Matching Items (32)
Description
American society reflects a never-ending cycle of sociopolitical anxiety; as one source of anxiety disappears, another materializes. One of the most prominent and relevant examples of a sociopolitical anxiety currently plaguing the United States is our government, especially the president. Donald Trump, a successful businessman with no political background who is infamous for his crass, rude demeanor, is currently in charge of the United States. At the Women’s March in Washington on January 21, 2018, a protestor held up a sign reading “This episode of Black Mirror sucks” in response to President Trump’s election into office. Women, especially, have felt so threatened by Trump’s presence that they have made comparisons between the current political reality and the depressing dystopias illustrated in Netflix’s series Black Mirror. Such comparisons speak volumes about the current state of our country, suggesting that our future is likely to devolve into one similar to the exaggerated and decidedly dark futures portrayed in the series.
In order to evaluate this sentiment, this thesis will explore the representation of various modern social anxieties as presented in five different episodes of Black Mirror: “Fifteen Million Merits,” “White Bear,” “Nosedive,” “Men Against Fire,” and “Hang the DJ.” The essay begins with a brief introduction to the series and background information that explores the modern relationship between technology and some of the anxieties it raises. Following this contextualization, I will present a definitional section that outlines the various concepts that are relevant to dystopias and the ones depicted in Black Mirror specifically. The next segment discusses the more specific evolution of technology within dystopias. I will analyze nondiegetic and extratextual material related to the series, such as the Black Mirror theme music and the posters used to advertise the series. This section will also include some background information about the show, including its structure and the intentions of the creator as expressed in interviews. The main portion of the thesis will use the aforementioned episodes to demonstrate the various threats that technology presents to the individual, such as commodification, an illusion of agency, emotional and mental deterioration, and obtaining pleasure from violence. The paper also discusses the threats that technology poses to society including brainwashing, a lack of authenticity in social interactions, the presence of monotony, and dehumanization. Finally, a concluding section will explain how the series Black Mirror represents prominent modern social anxieties and conveys why contemporary users of technology should fear it.
In order to evaluate this sentiment, this thesis will explore the representation of various modern social anxieties as presented in five different episodes of Black Mirror: “Fifteen Million Merits,” “White Bear,” “Nosedive,” “Men Against Fire,” and “Hang the DJ.” The essay begins with a brief introduction to the series and background information that explores the modern relationship between technology and some of the anxieties it raises. Following this contextualization, I will present a definitional section that outlines the various concepts that are relevant to dystopias and the ones depicted in Black Mirror specifically. The next segment discusses the more specific evolution of technology within dystopias. I will analyze nondiegetic and extratextual material related to the series, such as the Black Mirror theme music and the posters used to advertise the series. This section will also include some background information about the show, including its structure and the intentions of the creator as expressed in interviews. The main portion of the thesis will use the aforementioned episodes to demonstrate the various threats that technology presents to the individual, such as commodification, an illusion of agency, emotional and mental deterioration, and obtaining pleasure from violence. The paper also discusses the threats that technology poses to society including brainwashing, a lack of authenticity in social interactions, the presence of monotony, and dehumanization. Finally, a concluding section will explain how the series Black Mirror represents prominent modern social anxieties and conveys why contemporary users of technology should fear it.
ContributorsRamesh, Bhavna (Author) / Miller, April (Thesis director) / Mack, Robert (Committee member) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Colorism- "Prejudice or discrimination against individuals with a dark skin tone, typically among people of the same ethnic or racial group"- is a social problem that has plagued India for decades. This thesis aims to identify how colorism has been transported across oceans and countries and, not only transplanted, but transformed within the second generation demographic-- who are those whose parents immigrated here from India and were born in America. In order to identify how second generation Indians, see color and how it operates in their lives, I sat down with 10 individuals who are attending Arizona State University in pursuit of their undergraduate degrees. I asked them questions relating to social cohesion, society's set beauty standards, proximity to Indian culture, involvement with social media, the origins of colorism, and lastly privilege. Based off of the narratives and experiences they shared with me I concluded that, in terms of colorism amongst this demographic, individuals tend to care more or focus more on their own skin tone as opposed to judging others based on theirs, due to the fear of being othered by the community they are in- whether that be Indian or American. They may not necessarily feel shunned or not accepted by certain community's standards, but they most certainly feel the pressure to conform to both in various situations in their lives. Because of these conclusions, I think colorism operates within this community but has transformed into a concept of transnational beauty and wanting to be seen as beautiful point blank. Not beautiful for an Indian girl or handsome for an Indian guy, and most certainly not beautiful for a South Indian man or women. With further research and more individuals sharing their narratives and experiences, this demographic and generation can reduce the importance the Indian community places on color and widen the definition of beauty.
ContributorsLokareddy, Nikitha (Author) / Bhattacharjya, Nilanjana (Thesis director) / Miller, April (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Liminality is a story yet to be told in broad scale entertainment. While a story about a boy who sees ghosts may be a recurring theme in Hollywood, (Sixth Sense, anyone?), queerness, particularly asexuality, is practically non-existent, and narratives that feature the coming of age of a queer adolescent in a positive manner are even less present. Queerness, it seems, is more of a myth than ghosts and the supernatural to most media creators. This project seeks to combat this lack of representation. Liminality is a creative project working to normalize lesser known and underrepresented queer identities into mainstream media through the conceptualization of animated and comic web series. By doing so, this project demonstrates that entertainment can be used as a means of promoting acceptance and understanding of these identities. Our aim with this project is to develop an intriguing long-form story with realistic, relatable characters that exhibits the sociological themes we want to address. We intend this story to be an animated series that entices viewers of all ages, by which we mean that the story explores complex themes that would typically be limited to an older audience, yet are presented in a way that is still accessible to a younger audience. In the process of this project, we have drawn up concept art and storyboards, written character biographies and scripts, created sets and characters using 2D and 3D animation software, and begun setting up the infrastructure for the studio, Studio Skald, with which we may create this series.
ContributorsRandall, Phoebe Airika (Author) / Hansen, Elizabeth (Co-author) / Miller, April (Thesis director) / Dove-Viebahn, Aviva (Committee member) / Hannan, Peter (Committee member) / School of Arts, Media and Engineering (Contributor) / School of Art (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-12
Description
This thesis explores the emergence and evolution of the term ‘binge-watching’ and considers how this practice of television consumption became a widespread cultural phenomenon. For the purposes of this project, binge-watching will be defined as watching several episodes of a television series in a row, without stopping (trips to the bathroom and kitchen excluded). This type of television consumption has become increasingly popular due to the rise in digital streaming content available on sites such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Video. This paper focuses on Netflix, the foremost streaming service used in the United States, because of its implementation of features that allow for easier binge-watching, such as its autoplay countdown feature and its personalized rating system which recommends new content to users based on their preferences. Not only has binge-watching become a popular form of television consumption, the term itself is prevalent in advertisement, critical media discourse, and casual conversation amongst spectators, prompting questions about its etymology. Very little research has yet been published on the topic of binge-watching and what those who consume television this way are doing to their bodies and minds – essentially placing consumers in the midst of an uncontrolled experiment. Future research should be pursued to address these gaps in literature and understanding of this phenomenon. This paper sought to piece together the conflicted responses to the practice of binge-watching, with both producers and viewers lauding how technology enables viewers to have a sense of agency and control over their viewing practices, while also admitting that such practices may have a detrimental impact on the industry and spectators’ physical and mental well-beings.
ContributorsTaylor, Emma Lynette (Author) / Miller, April (Thesis director) / Dove-Viebahn, Aviva (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-12
Description
My thesis provides an in-depth analysis of the Tarantinoverse, a shared universe in which most of Quentin Tarantino's movies exist. I start by talking about the relationships between characters across different movies and how Tarantino portrays them. I examine how he has some characters who are brothers and some characters who have ancestral relationships with other characters. I also observe how two characters in separate movies are the same person and that there is one non-familial relationship within Tarantino's shared universe. Next, I investigate the two distinct universes that make up the Tarantino's cinematic universe, the "realer than real" universe and the "movie" universe. In that section, I explain how he uses crossover characters, who can exist in both the "realer than real" and "movie" universes and how they represent different types of people that exist within both universes. Then I examine fictional products that are exclusive to Tarantino's shared universe. In that segment, I examine how Tarantino critiques the way other filmmakers use product placement in their movies and the way movies are used to market products. After that, I discuss how Tarantino's alteration of history in Inglourious Basterds, namely Adolf Hitler's death, affected the society of Tarantino's movies with respect to popular culture and violence. Regarding pop culture, I examine how Tarantino's characters use pop culture references, how frequently they used them, and what they reference in Tarantino's movies set before Hitler's death and contrast those with the same three aspects in movies set after Hitler's death. Finally, I inspect on how Tarantino uses violence within his movies and contrast how he uses it in movies before Hitler's death and how he uses it in movies set after Hitler's death.
ContributorsMurwin, Nicholas (Author) / Maday, Gregory (Thesis director) / Miller, April (Committee member) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / School of Film, Dance and Theatre (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
The rate of cancer incidence is a morbid figure. Twenty years ago, 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women were predicted to be afflicted by cancer throughout their lifetime (Cancer Facts & Figures- 1998). In 2017, the rate remains the same ("Cancer Statistic Center"). Every year, more people are affected by cancer, which is a physiologically, psychologically, emotionally and socially devastating disease. And yet the language and metaphors we use to describe cancer focus our attention on the "fight" of the heroic individual against the brutal disease or on finding a cure. Despite this narrow rhetoric, there are many meaningful, supportive, and palliative measures designed to substantively and holistically care for cancer patients, beyond their medical treatment. Many of these interventions help the patient feel supported (and less alone in this "battle") by building robust communities. In this thesis, I argue the summer camps for children affected by cancer are meaningful interventions that offer palliative care throughout their treatment by creating support networks with peers going through similar medical procedures. Drawing on anecdotal evidence from three cancer camps and a detailed literature review of a subset of palliative interventions designed to promote well-being, this thesis proposes a new model for a summer camp that focuses on emotional processing emotional expression, positive psychology in order to improve palliative care for cancer patients.
ContributorsPearce, Spencer Taylor (Author) / Miller, April (Thesis director) / Brian, Jennifer (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-12
Description
Popular culture has a longstanding tendency for being affected by, and reversely affecting, politics. Films, in particular, can exist as either purse “escapism” or heady pathways for political commentary. During the Second World War, governments in both the United States and Great Britain used film as a vessel for their own messages, but after the war ended, the two nations allowed their respective film industries more free expression in commenting on wartime and post-war politics. Film also provided particularly vivid political commentary during, and in the years immediately following, the Cold War. Though film has a longstanding history of being a force for political commentary, the medium’s specific engagement with the Cold War holds particular significance because works produced by the two nations’ film industries paralleled the social trend toward political activism at the time. While films produced in the UK and the United States in the 1960s addressed a wide range of contentious political issues, a huge body of work was spurred on by one of the most pressing political tensions of the time: namely, the Cold War.
The United States and Great Britain were major, allied forces during the Cold War. Despite their allied positions, they had unique politico-social perspectives that greatly reflected their immediate involvement in the conflict, in addition to their respective political histories and engagement in previous wars. As the Cold War threat was a large and, in many ways, incomprehensible one, each country took certain elements of the Cold War situation and used those elements to reflect their varied political social positions to a more popular audience and the culture it consumed.
In turn, filmmakers in both countries used their mediums to make overarching political commentaries on the Cold War situation. This analysis looks at five films from those countries during the 1960s, and explores how each representation offered different, often conflicting, perspectives on how to “manage” Cold War tensions, while simultaneously reflecting their conflicted culture and political decisions. The films analyzed reveal that each country focused on contrasting perceptions about the source of the threat posed by Soviet forces, thus becoming tools to further promote their distinct political stances. While the specifics of that commentary changed with each filmmaker, they generally paralleled each country’s perspective on the overall Cold War atmosphere. The British message represented the Cold War as a very internal battle—one that involved the threat within UK borders via the infiltration of spies the tools of espionage. In contrast, the American films suggest that the Cold War threat was largely an internal one, a struggle best combatted by increasing weaponry that would help control the threat before it reached American borders.
The United States and Great Britain were major, allied forces during the Cold War. Despite their allied positions, they had unique politico-social perspectives that greatly reflected their immediate involvement in the conflict, in addition to their respective political histories and engagement in previous wars. As the Cold War threat was a large and, in many ways, incomprehensible one, each country took certain elements of the Cold War situation and used those elements to reflect their varied political social positions to a more popular audience and the culture it consumed.
In turn, filmmakers in both countries used their mediums to make overarching political commentaries on the Cold War situation. This analysis looks at five films from those countries during the 1960s, and explores how each representation offered different, often conflicting, perspectives on how to “manage” Cold War tensions, while simultaneously reflecting their conflicted culture and political decisions. The films analyzed reveal that each country focused on contrasting perceptions about the source of the threat posed by Soviet forces, thus becoming tools to further promote their distinct political stances. While the specifics of that commentary changed with each filmmaker, they generally paralleled each country’s perspective on the overall Cold War atmosphere. The British message represented the Cold War as a very internal battle—one that involved the threat within UK borders via the infiltration of spies the tools of espionage. In contrast, the American films suggest that the Cold War threat was largely an internal one, a struggle best combatted by increasing weaponry that would help control the threat before it reached American borders.
ContributorsNelson, Taylor Lynn (Author) / Miller, April (Thesis director) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Committee member) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
All Walks Project is a student-led nonprofit dedicated to spreading awareness about domestic sex trafficking on college campuses by implementing replicable Student Chapter models on both high school and college campuses. Through the All Walks Project: New Chapter Guide, we explore the effectiveness of peer-to-peer grassroots student organizations, and we provide students with a structured framework to create an effective grassroots campaign against trafficking of their own, with personalized assistance from the All Walks Project's Regional Representatives. This guide explores walks students through the step-by-step process of creating an All Walks Student Chapter. These steps include registering the chapter as a club with the host school, filing a funding request, setting up regular meeting times, connecting with a sister school, becoming educated about sex trafficking, creating a market strategy to fit the specific school, creating an effective student executive board, creating the chapter's social media presence, and registering the chapter with an All Walks Project Regional Representative. This guide also provides the chapter leaders with ideas and guidelines for events, meeting agendas, flyers, and many other relevant resources in order to involve the chapters in official All Walks Project nationwide anti-trafficking campaigns.
ContributorsHocken, Jessica (Co-author) / Schulte, Erin (Co-author) / Miller, April (Thesis director) / Roe-Sepowitz, Dominique (Committee member) / WPC Graduate Programs (Contributor) / School of Accountancy (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor)
Created2015-12
Description
There exists a gendered difference in how sports films portray female protagonist athletes. This creative project closely examines scenes from four films, Bend It Like Beckham, Million Dollar Baby, Girlfight and Whip It, that collectively represent four gendered themes that are present within the female protagonist sport film subgenre. Each film provides representative examples for themes of exceptionalism, the explicit presence of gender or sexuality, paternal or romantic relationships with male characters, and the punishment or containment of the female athlete. These themes are then analyzed for their presence and meaning in the film genre, including how existing heteronormative film structures are present in female protagonist sport films and how such ideas are reflections of wider societal values. This exposes how the continued use of such heteronormative themes perpetuates stereotypes of female athleticism. After understanding how these themes take shape and what they mean for the genre, this paper then highlights examples of an emergent more feminist genre, promotes alternative filmmaking methods and progressive change to the portrayal of female athletes in sport film.
ContributorsMogytych, Sarah (Author) / Symonds, Adam (Thesis director) / Miller, April (Committee member) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies (Contributor) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies, Sch (Contributor) / Hugh Downs School of Human Communication (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
This paper will analyze the two films Mississippi Burning and BlacKkKlansman, as well as some of the historical contexts surrounding them, in order to unpack the various aspects of police brutality, protest culture, and ideals of reform shown within. Furthermore, it will investigate the impact of diverging from history on the perception of policing units, and the importance of more accurate narratives like BlacKkKlansman in popular culture. <br/> To find evidence that BlacKkKlansman is a much more accurate narrative regarding law enforcement and the effects that sentiments seen in Mississippi Burning have on modern day events, a comprehensive research analysis was conducted. Both films were watched multiple times and analyzed thoroughly, and further research was done to understand not only the narrative elements of the plot, but how the visual aspects strengthen the arguments both films try to make. Scholarly articles on contexts surrounding the subjects of the film were also analyzed, including topics on the FBI, Martin Luther King Jr, and police brutality. Through this, it became evident that Mississippi Burning overlooked most of the reality of the events the film is loosely based upon in order to present a white savior story, whereas BlacKkKlansman addresses the existing prejudices head on while also showing the relation the events have to a more modern context, specifically surrounding the Trump administration.
ContributorsDistler, Emily Suzanne (Author) / Foy, Joseph (Thesis director) / Miller, April (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / The Sidney Poitier New American Film School (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05