Back in high school we learnt about flashbulb memories – vivid memories associated with particular events. It was September 11, 2001 and I was about six years old. I woke up to my Dad and some of his friends who were helping him renovate our house. We were all gathered around our TV in the front lounge room, all comprehending the events unfolding in front of us on the news. My six-year-old self was sitting on the floor with pencils in hand, drawing my interpretation of what was going on in front of me. Pencils or not, almost everyone I know has a vivid memory of how they saw that day unfold – and for most of us, it was on a TV.

It wasn’t until I was thinking about how to respond to this question that I realised how much of my life has been experienced or learnt through TV. In the early 1990’s, a man named Neil Buchanan created a show that myself, and many other 20-something year olds can give credit to for their love of art and general resourcefulness. That show was Art Attack – the show that really got the most out of old egg cartons and tissue boxes in the best way possible. Around this time too, was Hi-5. I wore beads in my hair to kindergarten, layered colourful t-shirts and basically thought I was Charlie (one of the members). So much of my early childhood was based on hours spent around the TV in my living room, wishing to be just as creative and stylish as what I saw.

Fast forwarding time to the awkward tween years, I was just about to finish primary school and embark on the great unknown – high school. Coming home from school every day to The Sleepover Club that was on almost every weekday at 4pm was my favourite thing. In hindsight this show was absolutely appalling, however, to my impressionable 12-year-old self, it was everything. It gave me such a clear idea of what high school would be like and all my friends loved it. We’d all pretend to be members of the show and got so caught up in the little world we had created. After The Sleepover Club came arguably the most defining show of our childhoods – 6pm Simpsons. I recall so many arguments with my parents over the TV remote because it was always on at the same time as dinner, or the news. The Simpsons was, and will forever be, a part of everyone’s lives.

In my opinion the power of a flash bulb memory, pertaining to the individual is an absolute phenomenon. The ability to recall their experience/s of a certain show or event is the power of television – events and memories that can be vividly recalled, which have impacted our lives in different ways. I will always be thankful for being a millennial – learning about the world and discovering myself through television is such a resource, one that I will never take for granted.

“The Grown Ups” from the AMC series Mad Men centres around societies reaction to the assassination of JFK after his fatal shooting on Friday November 22, 1963. The episode makes a key observation about how television has been used as “cultural technology” witnessing the event unfolding through the television – with the event forcing changes in relationships, activities and lives of the characters.

What is most interesting to myself about this episode is the connection between the behaviours of people here, in 1963, and in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. Creator of Mad Men, Matthew Weiner, stated that there was an “intentional association” with the events of 9/11 and particularly the “reaction to the attacks”. The further you get into the episode – the more this makes sense and becomes more noticeable in the actions of characters. The heightened sense of security, temporary closures of businesses, and a resounding sense of grief among all people run parallel to that of 9/11. Another issue that is raised about television in this episode is the concept of TV being used as “cultural technology”. TV had not always been a broadcast medium for events such as the JFK assassination – it existed purely as an extension of radio. However over time, people turned to television as their news source, thus its role within society was negotiated and television became a primary news and entertainment source.

Television families such as in Mad Men, reflects either a utopian or dystopian spectatorship. A utopian spectatorship regards television as a “catalyst for renewed domestic views” and also that it can “restore faith in family togetherness” and become the heart of a home. Much of this runs parallel to the original promotion of television where the TV was seen to be the “electronic hearth” and brought a sense of unity into households. Looking at the other perspective – the dystopian spectatorship, which is reflected in this episode of Mad Men. An aspect to this dystopia is the cultural authority, which is something that is still relevant in society today. An example of this, not necessarily from Mad Men is where a father, or patriarchal head of most families is the one allowed to operate the TV remote.

Also a part of dystopian spectatorship is the idea that television has “divisive effects” on families, which lead to it being a disruptive and often isolating part of our homes. This is evident in the scene where Don returns home to his family watching the coverage of the JFK assassination and his children are shown glued to the television. One way to look at this is that it was intentional and television was used as a method of keeping children quiet. If this is the case, I suppose there isn’t too much difference between this and a parent handing a child an iPad or iPhone for them to play on, in order to keep them quiet.

Overall this episode of Mad Men is an excellent example of the way television has gained cultural authority established a place in the family home, but has also shown the negative, dystopian ways in which television can divide homes.