I Love Lucy vs. The Ellen DeGeneres Show
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I thought I would compare two famous female comedians from two different eras. I will be comparing Ellen DeGeneres, a 21st century comedian. And I will be looking at Lucille Désirée Ball, a comedian from the 1950s. Ellen DeGeneres and Lucille Désirée Ball have some noticeable differences. I will mostly be looking at the characters they play in their shows, “I Love Lucy” and “The Ellen DeGeneres Show”.
‘I Love Lucy’ was a huge hit in the 1950s. The actress, Lucille Désirée Ball, in ‘I Love Lucy’ was one of the first female comedians. She is sometimes considered the ‘Queen of Comedy’. In ‘I Love Lucy’ Lucille was seen as a naïve, quirky housewife. She wants to join her husband in show business. But the problem is she has no musical talent what so ever. She is also seen as having no managerial talents. Lucille tries to prove she is not a typical housewife but unfortunately it never work out. But she does find herself in humorous situations. This is why this show is good entertainment and why she is considered the ‘Queen of Comedy’.
Ellen DeGeneres is one of the biggest female comedians of today’s culture. Ellen is a Emmy-winning talk-show host. She has her own show, ‘The Ellen DeGeneres show’, that airs for an hour, 5 days a week. She has also appeared in a number of movies including, ‘EdTV’ and ‘The Love Letter’. She also did voices in the movies, ‘Finding Nemo’ and ‘Doctor Dolittle’.
Ellen and Lucille both dress very differently in their shows. Ellen often wears suits that are seen as slightly masculine. She has short blonde hair. Meanwhile Lucille usually wears dresses with heels. She has long hair and is portrayed as very feminine. In a couple of episodes she dresses up as a man but for the most part she is wearing these feminine, traditional clothes.
Another interesting difference is their sexual orientation. In the show Lucille was portrayed as heterosexual. She was happily married. Not only this but she was also portrayed as subordinate to her husband. She usually listened to what he said. Ellen is homosexual. The other day in her show she was talking about her homosexuality.
Also when comparing one of Ellen DeGeneres famous roles in the movie “EdTV” to Lucille’s role in “I Love Lucy” there are differences in jobs. In one episode of “I Love Lucy”, Lucy and her friend, Ethel, get a job at the chocolate factory. They are completely unprepared and end up not making a great impression. The job they do would be seen as a “female job”. They are working on an assembly line with chocolates. They are in charge wrapping up the candy and then putting it away. Meanwhile in “EdTV”, Cynthia (Ellen) is in charge of TV producing. This would be a male dominated role. She is also perfectly capable of doing this job. And ends up being better at it than anyone else. She eventually quits due to moral issues. It is really interesting that Lucy works in a feminine job and can’t do it. Proving that she is meant to be a housewife. Cynthia on the other hand works a traditional male job and ends up getting promoted.
I think it is very interesting as to the different roles that female comedians have played in the past 50 years. From one role that is completely feminine to a more masculine role. There are some major changes that have happened in 50 years in popular media.
