A Date with Your Family
Encyclopedia
A Date with Your Family is a 1950 10-minute social engineering
short film presented by Simmel-Meservey, directed by Edward G. Simmel, and written by Arthur V. Jones to primarily show youth how to act and behave with parents during dinner to have a pleasant time. The subject family consists of a father, mother and their offspring, the sister, older brother and the younger junior. The narrator tells what happens with the family; what should happen during the meal, what types of manners and socializing should be exhibited to not sour the time with your family and what should not happen. There are many stereotypical views of each person to coincide with the preferred image of a nuclear family
in the post-war
era of the 1950s.
as a short paired with the Cold War
scare film Invasion U.S.A.
. It is known as one of the most humorous shorts of the series, also containing many dark jokes ("Emotions are for ethnic people" and also "Brother has a tight psychologocial grip on Junior.") because of the extremely restrictive nature of instructions for a common social event such as a family dinner. As well, the title itself was mocked, with the characters apparently believing that it suggested inbreeding (Mike Nelson responded by saying "Hey, I like my family as a friend!").
Social engineering (political science)
Social engineering is a discipline in political science that refers to efforts to influence popular attitudes and social behaviors on a large scale, whether by governments or private groups. In the political arena, the counterpart of social engineering is political engineering.For various reasons,...
short film presented by Simmel-Meservey, directed by Edward G. Simmel, and written by Arthur V. Jones to primarily show youth how to act and behave with parents during dinner to have a pleasant time. The subject family consists of a father, mother and their offspring, the sister, older brother and the younger junior. The narrator tells what happens with the family; what should happen during the meal, what types of manners and socializing should be exhibited to not sour the time with your family and what should not happen. There are many stereotypical views of each person to coincide with the preferred image of a nuclear family
Nuclear family
Nuclear family is a term used to define a family group consisting of a father and mother and their children. This is in contrast to the smaller single-parent family, and to the larger extended family. Nuclear families typically center on a married couple, but not always; the nuclear family may have...
in the post-war
Post-war
A post-war period or postwar period is the interval immediately following the ending of a war and enduring as long as war does not resume. A post-war period can become an interwar period or interbellum when a war between the same parties resumes at a later date...
era of the 1950s.
Overview
The film starts with the father coming home from work in the afternoon and is met with his wife. The older brother is completing his homework while junior comes home dirty from baseball and is helped to clean up by the older brother. Then the older brother meets father to have a pleasant chat. The narrator points out that it is not the time for the son to bring up any bad news such as poor grades. Mother and sister wear their best dresses to the table to please the men of the family and sister helps mother to set up the table, she puts a centerpiece on the table but moves it because it is too big. When the food is served, no one is to begin eating until father and mother do so. Table talk is to remain pleasant and inoffensive and everyone should be themselves, no one is to be emotional. It is shown that the conversation should be light and not egocentric. The sister begins to criticize her clothes to other women which causes negativity. The older brother begins to talk and motion graphically about a fight in turn disgusting the father and then the brother argues with the sister. When the meal is over, the narrator then points out the dishes being put away by the brother and sister while the father and mother talk. The short then ends with the narrator saying a pleasant time can be shared with the family every time if all of these steps are taken and also the actions that should be avoided.Mystery Science Theater 3000
A Date with Your Family was satirized on a season six episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
as a short paired with the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
scare film Invasion U.S.A.
Invasion U.S.A. (1952 film)
Invasion U.S.A. is a 1952 motion picture set during the Cold War and portraying the invasion of the United States by an unnamed Communist enemy meant to be taken as the Soviet Union....
. It is known as one of the most humorous shorts of the series, also containing many dark jokes ("Emotions are for ethnic people" and also "Brother has a tight psychologocial grip on Junior.") because of the extremely restrictive nature of instructions for a common social event such as a family dinner. As well, the title itself was mocked, with the characters apparently believing that it suggested inbreeding (Mike Nelson responded by saying "Hey, I like my family as a friend!").