Cultivation Analysis - NYPD Blue

These three clips are from the police television drama, NYPD Blue.

The three clips are short examples of the common roles women both play in this particular show and on television in general. We have three separate women who are fulfilling common societal misconceptions about women. In the male dominated world of television there is a continuous usage of women and their bodies for a purely sexual aspect. Whether it is a cop's girlfriend, a hooker on the street, or a woman getting ready to shower, each scene is an example of television developing the way people look at the world and each other.

The Cultivation Analysis theory examines the effect television has on its viewers over the course of time. Researchers have found people who watch more TV have distinctly different views of the world. Someone who watches a heavy dosage of TV every day will probably feel they are likely to be a victim of violence or that violence is much more prevalent than it really is. TV can warp viewers feelings about other issues as well. Television that depicts the dangers of inner-city violence may inspire racism in its viewers or television that bombards its viewers with corrupt politicians may find its audience highly suspicious of their governing body. TV blurs and blends the reality of those who watch it. Blurring occurs when educated people see the world similar to those with less education and blending happens when television "reality" blends with cultural reality.

One of the greatest ways television can warp reality is through its consistent use of women in a sexual manner. As shown in these clips and in many others, television that portrays its female characters as sexual objects inspires the same kinds of feelings in its audience. While you can not see the cultivation analysis theory exactly in that it is impossible to see the reaction people will have to these clips, the theory states that over time, people who watch women consistently portrayed in such a manner will see females that way. The audience even seems to have grown to expect such behavior from its television, nearly every night there is a hooker being questioned or attacked in a police drama. Likewise, women are shown without wearing clothing, or much less clothing so much it was become common place. You have to ask yourself why the woman in clip 3 is walking around in a robe, but is at the same time showing her under garments. Or why exactly is the woman in clip 1 have to be naked on camera? It is just as easy to show a woman "naked" without having to actually show her below the shoulders and above the knees. The clip almost seems excessive if not for the fact that women are routinely shown in movies naked for seemingly no cinematic reason.

These clips show the sexualized version of women that far too many people really thinks exist. The clips blur and blend reality enough times that we think it is normal behavior to see a hooker on every street corner or a woman openly showing off her body. Again, it is impossible to find a direct television example of this theory since it is only theorizing the reaction we, the audience, has after watching it! But, these clips are useful for examining the kind of reality TV has created for us, and as a helpful reminder that women are definitely not really like this.