Essay 3: research proposal

1. The media I will be researching is the television show The Office. I chose The Office because I watch it on a regular basis and have never, until now, realized how much it conforms to the norms of heteronormativity. I've never had a problem with the sexual innuendo's dislayed on the show, but I realize they exist and could be changed into something else. What interests me about changing this topic is whether or not it would be successful on TV. The Office is a successful show because of the awkward topics and comments that are presented. If I took those away, would the show still grab that success? How could I change some of the heteronormative aspects of the show, and keep it entertaining to the public?

- Working Research Question:

2. The audience I would say this is focused towards is anybody over the age of 20 or so. Somebody who is able to comprehend the sarcastic, sexual humor used in the show (and media in general). Both men and women, homosexual and heterosexual could be interested in this topic. They both would be interested in the new concepts presented due to the interesting new twists that contradict the hetero-norms. The only problem with this would be the portion of the hetero society that dislikes any sort of "homo" content presented. I don't want to lose that audience either, so I'm going to have to find a way to change things while pleasing everybody.

3. My wish would be that there are already sources out there discussing the issues present in The Office. There are obvious heternormative issues in the show that I would think people have discussed before in academic articles. If not, I plan on finding articles relating my issues to other media outlets. These same issues have been present in other shows (women in the workplace and homosexual relationships in the media).

4. - 02/25: beginning research, looking to grab 10 connective research articles

- 02/28: summarize articles, narrow it down to 5 to focus on

- 03/04: by then, bring things together; connect every article to a point I'm trying to make

5. I'm having trouble differentiating this essay from our previous essay. I feel like I'm going to be repeating myself and having the same type of thesis as before. Plus I just always have trouble starting papers.

6. I hope to get people to realize the issues that are present in a show like The Office. With revisions to specific examples, hopefully I'll be able to keep their interest in the show.