Last week I had a fair amount of interest in the videos I was playing before class. I chose them when thinking about the role of TV in portraying race relations and tensions in American society for our discussion of Crisis etc., and how they evoke the ways that things (haven't) changed since then. Also, they're great music.
Kanye West, "Love Lockdown." I am not a huge Kanye fan, but this video, apparently his response to the book/film American Psycho, is extremely complicated in how it deals with black subjectivity/identity, the sexualization and fetishization of black (female) sexuality, and stereotypes of savagery in conflict with class aspirations and negative racial stereotypes. This video defies straightforward interpretation and analysis, and for that alone is worth watching with a critical eye.
Janelle Monae, "Cold War."
Janelle Monae, "Tightrope."
Janelle Monae feat. Erykah Badu, "Q.U.E.E.N."
Janelle Monae, "Dance Apocalyptic."
This suite of videos by Janelle Monae (who everyone should know) represent an overview of the story she has been telling across her three albums about race in our increasingly cybernetic society. Monae's videos explore contemporary cultures of attrition and resilience, and how racial resistance is tied to madness and social stereotyping, while also promoting the continued expression of minority cultures in art and an artistic form of (perhaps) nonviolent resistance that resonates with what we've been learning about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights movement.
Persia "Google Google Apps Apps" This song explores the relationship between race, gentrification, and queerness in contemporary San Francisco. Blatantly political, it make an unapologetic critique of the ways that queer of colour neighbourhoods are being systematically destroyed in modern urban centres.
Get out yer critical thinkin’ skills gunslingers, this week is the Western!
(It's film, I know, but this is my favourite western theme out there, and truly a classic.)
For the Newcomb piece and our screening of Have Gun, Will Travel:
Newcomb outlines the conventional argument about Westerns, then proposes a counter argument about its social significance. What are these two arguments? Do you buy his use of Have Gun to support his position?
How does Newcomb position the TV western as engaging with social issues of its time? How do the generic and medium specific differences between TV and film westerns support the TV western making a different kind of social commentary than filmic westerns?
How does Newcomb construct and support his argument? (hint: you should address his method, evidence, and strategies of argumentation)
What problems did you see in Newcomb’s argument, analysis, or writing? How would you have improved them?
See you Wednesday. Cowboy boots and hats strongly encouraged.
For those of you who wonder how/why I choose the videos I play before section, or are interested in seeing them again, I'm starting this thread for you. I usually choose things to play that relate to what we're discussing, but in a more contemporary context, so on this thread I will give you an idea of why I chose what I did. Feel free to respond, and we can have a conversation about what themes from TV history we see playing out in these clips. (Though please note that this thread is not one for credit/blog post grades -it's a space for exploration if you get excited about something and want to talk about it in a broader context.)
Thanks for all your hard work on your papers; I am looking forward to reading them!
For section this week I’d like you to think about what connections you can draw between Sconce’s piece on The Outer Limits and Spigel’s essay “White Flight.” Themes you might consider include: difference and alienation, the politics and allegories of outer space, surveillance culture, the changing family and social structure of the 1960’s, or the fear and uncertainty of the in-between.
Please come to section prepared to talk about these two pieces and their connections. There’s more linking them together than you might expect.
How does Horace Newcomb's essay complicate Newton Minow’s assessment of television as a “vast wasteland”? Why does he believe that 'low brow' genres such as the western can be more complicated than they seem? Do you agree? Perhaps give an example of a contemporary 'low brow' show and explain why it might or might not have social relevance.
Why did the networks begin to lengthen their news coverage, broadcast presidential debates, and program more socially-relevant documentaries like Crisis during the 1960s? How did this material illuminate civil rights issues and inflect the way that people understood national politics?
We can see subculture beginning to be featured in Dobie Gillis. How was this evidenced in the episode we viewed?How might either Dobie's or Maynard's masculinities be considered non-normative? Feel free to compare the two characters.
