Not to be confused with Dyer's Star Theory, Dyer's Utopian Theory is not one you are expected to know but is one that's helpful to know at higher levels. Have you ever noticed how sitcom characters never seem to have the mundane, real-world problems that real adults do except for when the plot calls for it? Paying bills and rent, commuting to work and doing a regular job never factor into a sitcom's plot unless it can be played specifically for laughs.
Equally, have you also noticed that every single day of a sitcom character's life is filled with mayhem and the sort of 'you'll never believe what happened today' moments that would leave a real person utterly exhausted?
Have you ever noticed how in Friends there always seems to be time for coffee - and how there is always time for gossip and complaining in The IT Crowd?
Sitcoms aim to provide escapism from the fairly dull and boring reality of life, which is why they are actually unrealistic in their presentations. There's a theory all about this phenomenon: Dyer's Utopian Theory. It's not just limited to sitcoms - you can see it in most genres of TV fiction, not to mention films and advertisements. Dyer's theory presents several pairs of opposites. On one side, a real world social tension, a fact of life. On the other side, a utopian solution, where the wacky world of the sitcom simply manages to sidestep or ignore what would be a real world problem so that it remains entertaining and, most importantly, escapist.
The first pairing is centred around work. In the real world, we experience the social tension of exhaustion. Work is dull, boring, repetitive and thankless. Monday to Friday, 9 to 5. Every single week the same thing. We feel alienated by our bosses and employers who see us as numbers and we grow ever more fed up of living in cities with their high rents, exorbitant bills and unmanageable living costs - and yet we are desperately reliant on our jobs to meet those costs or risk losing it all.
In a TV show or film, however, the utopian solution is energy. Characters only ever need to go to work when the plot requires it. Monica, Rachel and Chandler in Friends only go to or mention work to move the plot along and The IT Crowd has its characters at work because it's that environment that is made fun of. Note that Moss gets time off work at short notice and Roy seems to spend an inordinately long lunch break in 8+. Characters can even spend stretches lasting seeming days and weeks without going to work with no consequences and no fear of being fired - and even if they are, there is the belief that it will all work out.
Dyer next deals with material possessions. In real life, one of our greatest social tensions is scarcity. There is real poverty in the world and not everybody has everything they need, much less what they want. Wealth is not distributed equally, and where some people jet around the world from one luxury to another others starve to death in the streets.
In the world of the sitcom, the utopian solution is abundance. Unless the plot calls for it (e.g. Rachel's credit card debt in Friends) characters in sitcoms never worry about where to sleep for the night, where the next meal is coming from or whether or not they can pay their rent or bills. The office in The IT Crowd is abundant with geek toys and knick-knacks that would value in the thousands of pounds (and probably not be allowed) in reality. For an inner New York apartment under rent control and being shared between roommates doing hospitality jobs, Monica's flat is impeccably and tastefully (at least for the time) decorated. Not only that, Monica is able to move Rachel into a convenient spare room at a moment's notice, a process that would be a logistical nightmare lasting weeks in the real world assuming you have the luxury of a spare room to offer to begin with!
Dyer also deals with the daily routine. As already discussed above, in the real world our social tension sees us face a daily grind that is exactly the same day in, day out, even at the weekends where we tend to do the same things to relax. Dyer calls this dreariness.
In the world of the sitcom, everything is experienced with intensity. Every day is an adventure where something unbelievable happens. In Friends, it is Rachel abandoning her wedding and moving in with Monica seemingly all in the same day, while in The IT Crowd it is Moss' acceptance not only into Countdown but 8+ in a matter of days.
In the world of the sitcom, every single day is unpredictable and intense in a way that we would just be unable to cope with in real life.
In the real world, Dyer says that we face the social tension of being manipulated. People are constantly trying to manoeuvre and play us to their advantage, be they our bosses, advertisers, corporations, the government or even supposed family and friends. We never truly know what others are thinking, even when we ask and they say they are being honest.
In many examples of media, there is no such tension, the utopian solution being transparency. Relationships in sitcoms in particular (except where the plot calls for it) are clear-cut. Everybody understands how everybody else feels about them and the boundaries are set. There is very little mystery. Even from the get-go in Friends it is clear that Ross and Rachel like one another, while in the IT Crowd Roy makes his disdain for Jen (his boss) clear in a way that would get you or I fired.
Lastly, Dyer points to the fragmentation that we face in the real world. As a case in point, this Media Teacher cannot remember the last time he sat in a room together with all five of his closest friends - despite the unusual situation of them all living in the same town.
Our jobs, families and commitments mean that we become scattered. For most of us, our friends are people we see every few weeks, even months or years, and they live in different towns or even countries.
Compare this with Friends, which is a textbook example of the utopian solution of community in action. Every day, without fail, no matter how busy they may have been, how late they might have stayed at work or whatever else they had on, all six of the Friends manage to meet for coffee like clockwork. Friends even takes this to the extreme by having the friends live in the same part of the city, same building and even same apartments.
Likewise, The IT Crowd sees Jen, Moss and Roy in the same office together day in, day out, for what we must assume is years. In reality, offices change on a yearly basis, perhaps even more regularly, as people are promoted, demoted and join or leave the team.
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