The video I am analyzing is an episode of Bobs Burgers titled Burger Wars.

In this
episode, the protagonist Bob Belcher is at risk of having the lease of his restaurant taken away
due to the lack of customers. The wealthy landlord, Mr. Fischoeder, informs Bob that Bobs rival,
Jimmy Pesto, plans to take over his lease in order to create a gift shop. As opposed to Bob,
Jimmy Pesto has a large amount of customers visiting his restaurant. By the end of the episode,
Bob is able to keep his lease after Mr. Fischoeder tries Bobs burger and ends up enjoying it.
However, Bobs lease ends up being changed to a month-to-month lease and his rent is
increased. In many ways, this episode can be viewed through the lens of sociology. Auguste
Comte, credited for creating the term sociology, would seek to understand how the relationship
between Bob and his landlord maintains social order. Comte would then evaluate the social
dynamics of the relationship between Bob, the landlord, and Bobs rival and find methods to
promote positive social change between the three individuals.
Like Comte, sociologist Emile Durkheim would also view the situation between Bob,
Bobs rival, and Mr. Fischoeder in the large scale. Durkheim would evaluate each characters
role in society and how that individual maintains social order. Through Durkheims functionalist
perspective, Bob, Jimmy Pesto, and Mr. Fischoeder are all depicted as parts of society
structured to maintain social stability. As business owners, Jimmy Pesto and Bob must keep a
steady flow of customers visiting their establishments in order to pay rent and keep Mr.
Fischoeder satisfied. In return, Mr. Fischoeder would renew the lease on their businesses,
allowing Jimmy Pesto and Bob to earn income as well as to make a living. This would ultimately
promote social order because all parties are expected to become tax-paying, law-abiding citizens
in order to maintain the lifestyles that they are working for. In the functionalist perspective, the
possibility of Bob losing his lease--leading to homelessness--would be seen as a dysfunction in
society that would eventually progress towards the greater good. This factor of the functionalist

perspective can be applied to the episode of Bobs Burgers because Mr. Fischoeder eventually
tastes Bobs burger and ends up liking it, strengthening the cooperation between Bob and Mr.
Fischoeder. Although Bobs rent is increased, he is still able to make a living and avoid
homelessness.
While Emile Durkheim would watch this episode of Bobs Burgers and emphasize on
cooperation and its role in bringing social order, Karl Marx would not focus on how social order
was obtained but how inequality has shaped the outcome of the episode. As opposed to
Durkheims functionalist perspective which states that all parts of society work together to
maintain social order, Marxs conflict perspective states that social order is maintained in the
interest of those with the greatest amount of resources. According to Marxs conflict theory,
social order is maintained because of the inequality between Bob, Jimmy Pesto, and Mr.
Fischoeder. Because Mr. Fischoeder is the landlord, he would exercise power over Jimmy Pesto
and Bobeventually leading to a power struggle. This is conveyed through Jimmy Pestos
intentions to take over Bobs lease and turn it into a gift shop. In the perspective of the conflict
theory; the end of the episode, which results in Bob being able to keep his lease at the expense of
higher rent and a month-to-month lease would be seen as a way for Mr. Fischoeder (the
privileged) to keep Bob (the working class) in a disadvantaged position.
The paradigm most represented in this video is the Karl Marxs conflict perspective.
Although social order was maintained, Mr. Fischoeder remains most privileged while Bob and
Jimmy Pesto still maintain their rivalry for power. While Mr. Fischoeder earns more money due
to increasing Bobs rent, Jimmy Pesto never actually progresses due to his inability to take over
Bobs lease and Bob stays disadvantageous because he must pay more for rentcontinuing his
struggle to make ends meet.