"This Is Us" is a new show that first aired on September 20th on NBC. It follows the life of the Pearson family. The mom and dad were expecting triplets, but unfortunately one dies in birth. However, a man drops off a black baby at the hospital. They decide to adopt him because they are meant to have three. The year is 1980. As the show follows their lives, we see how Randall struggles with being raised by a white family and not knowing any other black people. He keeps a notebook with a tally of how many black people he meets. He struggles with not knowing his biological parents and as a child he asks all the people of color he meets if they can roll their tongue. He is trying to find a connection between himself and a potential relative. It is possible to do both a cultural and a psychoanalytic analysis on "This Is Us," but I am going to talk about the psychoanalytic analysis. What motivates Randall throughout his entire life? His family. As a child he is constantly asking his parents about his biological parents and reaching out to the few black people he knows. He attends a mostly white school because he is intelligent, but never wants to stand out or be better than his siblings. When he is an adult he hires an investigator to find his birth father and reconnects with him. Throughout his whole life he was motivated to succeed because his father wasn't good enough to keep him. When he finally meets him, he tells him off, but then is invited inside and creates a relationship with him. At one point in the season he is reconnected with extended family and the audience can tell how happy he is to not only have a white family, but a family he can relate to. He often talks about how he was raised by white people. In this scene, when Randall is connecting with his extended family, you see that his motivation has always been family. There was a feeling of lack throughout his life when he could not relate to his family on a deep level, but this feeling of lack is lessened when he connects with his family, but may continue on because his father has cancer.
Frances, good analysis and use of the concepts of drive and lack. While it seems that his main issue is family, to be more specific about what drives him (as you describe) seems like a sense of belonging and what he's lacking is a feeling of connection to his family. It seems as if Randall has always considered himself an outsider in his adoptive family and searches for his biological family in hopes of attaining that sense of belonging. Overall, good job!
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I was so excited to see a blog about this show! This is probably in the top 5 of my favorite shows. I think this would be a great example for a cultural analysis, so when I read that you took the psychoanalytic approach, I was immediately intrigued. I agree that Randall is driven by family, yet (*spoiler alert) what happens when he finds out that his mother kept his dad away from him? Here, I don't think he is no longer driven by family but rather by the "what if", unknown. What if he was able to grow up knowing his father? What if Rebecca told Randall at a young age that she knew about his whereabouts? His anger and frustration mix leading me to wonder whether family continues to drive him. I think at this point he loses his connection to his family, or his mom at least. Rebecca thought she was protecting her son, yet she left Randall to wonder and pursue more than a family - an identity?
ReplyDeleteI really like this show also and am so glad you posted about it. I think you hit the nail on the head when you describe the lack that Randal feels and how strongly he is motivated by family throughout each episode - the family that raised him, the family he created with his wife, and also the family he never had but always dreamed about. The complexities of all these pulling entities drives him to be the perfect 'whatever' to whomever he can - perfect father, husband, son, etc. I think Randal's character in particular portrays a phenomenon of many people in the United States today of disconnect mixed with immense pressure. Randal doesn't always feel like he connects with his family (families) but he carries around with him the pressure to be perfect in everything he does. While Randal's story is from an adopted black, man's perspective, I know this situation translates to many in the US today and is what makes his character so relatable.
ReplyDeleteGreat post - great topic.
I'm so glad you posted about this show because it is one of my new favorites! I love love the show. I think Randall is my favorite character in the show because he has such an interesting story. He has lacked the feeling of love from a biological parent and has always felt like his adoptive family was their to fill that love in. If I was Randall I would 100% want to find my biological father, that drive would be there for me. The lack that he feels is the drive towards finding his father. It will be interesting to see where next season will take him now that his biological dad has passed and he knows that his mom knew of his father the whole time. Will he forgive his mother? Will Randall still feel that sense of lack in his life?
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