Youth News: ‘American Dreams’ Holds Interest As Family Drama

MEGAN SENNETT, Georgia Bulletin Youth Board

Published: November 18, 2004

I have a confession to make: I didn’t really like the show “American Dreams” when it premiered a little over two years ago.

It seemed a little too archaic, and the characters and storylines were not terribly compelling. The show was for my parents, not for teenagers like me, or so I thought.

However, once I gave it a chance, this family-friendly TV show became one of my favorites, and I found myself taping it every Sunday evening, since it aired at 8 p.m. while I was still at the Life Teen program at church. Watching the tapes with my family quickly became a much anticipated and cherished ritual, and being transported back to 1960s Philadelphia every week is now highly entertaining.

In its third season on NBC, “American Dreams” chronicles the lives of the Pryor family, a middle-class Catholic family. Patriarch Jack Pryor (Tom Verica) is the owner of a television and radio store and caters to a large clientele along with his African-American co-worker Henry (Jonathan Adams). Jack recently ran for the local council, and, after a highly competitive campaign, secured the African-American vote to win the election. His wife Helen (Gail O’Grady) works at a travel agency at a time when most women did not work outside the house.

The Pryors’ oldest son J.J. (Will Estes) is a Marine serving in Vietnam, and because of this, his younger sister Meg (Brittany Snow) has become very involved in anti-war campaigns. Know-it-all younger sister Patty (Sarah Ramos) and the adorable youngest child Will (Ethan Dampf) complete the family.

This show is not afraid to tackle controversial topics, and the Vietnam War is an important backdrop to the lives of family members. Meg recently become an anti-war activist after getting arrested at a protest march at a university with one of her best friends, Henry’s son Sam, in last season’s finale. This season, she has unfortunately shed her good-girl image and created quite a stir at ultra-conservative East Catholic High School by staging various anti-Vietnam protests to infuriate Father Cassidy, the new headmaster. From coaxing every girl in the school to wear a mini-skirt, to passing out anti-war buttons, to painting a giant peace sign on the side of the school with brooding bad boy Chris (Milo Ventimiglia), Meg’s ideas have met with varying degrees of success. Her most ambitious project was to direct a version of Shakespeare’s “Henry VIII” set in the 1960s, which she used as an avenue to express her anti-war sentiments to a public audience. Although receiving punishment from the school administration, and even her family, Meg has learned not only to think for herself but also caused others in her mostly conservative world to do the same.

After serving as a Marine for some time, J.J. suffered a devastating blow when his entire squad in Vietnam was killed except for him. Recovering in a hospital, he fell in love with his sensitive and thoughtful Vietnamese nurse, only to witness her death in an explosion. Meanwhile, J.J.’s ex-fiancée, Beth, is home in Philadelphia and pregnant with the couple’s child. Birth control and premarital sex are other important issues included in the show. While there is no preaching, Beth’s situation is portrayed as being tough, and the Catholic community is at first very critical of the idea that she is unmarried and pregnant. When Beth first learned that she was going to have a baby, she and her parents seriously considered having the child aborted. However, paralleling the Catholic faith, thankfully she chose to keep her baby, no matter how difficult it would be. The show wisely presents the honest consequences of premarital sex without glossing over them as most shows do.

Another contentious topic presented on the show is homosexuality. A homosexual co-worker of Helen’s at the travel agency was recently fired due to his sexual preference. He was a good friend of Helen’s younger daughter Patty and often engaged in intellectual discourse with her, but Helen does not allow him to reveal his secret to Patty. Helen greatly struggles with his homosexuality because she wants to be friendly and fair but knows society’s, and especially the Catholic Church’s, opinion on homosexual activity.

Other forms of discrimination are shown in “American Dreams,” especially racism. During this time period, the civil rights movement was in full swing, and the opposition, even in the North, was rough. Henry’s family experiences a lot of racism in Philadelphia, especially during race riots. However, there is also reverse discrimination as well, in which black people are against their white neighbors. The Philadelphia black community is attacking Jack after they elected him to the local council, and he is unable to represent their interests at first. Race relations and tension permeate almost every episode of this show.

It is refreshing to view a family-friendly show that takes itself seriously. Behind the actors’ pretty faces and inclusion of current singing stars portraying ‘60s classics on the popular period show “American Bandstand” (Meg is a dancer on the show) are serious issues that are still relevant. The show’s major flaw, however, is its approach to societal reforms. Although the Pryors are Catholic, whenever they express opinions deviating from traditional Catholic doctrine, the radicals are always seen as being correct. Standing up for what one believes is admirable, but it is taken too far at times when Catholic authority figures are always portrayed as being the “bad guys.” The rebellions keep the show’s plotlines interesting but can sometimes be too much of a good thing.

All in all, “American Dreams” is a high-quality, original show that brings up important issues. It has managed to walk the fine line of entertaining, while still capturing the essence of the turbulent 1960s with thought-provoking skill.

Megan Sennett is a sophomore at Chattahoochee High School and a parishioner at St. Brigid Church, both in Alpharetta.