Content Analysis

Content Analysis

Name of Program: How I Met Your Mother

Medium: Television

Genre of Program: Comedy

Name of Character Viewed	Ted Mosby	Robin Scherbatsky	Lily Aldrin (Lily Eriksen)	Marshall Eriksen	Barney Stinson
Male or Female	Male	Female	Female	Male	Male
Main Character?	Yes	No	No	No	No
Occupation	Architect, Architect Professor	News Reporter at Metro News at 4 am	Kindergarten Teacher	Lawyer	Works at GNB Bank
Level of Education	College	Not Sure	College	College	College
Race	White	White	White	White	White
Marital Status	Single(had relationships with Robin, Stella, Victoria)	Single (had relationships with Ted, Barney, Don)	Married (to Marshall Eriksen)	Married (to Lily Eriksen)	Single (had a relationship with Robin, but he is a womanizer)
Age	32 years old	30 years old	32 years old	32 years old	34 years old
Number of Children	0	0	0 (none yet, but planning on having them)	0 (planning on having them)	0
Appearance	Average	Attractive by Traditional Standards	Glamorous	Average by traditional Standards	Glamorous
Body Type	Average	Average	Slender	Heavy, Above Average Weight, Athletic	Slim
Personal Characteristics	Intelligent, emotional (cries at times, sensitive), nurturing, humorous	Flirtatious, Humorous, Sexual, Physically affectionate, Emotional—cries.	Emotional—cries, yells. Slow witted, sexual, physically affectionate, In control of situation	Temper, Aggressive, Straightforward, Self-Reliant, Yells, becomes violent	Flirtatious, Sarcastic, Womanizer, Humorous, Sexual, Physically affectionate.
Role of Character in Narrative	Romantic Character, Hero	Romantic Figure	Romantic Figure, Helpful role model	Supporting Character	Comedic Character
Impact of character in Narrative	Positive affects outcome	Positive Affects Outcome	Positive Outcome	Positive Outcome	Positive Outcome

          


      Isn’t How I Met Your Mother just “Awesome” and “legen---wait for it---wait for it---DARY”? It indeed is, and I don’t think I have ever seen a better character than Ted Mosby and Barney Stinson. Their continuous jokes and style has made me laugh with tears. With Robin having her early morning news reports just makes me ask myself, “who would bother waking up at four in the morning to watch ROBIN talk?” Oh and then of course, there is Marshall and Lily, desperate to have a baby. That just turns out funnier because you see how Marshall listens to his fathers advice on how he should eat pickles before sex in order to have a boy, and how Lily wears a gown to have a girl. But look at the analysis now. What I see is that this show is obviously a comedic and sexual show where all the characters, apart from Barney, are trying to find their real love. But I also see stereotypes. Recognize how all the main characters are white. In fact, there are hardly any black people. As far as what I can recall, there was only one African American in the show, and he was a security guard for a club. He was a physically aggressive man who seems like he went to military school. Why is it like that? Why are African Americans portrayed as buff men? The answer is simple—media. Its what our media thinks and its completely stereotypical. We see white men heavy, average, and slim, in this show. We barely even see African Americans in the show, and when we do, we see them as buff and strong men who will beat anyone up. Another issue I realized from this analysis is the occupations. Notice how all males in this show have an impressive career while all the women have careers where you don’t earn as much. Okay you might argue that Robin has a great job as she is a news reporter, but realize the fact that she is purposefully on air early in the morning, where people won’t watch as much. She is paid less for this, and clearly this shows how her job isn’t as great as a lawyer or architect. Oh and Lily. Well she is a kindergarten teacher. Most of her expenses come from Marshall’s bank accounts. By the way, Lily is known for being a shopoholic. Clearly, the men are earning more in this show. How I Met Your Mother may be a hilarious show, but you all should recognize the stereotypes against females and African Americans.