Trailblazer or a One-off?

The paper attempts to analyse the international success of the Danish televisual series Rita (TV2 Denmark - Netflix, 2012-2020). It places the production in a wider cultural and historical context and treats it as an exemplification of, what the author deems, a recent shift in representations of teachers in visual media narratives. The author’s argumentation is premised on three principal assumptions. First, Rita demonstrates that after the genre’s decline at the turn of the twentieth century, the school-centred audio-visual narratives are back in favour. The trend is connected to the growth of the post-network television and the so-called over-the-top services (OTT). Second, the substantial part of Rita’s wide appeal is related to the show’s innovative application of the conventions known from the earlier Scandinavian productions and themes from serials about “difficult women”. This particularly concerns the show’s adept exploration of the resilient and anti-heroic female lead character. Third, Rita is regarded as an early indication of the shift in the ways school life and teachers are represented in the media today. The author stipulates that the show may augur the emergence of many similar complex televisual images of teachers in the near future.

Theorizing the forensic gaze and the CSI shot in the multimodal ensemble of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2002–2015)

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ( (2002–2015) CBS, Alliance Atlantis Communications, CBS Paramount Network Television, Jerry Bruckheimer Television.) marks a paradigm shift in the post-9/11 forensic visual culture, ostensibly presenting physical evidence as a system of surveillance and control; the team of criminalists as ideologically complicit with state power; and high-tech forensic gadgetry as infallible and conducive to the culprit. In the melodramatic narrative strands, sophisticated plotlines, and spectacular performances of forensic science, CSI heavily rests on a novel and meticulously elaborated aesthetics that redefines the conception of gaze and camera shot in the weaving of episodes across the different seasons. A more nuanced comprehension of CSI’s visual forensic discourse is, therefore, necessitated to fully understand the cultural significance of these offerings. To this end, extending the work of Kress and Van Leuween on the systems of gaze and social distance in light of the Foucauldian and post-panoptic views on power and control, the article introduces fine-grained taxonomies of the forensic gaze and camera shot as fundamental aesthetics closely tied to post-9/11 extensive surveillance discourse. Resituating CSI in the broader context of the post-panopticon, the study argues that the drama series operates in a hybrid surveillance mode that surpasses conventional readings of panopticism, straddling the line between the physical and the digital in the contemporary age.

Deadness as a Feeling Considered Through the Lens of The Walking Dead

Zombie films and shows have accelerated in popularity through the decades, and the genre is produced the world over. The Walking Dead, one such show, has been rated among the most popular cable network television programs since its inception. When watching a herd of zombie walkers, the viewer faces some important questions. In some ways, many can identify with the experience of the zombie, as it reflects the psychological state of inner deadness. The psychodynamic literature has a rich history describing this experience. A review of these ideas and the metaphor of the zombie help guide us in the treatment of our patients who do not experience themselves as truly living. The Walking Dead also provides a glimpse into the response of detachment to a viral pandemic, and how we might discover our best self during such times while helping our patients to do the same.

“It’s a Man Thing, Gina”: Watching Gender in Martin

In the almost three decades since the hit situation-comedy Martin (1992–1997) originally aired on Fox, the show has not only enjoyed a vibrant second life through syndication and streaming platforms, but has functioned as a form of television heritage, reflected in fashion, music, games, and memes. Martin has developed a particularly loyal following among black millennials, many of whom were too young to watch the show during its original network television run. In this article, I explore the series’ representations of black women through individual and focus group interviews with 26 black viewers. My interviews reveal that participants have ambivalent relationships with the show. While several cite Martin as their favorite show of all-time, they were disturbed by the show’s troubling depictions of black heterosexual romantic relationships and its reliance on stereotypical representations of black women.

The changing face of the “Yellow Peril” — representations of Asians and Asian Americans in the context of the “streaming revolution” in the United States

The aim of this article is a critical analysis of the changing landscape of American streaming and post-network television content offer in the context of Asians’ and Asian Americans’ representations. The focus of this analysis is primarily on the stereotypes — the mechanisms behind their construction and deconstruction, and their role in the shaping of the popular image of Asians and Asian Americans. The secondary goal is the attempt to show how the culturally constructed Other is constantly present in the common imagination of the TV and cinema audience, and how this construct influences production companies, audiences, and showrunners in the USA. The question of the postulated “change” in the representation of Asian and Asian Americans, and their visibility remains open for further debate. However, I have attempted to restrict it to the model example of two series over the past twenty years.