I watched “Malcolm in the Middle”, and it got me thinking…

When I first learned about the content of this studio, the idea of a story world, my mind immediately drifted to the worlds of science fiction, fantasy and alternate history, worlds where the rules and structures of our own are almost unrecognisable. However, as we have discussed during the last two weeks every (but not limited to) work of film takes place in a particular story world, with its own setting, characters, history, boundaries and internal logic. These worlds range in scope from entire galaxies with thousands of featured characters to just a few characters in a setting of one or two household rooms.

Television sitcoms generally occupy a fairly similar world: a relatively undisturbed group of friends or family, existing almost exclusively in a couple of households, live a peaceful existence that is disrupted every week by some problem, obstacle or opportunity. Nine times out of ten, the pleasant status quo is restored as the episode ends. “Malcolm in the Middle” generally follows this formula episode-to-episode, except the status quo is far from pleasant; Malcolm’s family fight constantly, live in squalor and are completely financially unstable. In many episodes, the weekly problem is not a problem but a temporary elevation of one or more of the characters out of their position, before eventually tumbling back to their miserable normalcy. At the outset of the series, Malcolm is placed in a high-achievers class, a position that should allow him to transcend his dysfunctional working-class family; instead, it makes him an even larger target for bullies. In the season one episode “Malcolm Babysits”, Malcolm gets a high-paying job babysitting that allows him to escape his family in favour of his clients’ lavish house; as the reality of his conditions are revealed, Malcolm ends up back in his starting position by the episode’s end.

At first, to me this trend in sitcoms seemed like more of a plot issue than a world issue; the plot structure of episodic TV comedies demand that the status quo is restored at the episode’s end. However, through our discussions, particularly the one regarding “Sex and the City”, I realised this forms part of the internal logic of the shows’ story worlds. Much like in “Sex and the City” where New York exists as a safe space in many ways dominated by upper class women, sitcom characters and their situations must exist in an almost static state of being, generally fairly positive. The show logic dictates that, if there is a problem, it must be solved to restore the balance of the world by the end of the episode. “Malcolm in the Middle”, then, is interesting because its internal logic calls for a world that is NOT positive and happy; instead, the show and its characters must return to a state of squalor and dysfunction.

How will this relate to my eventual creation of my own story world? In many cases, it seems very easy to create a world modelled on pre-existing worlds in similar settings. When you construct your own world, you look to other worlds for characters, histories and, of course, internal logics: sci-fi worlds include interplanetary governance and faster-than-light travel; fantasy worlds include a hierarchical monarchy and swordplay; or, as we discussed in class, coming-of-age film worlds feature male protagonists who must achieve certain tasks or undergo great change to “get the girl”. Rarely do we see a teen male protagonist “get the girl” through his own original self-being, but maybe it is these worlds that are the most interesting. “Malcolm in the Middle” takes the sitcom genre’s archetypal internal logic, and flips it on its head, because in reality things don’t always reset to a happy and peaceful status quo. Perhaps when considering my story world, I should try and differ my work from other works that might share its genre or setting by giving it a unique, among other things, internal logic.

(I borrowed some ideas about “Malcolm in the Middle”‘s structure from this article: https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/why-malcolm-in-the-middle-is-a-socialist-masterpiece)