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- Creators: Department of English
Description
This thesis examines contemporary cinematic adaptations of the Ovidian Pygmalion story. The films Blade Runner (1981), Lars and the Real Girl (2007), Ruby Sparks (2012), and Her (2013) are analyzed. This thesis seeks to understand why this particular myth is so resonant in today's popular culture and what this relevance reveals about modern society. The roles of female subjugation, sexualization, and relationship with technology will be major areas of concern. Research includes film criticism, Ovidian scholarship, and new advances in computer technology.
ContributorsStory, Sara Katherine (Author) / Corse, Taylor (Thesis director) / Ellis, Lawrence (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
This thesis examines how the physical construction of the ooloi Oankali aliens in Octavia Butler's trilogy Lilith's Brood enables the text to explore the limitations of a two-gender construct. It does so by positing the existence of other conscious organic life with a third gender outside the scope of Earth-bound organisms. The ooloi must be understood by a definition of gender that takes into consideration socially constructed and performed roles. The physical bodies of the ooloi have a "boundary-crossing" identity that is unambiguous. Their transformative and healing abilities, physical characteristics, and place in the social structure of the Oankali makes them the targets of disgust and hatred by humans who fear difference. This thesis analyzes how Butler uses the ooloi to demonstrate the possibility that humans living on a future Earth can supersede their innately destructive qualities.
ContributorsBrady, Sarah Rachel (Author) / Hattenhauer, Darryl (Thesis director) / Cook, Paul (Committee member) / Department of English (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Once planted firmly in America, murder ballads old and new sparked the Southern imagination, and familiar motifs and formulas were sung with a distinct American twist. The moral standards and beliefs of Christianity, specifically those of Baptist and Methodist denominations, are weaved through a majority of Southern murder ballads, which reflects the impact of the Second Great Awakening, a religious revival founded in the South during the 1790s and early 1800s. Murder ballads found in the American South from 1800 to 1950 follow a structure that reinforces southern expectations for men and women, emphasizing moral and immoral traits in a way that encourages the listener to adhere to strict gender roles. The question of who the villain is and who the victim is must be confronted while examining American murder ballads, because the answer is not as clear cut as one would assume. Virginal women and sinful women, hapless men and cold-blooded men, each play a role in these ballads and the way in which they are perceived shifts the moral weight of the song. Heterosexuality and gender norms are heavily enforced in murder ballads from the South, and any deviations from these norms leads to murder, execution, or eternal damnation.
ContributorsDonalson, Rachel (Author) / Soares, Rebecca (Thesis director) / Ellis, Larry (Committee member) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
If you've spent any amount of time in fan circles, or even any community that discusses media, you've no doubt heard of the Mary Sue. A Mary Sue is a character who, through positive personality traits, skills, and aspects of their appearance, warps the story so that they are the most interesting thing in the story's universe. The Mary Sue stereotype, however, can be used for good as a good basis for an engaging and intriguing story, provided the author considers more than simply their own interests - in fact, so can many stereotypes, whether existing solely in fan communities or branching out into more mainstream fiction. As such, I present a short story starring "M.S.", a very basic Mary Sue who is aware of her status and utterly despises the lack of meaningful action in her life. When one of her close friends shows symptoms of becoming a Sue herself, M.S. brings together a group of equally stereotypical friends - from the Gay Best Friend to the Spicy Latina - and, through their impromptu intervention, learns some things about them - and about herself.
ContributorsNorris, Kimberly (Author) / Van Engen, Dagmar (Thesis director) / Mack, Robert (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies, Sch (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor)
Created2022-05