Here is my Blog post from my group’s project on Cartoons in relation to sociological theories.
In every episode of the Rugrats, it is clear that Tommy Pickles is the leader of the pack. After watching the entire first season, the group of babies never came to a consensus that Tommy was the leader, and yet he still took charge and everyone followed him without any question. Tommy Pickles always asserted his dominance and made is presence whenever in the group of his baby friends. Despite their uncertainty about some of his adventures, nonetheless, the babies hold back their fear, and follow Tommy’s lead anyway. But why?
Weber Is responsible for four major concepts of Sociology. He defines Social Action, the Ideal type(s), Conception of authority and Bureaucracy, and how all four make for an effective leader. He first describes Social Action as what motivates people to act. According to Weber, there are four different reasons why people are motivated to act out their actions. There are goal oriented, value oriented, emotional oriented and Tradition oriented. In regard to Tommy Pickles, his motivations to act are value oriented, which means that he has goal, which may not always be the most rational, however, his means to achieve the goal are very rational. When devising the plan to break out his play pin, he has detailed steps for every step of the plan, which will allow for him and his baby clan to reach their goal. However, the goal he is usually aiming for is not the most effective and is usually deemed as unnecessary and ludicrous in the end.
Weber uses his notion of the ideal type – a way to measure similarities and dissimilarities across cases. He saw it as a way to view individuals. He furthers his knowledge of the ideal type to discover the different concepts of authority and the reasons as how or why people claim authority and why people follow them. Weber defines a charismatic authoritative leader, who gains a following as a result of their charismatic nature, which leads people into believing what they say, like Tommy Pickles. Tommy uses his smarts to convince the other babies that his ideas are realistic and rise, which essentially gives them no other choice but to follow him. He often gives small, convincing speeches in order to capture his audiences’ attention, and thus persuade them to follow his lead and listen to what he has to say.
As a result of Tommy’s authoritative ways, the Rugrats crew can easily be seen as bureaucracy, which Weber believes were losing individuality and creating a sense of alienation. With Tommy always being charge, the other babies felt obligated to go to him when the needed help and answers to their questions, thus often leaving the other babies out of the loop when working to devise a plan or solve a problem.
If some someone in present day society possessed the same leadership qualities as Tommy Pickles, would they generate as much of a following as Tommy Pickles? Why or why not?
Would you consider Tommy a dictator or a leader? Do you think there’s a difference between the two? If so, what are those differences?
