A Critical Forum on Media and Culture
A Critical Forum on Media and Culture
Coco Zhou dissects the implications of shōjo in terms of feminist characters operating within — and defying — a patriarchal system using examples from Puella Magi Madoka Magi.
Read moreAvi Santo examines the representational and rhetorical strategies used by toy companies to produce dolls for African American girls, which emphasize self-love and a broadening of traditional beauty categories to overcome internalized racism, and compares these with the past production and marketing of Black dolls.
In his final essay on his graduate course “The Textual Object,” Nicholas Sammond presents his class’s final production of Disneyland, the Reader.
Read moreIn the final installment of their “Wicked Games” series, Matthew Payne and Peter Alilunas take a look the infamous Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas’ ‘Hot Coffee’ mod, which made sex scenarios visible in the game and elicited regulatory retaliation.
Read moreLouisa Stein explores the realities and possibilities of short form fan audiovisual authorship, particularly on the platform Vine, and examines the form’s role within a larger media ecosystem.
Read moreGarret Castleberry investigates how the “rotten aesthetic” of television horror leads to its spreadability as a genre and the subsequent franchising of and reference to established titles and tropes in the current Quality TV and Peak TV landscapes.
Read moreDan Herbert explores the interaction of entertainment media retail sites, particularly video rental stores, with Somali and Hmong diaspora populations over time in Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN.
Read moreWendy Peters explores the gendered boundaries of straight, closeted, and gay characters on 90210 and Glee.
Read moreBambi Haggins considers how the “shady” protagonists, Olivia, Annalise, and Cookie, ambivalently challenge previous “Super Negro” televisual representation strategies.
Read moreManuel Aviles-Santiago explores Univision’s latest appeal to “billenial” audiences through its new show, La Banda , about the creation of a new boy band, which encourages pan-Latino viewership and millennial engagement.
Read moreThank you to those who have submitted both questions and responses for this year’s Flow Conference. The response call is closed, but please continue checking in for more updates. Audience Generations: Millennials, “Becomers,” and Beyond Generational logics guide TV programming, marketing, and branding. These logics are in a state of flux as TV producers reimagine the youth audiences that come […]
Read moreAvi Santo takes a closer look at a few so-called industry outsiders who are leading the charge to change girls’ play culture and guide them toward future STEM fields.
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