Content Analysis: Nancy, Shane and Andy Botwin

1. Name of Program: Weeds
2. Medium: Television Series
3. Genre of Fiction: Comedy-Drama
4. Name of Character Viewed: Nancy Botwin
5. Male or Female: Female
6. Was this character the main character in the program: Yes
7. Occupation: Stay at home mom/Marijuana dealer
8. Level of Education: It is stated that she does not have a college education so it is harder for her to get a job.
9. Race: Caucasian
10. Marital Status: Widowed
11. Age: 43
12. Number of Children: 3, all sons Shane (12), Silas (15) and a newborn with Esteban
13. Appearance: fashionable (chic) but can be very casual
14. Body Type: slim and slender
15. Personal Characteristic: daring, not smart, does not think about consequences of actions, puts her children at risk, "wants to be bad", strong, bad decision maker,
16. Role of Character in narrative: She is a pot dealer who is just trying to do good for her family although she constantly puts them in danger as she does not think about the consequences of her actions. Although after she stops selling marijuana because she marries Esteban, a corrupt mayor of Mexico, her friends (Doug, Celia Hodes and Dean Hodes) and her family members (Andy, Silas and Shane Botwin) begin to sell weed to make money as well and she is very disappointed. Although her sons look up to her, by marrying Esteban, her family begins to fall apart.
17. Impact of Character in Narrative: because of her decision making, her family is always somehow in danger or are involved in illegal activities to make money so it therefore can have a positive and or negative effect

Shane Botwin
5. Male or Female: Male
6. Was this character the main character in the program: Yes, he is one of the top 5 main characters.
7. Occupation: Student/Part-time drug dealer (for a season)
8. Level of Education: In Middle School
9. Race: Caucasian
10. Marital Status: N/A
11. Age: 12 (By the end would be about 15)
12. Number of Children: N/A but he has 2 brothers: Silas who he looks up to and a newborn that he doesn’t like
13. Appearance: casual, “average” boy but later turns into a “bad” boy.
14. Body Type: unstrikingly youthful and adolescent
15. Personal Characteristic: highly intelligent, goes from good to bad, mature, sarcastic
16. Role of Character in narrative: Younger Brother of Silas who over time begins to help his brother and his mother, Nancy to sell weed. He is also very smart and is very mature for his age.
17. Impact of Character in Narrative: Shane’s character serves to show how the family is affected by Nancy’s decisions. His brother Silas continues the business of his mother, by selling weed and Shane (who looks up to his brother) also starts. I think his character is really important because teenagers can relate to his character. Everyone else is older and having something who is young can help balance the entire show.

Andy Botwin (to Silas and Shane known as Uncle Andy)
5. Male or Female: Male
6. Was this character the main character in the program: Yes, brother-in-law of Nancy
7. Occupation: in between jobs
8. Level of Education: It is stated that she does not have a college education so it is harder for her to get a job.
9. Race: Caucasian
10. Marital Status: Not Married
11. Age: 35-40
12. Number of Children: N/A
13. Appearance: casual, unemployed  distressed jeans and shoes, graphic tees
14. Body Type: slim
15. Personal Characteristic: easy-going, laid-back, and humorous
16. Role of Character in narrative: When Nancy’s husband, Judah, dies his brother, Andy comes to take care of Nancy as she is depressed. After living with her for about a month he decides to stay there to take care of Silas and Shane who he becomes very close to. His character changes when he finds out Nancy is seeing something, Esteban, the Mayor of Mexico, he becomes very angry with her but also sad because he secretly loves her. He gives Shane coming-of-age talks about girls and puberty.
17. Impact of Character in Narrative: Although he is unemployed and is very lazy, he does a lot with Silas, Shane and Nancy. With Silas he teaches him how to be a “man”, with Shane he teaches him about girls, and with Nancy he takes care of her. He is also makes the plot exciting and is comedic.

Conclusion:

Nancy's character fluctuates throughout the five seasons. She goes from being a daring stay at home mom to a weak woman married to a powerful man, Esteban. The first thing that attracted me to this show was that it was different as it wasn't about a normal family that had a stay at home mom or a dad who worked. It was about the struggles that all families go through to do good for their children. For Nancy though she does something that is illegal, sells drugs, to other clientele that end up being part of the plot as well. Because of her decision making, everything revolves around her and her family which make the plot more exciting and interesting as well as her character as a mother. After she gets married to Esteban, her strong character fades as she is married to this dominant man who then controls her to keep her safe although he is corrupt himself. Overall, her impact of the character is very important because it shows how far a family member will go to make money for their children's education. These kind of shows are becoming more popular such as Breaking Bad and Hung. Breaking Bad is about a chemistry teacher who teams up with his ex-student and makes Meth to make money to pay for his cancer treatment. Hung is a series about a basketball coach in a school that is cutting teachers because of the economy. He meets a woman who came to the school before to teach poetry to the English class. They team up and make a business where he prostitutes himself to women of all ages in order to buy materials after his house burns down. If I had to give a title to this type of genre it would be "Secret Professions/Occupations".