views.

Will traditional views change for future generations? Will the earlier topics discussed become the norm and traditional views we will see in future televisions shows and movies? It’s going to be interesting to see what people come up with next and how they will continue to push the limits.