Good Times, The Evanses vs. The Robinsons, and Conflicts in Class Perspectives

Good Times explicitly depicted a Black working class family while at the same time being implicitly in conversation with middle-class ascriptions, aspirations, and attainment. Although the Evans family represented a working class family, it was through their interactions with Black middle class families that their class consciousness was clearly revealed. Notably used in Norman Lear’s preceding successful comedies All in the Family and Maude, two opposing viewpoints were presented. One viewpoint represented the Black working-class consciousness of the Evans family and the other viewpoint represented the Black middle-class consciousness of the Robinson family. Ultimately, the families disagreed concerning the importance of material possessions versus such immaterial values as individual talent and a sense of obligation to less fortunate African Americans. In this paper, I will perform a close reading of “The Debutante Ball,” exploring the conflicts between the social statuses represented and interpreting the “ultimate concerns” shared by both families.