Bagpuss is a 1974 children's TV show about a Pink and White cat called Bagpuss, Bagpuss lives in a shop with a few of his friends including Professor Yattle the Woodpecker and Gabriel the toad. The reason I have chosen Bagpuss for Roland Barthes' theory is because secretly I think that the show sends various messages across the 13 episodes it spans.
Barthes argues that anything in culture can be a sign and send a specific message. He argues this using signifiers and denotation of certain topics. However, what specific messages can Bagpuss send? Well, an example off the top of my head is that it secretly tells us that the stereotypical nuclear family is necessary in Western culture. This can be seen in the show through the characters and their actions. Bagpuss acts as the father figure, who is often tired and deflated after a long days work, which explains why every single episode he starts asleep, wakes up then falls back asleep. He is also the centre of attention, which is how most of the characters (mainly the organ mice) would look up to him and possibly presume him as the breadwinner of the dysfunctional family. On the other hand, you have Professor Yattle who is similar to that of a grandfather with his knowledge on ancient objects that come through the shop. He is also denotated to this via his looks as he is beige in colour which is a symbol of becoming old and his choice of wearing glasses. This is key as someone who wears glasses is often perceived with having poor eyesight, and the most common demographic with poor eyesight is old people. Even the small Organ Mice are similar to that of children in the nuclear family as they're small in size and are energetic as they are the only ones in the show who appear when waking up but are never shown to be asleep. They are also frequently singing songs throughout the show as a collective choir, which is a stereotype commonly associated with children.
There is a lot to mention when putting forward Barthes’ theory into place as we can see signs of the nuclear family through a variety of diverse characters despite them not being related. However, there are signs that the show has no signs of installing the nuclear family into young impressionable children’s minds; therefore, putting a bit of a flawed in Barthes’ theory. For example, Gabriel the Toad does not signify any of the stereotypes in the nuclear family as all he does for the programme is sing songs. The only stereotype this could somewhat conform to is the motherly figure and how Gabriel is singing his children (the Organ Mice) to sleep. However, the last time a checked, Gabriel is not a woman; Madeleine is. Even with Madaleine she doesn’t conform to the stereotypes of a house wife as she is also providing for the family just like Bagpuss and she is not a stay at home mum because that can be applied to all of the characters. Even professor Yattle sometimes slips up in his information as he sometimes receives counter arguments from characters and refuses to debate them. This is not how a Grandfather figure should be according to the Western world as even if they do have a point challenged, they are prepared to come back with more knowledge and more evidence.
Overall I think that Roland Barthes' theory does link to Bagpuss and its idea of the show being an example of Western Nuclear families to an extent. This is most definetley evidence on both sides surrounding all the characters involved, but we can not pin point a single one of them to a role in the nuclear family because of how structured the characters are.
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