Dismantling the Genre

2018 ◽  
pp. 386-408
Author(s):  
Elena Benthaus
Keyword(s):  
Reality Television ◽  
Television Show ◽  
Popular Entertainment ◽  
Early American ◽  
American Television ◽  
Audience Responses

The American television show So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) is commonly referred to in the scholarship as a reality dance competition, a reality talent show, or simply as reality television. Instead of looking at the competitive aspect of SYTYCD and its relation to the genre of reality television, this chapter focuses on the show’s inherent intertextuality, specifically in relation to the early American popular entertainment genres of vaudeville and melodrama. It argues that vaudeville performance aesthetics and melodramatic performance modes are attractions on display, which produce what media scholar Henry Jenkins refers to as “affective immediacy” and “affective intensification” as part of the spectatorship experience that goes beyond the competitive aspect of SYTYCD. It focuses on the dance routines as well as audience responses to these routines from the SYTYCD dance fan community on YouTube.

The New Labour era, and beyond: narcissism comes of age

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry Hendrick
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Parent Education ◽  
Reality Television ◽  
New Labour ◽  
Child Rearing ◽  
Breeding Ground ◽  
Social Investment ◽  
Television Show ◽  
Parental Love ◽  
Contractual Approach

After describing New Labour's use of 'the child' as a form of human capital in social investment, and its penal ASBO programme as a breeding ground for childism, the chapter focuses on the government's innovatory ideal of disciplinary governance, encoded in neoliberal practice, to explain how, with reference to parent education, the behavioural approach to child-rearing grew to be regarded as normal and natural. The chapter discusses Supernanny, the reality television show, as an example of how, through the principles of narcissism, behaviourism and childism were popularised. The chapter argues that the effect of the neoliberal parenting industry on parent-child relations has been to negate the 'unconditional' in parental love in preference to a managerial and contractual approach that epitomises the general principles of neoliberalism and the specifics of the narcissistic temperament.

scholarly journals Care, longing, and control

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Wallenius-Korkalo
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Reality Television ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Television Show ◽  
Cultural Products ◽  
American Popular Culture ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Political Studies ◽  
And Control

This article analyses representations of Conservative Laestadianism in contemporary Finnish and Finnish-American popular culture. Drawing from political studies, religious studies and cultural studies, the article sheds light on the ways in which Conservative Laestadianism is present in societal debate and in the cultural imagination. Focusing on religious corporeality, the article scrutinises the embodied practices of Conservative Laestadianism and the ways in which the representations participate in making sense of gender, sexuality, and power in religious communities. Contemporary understandings in popular culture are revealed through the detailed analysis of four cultural products of different genres depicting Conservative Laestadianism: a film entitled Kielletty hedelmä (Forbidden Fruit, 2009), a novel entitled We Sinners (2012), a reality television show entitled Iholla (On the Skin, 2013), and a play entitled Taivaslaulu (Heavensong, 2015). As a synthesis of the representations of Conservative Laestadianism, the article presents a dynamic triad of care, longing, and control. Furthermore, the article raises questions about the potential of popular culture in calling for a dialogue between Conservative Laestadianism and society at large.

scholarly journals Lights, Action, Naughty Bits: A Thematic Analysis of New Zealanders’ Attitudes to Naked Attraction

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 49-68
Author(s):  
Angelique Nairn ◽  
◽  
Matthews Matthews ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Body Image ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Reality Television ◽  
Television Show ◽  
Sexual Discourse ◽  
Western Discourse ◽  
Local Media ◽  
Online Comments ◽  
The Uk ◽  
New Zealanders

The sexualisation of culture has generated much debate in western discourse around its effect on the normalisation of nudity and sexual activity. The reality television show Naked Attraction has increased the dialogue around this debate after its airing, originally in the UK, and then in international territories. The show has been applauded for profiling diverse people, whether that be concerning sexual orientation, body image, gender or ethnicity. However, it has also been accused of showcasing pornography. To explore where New Zealanders’ attitudes were positioned on the show, we thematically analysed online comments from two local media entities and found that New Zealanders were positive on its nudity and approach to sexual discourse.

THE DEPICTION OF THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR ON AMERICAN TELEVISION DURING THE SECOND RED SCARE

2021 ◽  
pp. 22-36
Author(s):  
Michael A. LoSasso ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Red Scare ◽  
World War ◽  
Early American ◽  
American Television ◽  
Eastern Front ◽  
War Propaganda

This article analyzes the portrayal of the Eastern Front of World War II on early American television, specifically the documentary anthology series The Twentieth Century . It explores how most early portrayals of World War II on television excised or minimized the Eastern Front in response to the Second Red Scare. Although The Twentieth Century was one of the first to display the Eastern Front in detail, its portrayal paralleled Cold War propaganda of the Soviet Union and its people. This work analyzes three episodes of the series devoted to the Soviet Union’s role in the war and notes how each utilized certain traits of U.S. anti-communist propaganda. Other matters considered are the mediators in the crafting the display of the war and the way the history was presented to satisfy the interests of the sponsor and the network. It concludes that the presentation of the Soviet people responded to Cold War imperatives with episodes produced in times when tensions were high having sharper criticism, whilst periods of eased relations leading to less propagandistic depictions.

scholarly journals Looking at the Process: Examining Creative and Artistic Thinking in Fashion Designers on a Reality Television Show

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jillian Hogan ◽  
Kara Murdock ◽  
Morgan Hamill ◽  
Anastasia Lanzara ◽  
Ellen Winner
Keyword(s):  
Reality Television ◽  
Television Show ◽  
Fashion Designers

“Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves”: Examining Representations of Roma Culture in 70 Years of American Television

2017 ◽  
Vol 94 (4) ◽  
pp. 1146-1171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adina Schneeweis ◽  
Katherine A. Foss
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
Reality Television ◽  
Ethnic Community ◽  
Television Programs ◽  
American Television ◽  
American Media ◽  
The Media

Most Americans know little about the “Gypsies,” or Roma, other than what they learn in the media. Although research shows that media have perpetuated stereotypes, there is thin anthological attention to the representation of Gypsies in American media. This study examines portrayals of Gypsies in fictional and reality television programs 1953-2014, and reveals that American television has reinforced stereotypes, suggesting that Gypsies are consistently different, a closed ethnic community resistant to change. More recent representations convey that Gypsies may be misunderstood due to their cultural history, yet this considerably less visible depiction emerges as a mere nod toward tolerance.

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