Is Dynasty a Clone of Dallas ?: Reading Formations for Cultural Politics in Consumer Culture*

Is Dynasty a Clone of Dallas ?: Reading Formations for Cultural Politics in Consumer Culture*

  In January, 1981, Dynasty took to the air, while Dallas overtook as the most high-rated television program in America. This paper will argue that the public and private reaction to Dynasty should be understood in context of the role of T.V. media in consumer culture. Dynasty and Dallas are both shown to represent the mass desires of consumers because they are versions of the perennial myth of the American Dream, linked as it is with the Western cowboy myth as a dominant political and national self-image. It is shown that Dynasty, especially, dealt with the issues of gender and sexuality in the Reagan era. Also revealed is the fact that Dynasty primarily projected an upper-class ambience of consumer culture through its openness toward sexuality that was an important feature of American culture in Reagan’s America. Focus is given to the key role of Alexis, who is portrayed as an aggressive, power-hungry, and enormously successful career woman. The paper concludes showing that the commercial success of Dynasty occurred despite the fact that female economic and socio-sexual power and male gay sensibility are somewhat slippery phenomenon not easily identifiable with by innumerable televisual subjects.