Archive for December, 2012

An Absolut Drag

December 31, 2012
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An Absolut <em>Drag</em>

If the development of a symbiotic relationship between actors and products in reality television is the casting director’s responsibility, then who is excluded by Absolut Vodka’s sponsorship of RuPaul's Drag Race?
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Posted in TV | 1 Comment »

Django Unchained As Post-Race Product

December 28, 2012
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Django Unchained As Post-Race Product

Django Unchained functions as a product of post-race logic that paradoxically deals with a culturally specific thematic--slavery--while making the central storyline so universal slavery functions as a terribly horrific backdrop for a love story.
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Posted in Perspectives | 5 Comments »

Archiving Blackness: The DVD and Cultural Memory

December 27, 2012
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Archiving Blackness: The DVD and Cultural Memory

Flipping through the post-Christmas sales, I'm reminded of how the TV show on DVD has become an ubiquitous part of our culture. But it's those series or seasons of shows that are not for sale that tell a narrative of what's worthy of archiving within our popular culture and collective memory.
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Posted in TV | 1 Comment »

A Merry Queer Christmas: Queering Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer

December 25, 2012
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A Merry Queer Christmas: Queering Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer

Rudolph was created when gayness as identity was rarely represented on screens, instead shunned off into the shadowy world of coded meanings waiting to be activated by knowing readers or “appearing” as semiotic excess waiting to be queered through the practice of camp.
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Star Trek into (Fandom’s) Darkness

December 24, 2012
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Star Trek into (Fandom’s) Darkness

If Star Trek was once a foundation for the idea of taking fans seriously, then today it might simply be a sad commentary on fandom’s token function within the industry, another form of “crowdsourcing,” a destructive marriage based on the contradictory feelings of mutual dependence and contempt.
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Crowdsourcing as Consultation: Branding History at Canada’s Museum of Civilization (Part II)

December 19, 2012
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Crowdsourcing as Consultation: Branding History at Canada’s Museum of Civilization (Part II)

As the Canadian Museum of Civilization transforms into the Canadian Museum of History, it seems that meaningful conversations about historical issues that are actually formative of Canadian culture are less compelling than the $25 million incentive that comes with the tunnel vision of the Ministry of Heritage.
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Crowdsourcing as Consultation: Branding History at Canada’s Museum of Civilization (Part I)

December 18, 2012
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Crowdsourcing as Consultation: Branding History at Canada’s Museum of Civilization (Part I)

Canada’s sesquicentennial is eagerly anticipated by Canada’s Conservative government, which is planning a series of commemorative events. The trouble is, these events are contrived to commemorate the Conservative government far more than the nation’s glorious (or inglorious) pasts.
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On Radio: Driveway Moment

December 17, 2012
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On Radio: Driveway Moment

The Abigael Affair crystallizes the challenges of NPR’s campaign to re-create itself as a fully modern and digital multi-platform news, information, and culture channel, while maintaining its distinctive affective character.
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Nick Moms vs. NickMom

December 14, 2012
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Nick Moms vs. NickMom

Nick Jr.'s new NickMom lineup fits with its brand but ends up missing the mark with a core segment of its audience, highlighting the ambivalence surrounding contemporary representations of motherhood.
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Posted in Current Events, Industry, TV | 5 Comments »

Report from the Atlanta Media Industries Forum

December 13, 2012
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Report from the Atlanta Media Industries Forum

Christine Becker attended a media industry forum at Georgia State University and left with thoughts about challenges for both the media industries and academia in Atlanta.
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Posted in Columns, Report From... | 1 Comment »

Feminist. Media. Criticism. Is. (Part 1)

December 10, 2012
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Feminist. Media. Criticism. Is. (Part 1)

I want to do what I can to help keep this thing—feminist media studies—going for as long as it’s needed. I want to be the feminist media scholar I want to see in the world.
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What Are You Missing? Nov 25 – Dec 8

December 9, 2012
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What Are You Missing? Nov 25 – Dec 8

Ten (or more) media industry news items you might have missed recently.
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Episodic: What Games Learned From TV

December 5, 2012
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Episodic: What Games Learned From TV

While episodic gaming is a new frontier for how developers make games, it is perhaps an even larger divergence in terms of how we play games.
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