The Urkel Effect

To Jaleel White, for your inspiration to the world
To everyone who is not afraid to be him or herself, no matter what social pressures arise
To Lauren, who takes this and runs screaming with it

In 1987, Miller-Boyett Productions introduced JoMarie Payton as Harriet Winslow as a recurring guest on their ABC show "Perfect Strangers".  At the time, no one could know the effect on society that this would have throughout the 90's.  In '88, Reginald VelJohnson was introduced as her husband, Carl, on the same show, and in 1989, the couple, along with their children, got their own show, "Family Matters".  Halfway into the first season of this show, Steven Quincy Urkel was introduced, originally to be just a recurring guest, and society was forever changed.

Now, this brief little history lesson seems very off par with the usual sociological themes of my blog, but I see a lot of the influence or Urkel in our society even today.  Steve Urkel was a person who was never afraid to be himself. From his big glasses, his tight pants held up by suspenders, plaid shirts, saddle shoes, love for cheese, and all things polka; he always did what made himself feel good and fulfilled.  He was, in fact, far apart from the average black teenager in inner-city Chicago.  Urkel was a brilliant engineer from a very young age.  In high school, he invented time travel, created an atomic bomb, and, in a nod to the nutty professor, unlocked the human genome in order to reset himself as "cool", even though all the people around him urged him to go back to his normal self.




Now, the point behind this whole television history lesson is to follow.  The most important thing about Steve Urkel was that he was written originally to be a one time guest, and when he was written again, he was just supposed to be a recurring guest.  However, anyone who remembers the show can tell you, the majority of the series centered around around Urkel.  I see this as entirely societal for some of the things that made Urkel who he was.  The reason he became so popular among viewers is that he was always himself.  Eddie Winslow and Laura Winslow constantly struggled with their personal identities and how they contrasted with social and racial expectations with their environments.  But Steve, no matter how many people he annoyed, just did what made him happy constantly.  This pulled a level of respect from the viewing audiences that kept him coming back for season after season.  He was a role model to everyone, not to be like him, but to live their own lives to the fullest extent.  Sadly, very few people have the courage to do this, so people kept going back every Friday to watch Urkel be comfortable in his own skin. 


All of us have social pressures surrounding our lives.  Our families, friends and environments influence us daily to make certain decisions, even if we don't enjoy them. However, there are certain people who won't succumb to the pressure.  These are the people who try everything when it comes in front of them, and who are often the most happy.  They listen to what they want, do what they want when they want, and when they are told that they may be dressed inappropriately, they question when they are ever appropriate.  With all this, they are also often the most popular because, for the same reasons as Urkel, people look to their independence and admire them for it.  Think of the famous examples.  One that comes right to mind is the very very black Darius Rucker, turning his back on R&B for the country music he loves, and how popular he is for it.  Sheryl Crow and Aaron Lewis both also did the same thing to a bigger reception than their original genres.  Even Bob Ritchie (Kid Rock) and Matthew Shafer (Uncle Kracker) threw away their angry tracks and came to a calmer sound with more succes, and to bring us back to fictional popular characters, who is more popular than Sheldon Cooper, touting his superiority in spite of his quirks?? 


So the life lesson that we can take away from this is to always look past the pressures and just do what makes us happy.  It's always more attractive to be happy in your own skin than copying any cosmo magazine will ever be.  So embrace what you love and be yourself.  After all, you have to love you before someone else can.