An American Family ignited a national debate about whether filming changed the family

Evidence

When it ran in 1973, An American Family had attracted large audiences—gigantic by public television standards—and also provoked a national discussion. Gilbert’s frame was essentially critical; he portrayed the Louds, particularly the father, Bill, as being obsessed with material success at the cost of family itself. They became “a symbol of disintegration and purposelessness in American life.” As such, the show was generally regarded as a serious documentary achievement, with one critic allowing that “never was there greater realism on television except in the murders of Oswald and Robert Kennedy.” It is difficult to describe the extent of its resonance; as Esquire contended, “I doubt if in the history of the tube there has been so much talk about anything.” Many wondered about what social scientists call the Hawthorne effect, the extent the very act of observation and filming had influenced what happened; and thus, there were those who thought the show exploitative and misleading—including, eventually, the family themselves. — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 826

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the Hawthorne effect in context — observation altering the observed behavior.
• XREF: Connects to the chapter’s broader thesis that attention technologies alter what they observe; parallels the book’s earlier treatment of spectacle. — connects to: An American Family made ordinary people fleetingly famous just for being themselves — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 842

Broader Connections

• An American Family made ordinary people fleetingly famous just for being themselves #expands (0.85) — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 842