Matching Items (7)
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- All Subjects: Television
- All Subjects: Superheroes
- Creators: Himberg, Julia
Description
Netflix has positioned itself at the forefront of the future of television with its original programming, which has been rolled out in greater and more frequent amounts just in the last couple of years. The streaming service has already experimented with creativity in ways most other shows and creators haven't, playing with the pacing of overall seasons as well as the length of episodes. So, too, Netflix has been at the forefront of increasing visibility for minority characters on television. Many of its shows incorporate racially diverse casts and depict lots of LGBTQ characters, a refreshingly realistic view of the world that many of its viewers have always lived in but haven't yet witnessed on television. Visibility and representation are critical concepts for analyzing minority characters on television. It is important for diverse characters to be seen, first and foremost, but also to be seen in positive or at least realistic lights. Care must be taken to avoid fulfilling stereotypes or tropes, and attention must be paid to what has happened to other characters who have come before. However, many of Netflix's portrayals of these characters, particularly bisexual characters, leave much to be desired. With the original dramas House of Cards, Hemlock Grove, Orange is the New Black, and Sense8, all of which include characters who identify as or behave bisexually, Netflix has been reluctant to use the specific word bisexual to describe characters, and many don't even identify their sexuality with a synonym for the term. Many of the bisexual characters that I identified died or were killed on the shows, and nearly all of them fulfilled stereotypes or tropes in some way. There were multiple scenes of threesomes or other distinctly kinky sexual encounters, which served to exoticize bisexuality and distance it from the more normatively viewed identities of heterosexuality and homosexuality. Ultimately, while Netflix's original programming has offered increased visibility to bisexual characters, it has yet to reflect the real community it seeks to portray. In particular, Netflix's refusal to label characters as bisexual is frustrating and limiting. It can be argued that this is a progressive move toward more ideas of sexual fluidity and a post-modern lack of sexual labels, but there are not enough depictions of identified bisexual characters on television yet for this to make sense. Until bisexual characters and their identities are not invisibilized or stigmatized, more work has to be done to ensure that bisexual people are represented fairly and accurately on television and in all media.
ContributorsKoerth, Kimberly Marie (Author) / Himberg, Julia (Thesis director) / Sturges, Robert (Committee member) / Department of English (Contributor) / College of Public Service and Community Solutions (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
This thesis aims to analyze and explain the resurgence of the superhero genre, particularly in recent cinema, directly following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. It will also deconstruct the current American political landscape and define how popular culture has historically reflected real-world issues. The study draws heavily on the political ideology of neoliberalism and Henry Jenkins' media theory of convergence culture. I ultimately argue in the course of the analysis that viewers of these superhero films, regardless of their interest in comic books, cathartically release their fears and post-9/11 anxiety through cinematic escapism. It will also relay the evolution of the superhero in the last seventy years as a way to show the effects current events have on popular culture and history, using Captain America and Iron Man as examples of shifting American values.
ContributorsWalker, Lindsay Anne (Author) / Facinelli, Diane (Thesis director) / Himberg, Julia (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
The television industry has experienced major changes in the past decade that have affected our behaviors, expectations, and perceptions of the world. New services offer different methods of consuming media and shift the way the industry defines television. The following research reflects on past trends in television history and the current landscape in order to understand how television will continue to evolve, adapt, or return to old practices as it reacts to audiences' needs. From the growth of binge-watching to the proliferation of connected devices and digital technologies, the television industry faces many new challenges and opportunities. Consumers have shifted from the post-network era of cable's dominance to the leading online, digital services that enhance consumers' desires to have television anywhere and everywhere. Although these changes threaten the industry's current advertising models, they also present new ways for networks to connect with quality audiences, and thereby, shape our identities and consumer culture. This study analyzes the influence of these changes and considers how the current state of the television industry may continue to change in the future.
ContributorsDorsey, Caitlin Renee (Author) / Himberg, Julia (Thesis director) / Haggins, Bambi (Committee member) / Department of English (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
DescriptionA creative project was made in the form of a movie. The video portrays the corruption of children through media and pop culture's influence. From this, we created the ideas of the Superhero Complex, Princess Complex, and Quasi-fairytale life.
ContributorsEvans, Chanel Nicole (Co-author) / Clayson, Danielle (Co-author) / Switzer, Heather (Thesis director) / Dove-Viebahn, Aviva (Committee member) / Katsulis, Yasmina (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
For the sake of this thesis, two scholarly collections edited by Dr. Robin S. Rosenberg – Our Superheroes, Ourselves (2013) and The Psychology of Superheroes: An Unauthorized Exploration (2008) – were reviewed. From these two collections and the multitude of psychological theories they cite, those most relevant to adolescent character development are considered. Three broad theories are examined first: positive psychology, equity theory, and attachment style. Then, six additional specific theories that define temperament (behavioral activation system and behavioral inhibition system), personality theory, duel identity, media identification, parasocial interaction, and comparison theory are reviewed. After reviewing each theory, Heroes in Crisis (2019) , a recent bestselling DC offering that addresses superhero trauma, is analyzed through the lens of these psychological theories in order to provide insight into the psychology or both superheroes and their adolescent fans.
ContributorsGutierrez, Jairo Gerardo (Author) / Gruber, Diane (Thesis director) / Amparano, Julie (Committee member) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Descent is a modern television adaptation of Dante's Inferno, in which the main characters must navigate the levels of the Dark Web instead of Hell. This Creative Project includes the script for the first episode of this series, as well as episode summaries for each of the 10 episodes in the first season.
ContributorsSchroeder, Elizabeth Marie (Author) / Bradley, Christopher (Thesis director) / Himberg, Julia (Committee member) / Winters, Justin (Committee member) / Department of English (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-12
DescriptionThis thesis is a series of essays on the evolution of queer expressions of gender & sexuality in the Star Trek Universe. This project spans the entire history of the franchise but focuses primarily on the Star Trek series Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Discovery.
ContributorsStargazer, Sisko James (Author) / Himberg, Julia (Thesis director) / Vlahoulis, Michelle (Committee member) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-12