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Week 12 Questions – Reality Tv Pt.2

Can reality tv still be thought of as a genre given the high level of hybridity that exists?

Over the long haul of things, especially in terms of television and its given, the class of reality television has developed to incorporate various kinds and ideas through the concept of what is known to be hybridization. In theory, there is a wide range of all sorts and kinds of “unscripted” reality television programs around in the world we live in today. Such as for instance, programmes like game shows (who wants to be a millionaire), celebrity lifestyles (keeping up with the Kardashians), competitions and many more of this sort. Since there is such a huge assortment of the sorts of unscripted television shows, following the historical backdrop of the class of unscripted television and pinpointing it to a solitary purpose of birthplace can be of very troublesome nature. Also, in light of the fact that such a significant level of hybridity exists inside the domain of unscripted television, the inquiry emerges of whether we can even believe unscripted television to be its own kind, given that there are other endless types of these genres that merge together to make the entirety known as reality Tv.

Although, while the class of reality television contains a plenitude of various kinds of configurations, these, overall, can be seen as being steel to one another. It doesn’t generally make a difference what kind of reality tv program one is watching. The shared characteristic between all these is that they are intended for giving amusement to the mass crowd in the end. The genre of reality tv often tends to “cannibalise” itself in order to have a means of survival (Hill, 2005). It is rather difficult to pinpoint exactly the sort of genre reality tv has evolved into as originally it had started out as an individual genre but as of present time it has adopted as well as adapted to various changes in terms of formats. Hill (2005) also talks about how television “draws upon existing genres to create successful hybrid programmes” which overall then lead into the concept of such new genres being created. He also further expresses that attempting to make an ideal thought of what the class of unscripted television really is and which other sub-sorts fit under its flag is a pointless exertion. We can’t compel the unscripted television sort to fit under one explicit, extraordinary genre. Such means of reality television is a kind in its own right, and keeping in mind that it genuine that it has absolutely changed and advanced throughout the long term, and that individual sorts of unscripted television programmes have jumped up from its branches, that doesn’t remove the title of such unscripted shows as its own mainstream class of reality TV.

Asides from Hill (2005) stressing that narrative TV has prompted business accomplishment by joining particular kinds of reality designs, and that the social explicitness of reality programming and the improvement of specific arrangements inside various telecom conditions. This shows up as a cross breed of unscripted television. It is stated by Wood (2004) “reality is not the preserve of one sort of programming. Rather, all media content produces worldliness and so can be typed according to the variety of ways in which it accomplishes this sense of the real”. Thus the principle components of TV such as themes and ideas of certainty, fiction, diversion, and promoting tend to then make reality in an assortment of ways.

References

Wood, B. (2004) A World in Retreat The Reconfiguration o Hybridity in 20th Century New Zealand Television Media Culture and Society DOI: 10.1177/0163443704039709

Hill, A,. (2005) Reality TV: Audiences and Popular Factual Television, London, Routledge

Week 11 Questions – Reality Tv

How real is reality Tv?

When it comes to the means of literal definition: the concept of reality shows can be defined as that it is basically a variable of unscripted programming that doesn’t utilize entertainers and spotlights on films of genuine functions or circumstances (“How reality TV works,” 2007). It is more or so assumed to be common knowledge that everybody knows and realises that the idea of reality tv is to a greater extent a classification than a precise portrayal of the shows themselves. Often many producers will counterfeit shots and even re-stage certain emotional scenes that happened when the camera’s weren’t rolling. Practically everything is really plotted and arranged like a typical scripted show (“8 Fakest reality shows (And 8 that are totally real),” 2018). Most unscripted TV dramas actually hold a fundamental degree of truth, nonetheless, portraying occasions of events that truly occurred, regardless of whether they’re organized and presentable enough, again for the cameras. These shows highlight individuals carrying on with their lives and managing their responsibilities, regardless of whether a ton has been streamlined of their everyday daily practice so as to alter out the exhausting or what could be considered as misplaced pieces.

Overall, more or so often these “reality” tv shows are incalculable that are effortlessly phony. For every even slightly “genuine” unscripted reality show there is always one that is evidently phony.These are those programs that are typically scripted in everything except for: name, utilizing selecting entertainers to play “genuine individuals” and manufacturing conditions and storylines around them. However that being said there are also then certain reality TV shows that are often too close to being the real deal. The concept behind these means of shows tend to basically leave the cameras running. Which then results into catching real moments of genuine means of dramatic encounters, events of risk, satire, and misfortune, regardless of whether they sporadically need to re-sanction certain parts so as to satisfy the makers and the organization (“8 Fakest reality shows (And 8 that are totally real),” 2018).

These shows often, likewise, regularly tend to utilize a host to manage everything or a narrator to recount the story or set the phase of functions that are going to “unfurl”. This genre of television doesn’t depend on scholars and entertainers, and a great part of the show is controlled by makers and a group of editors. Along these lines, it tends to be a truly reasonable programming choice from a creation stance. When it comes to the characterizing part of unscripted television it is most likely the way when and where it has initially actually been shot. Regardless of the small mere fact of whether or not the show happens in a genuine setting with genuine individuals much like per say a documentary shoots before a live studio crowd that partakes in the program, or uses concealed observation, reality television depends on the camera catching everything as it occurs (“How reality TV works,” 2007).

References:

8 Fakest reality shows (And 8 that are totally real). (2018, February 16). ScreenRant. https://screenrant.com/reality-tv-shows-fake-real/

How reality TV works. (2007, December 7). HowStuffWorks. https://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/reality-tv.htm

Week 10 Questions – SciFi/ALT History

What distinctions are there between alternate history, postmodern alternate history and uchronie genres?

The concept of “alternative” history is perceived as the bases of subgenre of works such as literary fiction, science fiction, or historical fiction, The foundational key of this genre is that the idea of alternate histories is one that is of a science fiction genre. These ideas have revolved around the reason that a few occasions we know about didn’t have a similar result as our reality, the outcome being an altogether extraordinary world (Hellekson, 2000, p. 248). This genre may likewise incorporate other sci-fi components like time travel or equal universes that go about as their own other narratives that exist close by one another. There are a few ways to deal with such accounts that can be recognized from each other.Alternative history is basically interwoven so intently that it can’t be talked about separated from crossing time, time parting that it is recognized from numerous points of view these include uchronie, alternate history as well as postmodern history. Out of all of these alternate histories is the one that is the most to the point genre in comparison to all of the other types of alternate histories that are present. This is more or so due to one specific main distinction between this and the other genres of histories and this distinction is that in terms of perspective this is more of a linear flowing. This is also followed by the fact that it is what can be seen as a diachronic view. This simply just means that it is a consistent line of events through the events of history. Applying this to the genre of history the line may be modified some place along the line which influences everything after so it tends to be handily changed. Philip K Dick’s “The Man In the High Castle” distributed in 1962 in research (Mountfort, 2016) recognizes the three classes.

High Castle is one of the most notable of every single elective history and is one of the most famous subjects in the entire field of history. Likewise, The Man in the High Castle was roused by I Ching, an antiquated Chinese scholarly means of advice additionally referred to basically as the content of divination, or the Book of Changes. It rises above the philosophical complexities of the story, given that the Nazi success World War II. In any case, numerous sentiments are separated relying upon whether they are seen from a diachronic or synchronic point of view in the novel. That being said, according to (Ramson, 2010, p. 263) is “the postmodern alternate history tends to foreground historical chaos.” The idea of postmodern alternate history additionally predominately utilizes a synchronic perspective on the format of how time is viewed. In the end there is finally the theme of uchronie. This is a french term used for the alternate means of the histories and genres. Relatively the specific point of distinction is that it usually “emphasizes less a causal or diachronic notion of history and more a synchronic or polyphonous one” (Mountfort, 2016, p. 288). This perspective on history is through a synchronic view, that also recommends occasions of certain events that happen since the beginning are their crossroads in history as restricted to the diachronic view which was a solitary line of direct happenings of an event. These individual series of events may exist together close to one another and they are every one of the aspects of a piece. It shares a few similarities to the numerous universes hypothesis, which sets that all results of quantum estimations occurred in a different universe or universe.

References:

Dick, P. (1962). The Man in the High Castle. London: Penguin.

Hellekson, K. (2000). Towards a Taxonomy of the Alternate History Genre. Extrapolation.

Mountfort, P. (2016). The I Ching and Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle. SF-TH Inc.

Ransom, A. (2010). Warping Time: Alternate History, Historical Fantasy, and the Postmodern Uchronie Québécoise. Extrapolation.

Week 9 Questions – Cosplay Pt.2

In what ways can cosphotography be understood as a form of “fan capital”?

Cosplay is where an individual performs sections of a character, during this exhibition printed reference in regards to textual citation and photographic practices are joined and sometimes “collide” (Mountfort, 2019). The mere role of photography is crucial in terms of contemporary cosplay. The basis of fan convention have formatted the framework genre when it comes to “cosphotography” (Mountfort, 2018). With photography you can both report and organize various components of the cosplayer’s exhibition “by means of visual kinds commonly spreading over those of the design run-way, studio and ‘hallway shoots” (Mountfort, 2019). Cosphotography can be perceived as a ‘token’ of fan capital since it can work as a money, that is more or so due to the fact it makes individual incentive for the cosplayer however the photographs/recordings made are likewise a significant thing to devotees of cosplay or of the character the cosplayer is depicting. Much the same as hard money it tends to be exchanged from picture taker to cosplayer or vice-versa from photographic artist to fan or among cosplayer and fan. It can expand the prevalence of both in part, the subject and the photographer.

Cosphotography can be viewed from a perspective that highlights the foundations as a type of fan capital as it is a lasting media that advances and archives cosplayers. It makes their work, effort and dedication worthwhile and thus, it is then a two-way trade as it “approves” the work of these cosplayers who take their time to fully express this means of art using themselves as canvases. It is only fair they get the recognition they deserve. In view of how much exertion goes into their ensembles, props, hair and cosmetics, cosplayers feel that increasing a type of fan capital would be of a notable and desire-able nature. This is then the place where the idea cosphotography comes in, as this is a route for cosplayers to catch their training for the individual estimation of the photography, yet in addition possibly gain fan capital as their photographs are shown inside the cosplay network may it be online or in conventions.

The various sorts of cosphotography run from formal and casual photography means of practice. The generally well known or most viral; photos are just taken inside the given conventions or outside in a foreordained setting. Some other themes for cosphotography are specifically committed to exhibiting cosplayers and their intricate ensembles. Also according to (Mountfort, 2018) photography and video can give cosplayers both private worth and fan funding to disperse inside the more extensive cosplay network. However, over all the use of cosphotography is so vital as the initial performance of cosplayers are of a short-lived nature, especially since the costumes in question are only worn one day at a time – the use of photography then would make the impact much more long lasting due to the fact it would then be permanent (Mountfort, 2018). Overall cosphotography can be understood as a fan capital based off the given dynamics of what the initiative of the idea has to offer per say.

References:

Mountfort 2018, Planet Cosplay (Bristol, UK: Intellect Books), Intro and Chapter 1

Mountfort 2018, Planet Cosplay (Bristol, UK: Intellect Books), Chapter 2

Mountfort 2019, Cosplay at Armageddon Expo

Week 8 Questions – Cosplay

Referring to Mountfort et al. (2018), in what ways is cosplay analogous to citation?

Cosplay, more or so often refers to the promoted phenomenon known to be “costume play.” With establishes situated in both American and Japanese culture, it includes the demonstration of taking on the appearance of a character. The word “cosplay” itself correlates to the demonstration of getting changed into such ensembles in order to reproduce the presence of a character from a work of fiction. Mainstream types of cosplay include dressing yourself up in the outfits of characters from for example: computer games, comic books, well known anime, cartoons and additionally movies of more or so realistic nature, and so on.

Cosplay can tend to also include dressing for non-character costumes that could be unrelated to any series or movie. Such as for example dressing up in school uniform (often more popular amongst females). The concept of cosplay is generally viewed as a sort of execution workmanship, as the individual endeavors to move their personality to the character they are ‘cosplaying’ using ensembles, adornments, even motions and mentalities in an approach to embrace the persona of the character. It tends to be viewed as that the individual possesses the part of this character which is both true and intellectual. That being said, the idea and uses of cosplay in today’s time is a means of engagement in terms of culture. It can both be seen in person ( especially in conventions of manga/anime or conventions such as comic con/armageddon) as well as on the online community. Asides from that they (cosplayers) also tend to have their own cosplay communities (Mountfort et al, 2018).

The idea of cosplay is very different due to an element which then isolates it from other means of costume exhibitions like festivals, theater or circus. The element being that cosplay relies generally upon messages from present or overall popular types of media. A source or a reference text is required, and this is the place the fundamental motivation for a cosplay is gotten from. Another component which recognizes cosplay from theater or potentially screen exhibitions is simply the length of the given overall execution.

A cosplayer doesn’t reproduce/showcase the whole content/plot of their picked text. They often just perform what can be called ‘portions’ of the first source of the text, ones which the cosplayer himself/herself sift through as being critical to the real exhibition. In correlation to that, cosplay can be viewed as a type of reference as cosplayers ordinarily reference their picked text, and play out a large number of citational acts (Mountfort et al, 2018). This is more or so because it is the cosplayer’s own costumed body which at that point goes about as the content or as a ‘cite’ referring to a book, on such accounts of cosplay, this would be the particular media source which is picked by the cosplayer to be performed. This overall brings the theme of citation to full circle.

References:

Mountfort, P. Pierson, Smith, A. Geczy, A. (2018) Planet Cosplay Intellect Books.

Week 7 Questions – Horror Pt.2

Humans typically characterize the concept of “fear” as a negative feeling, which is obviously almost always upsetting. Regularly, we urgently need to avoid the being of this feeling since it causes pain and dread. However In any case, the concept of aesthetics and brain research behind thrillers clarify “dread” can actually also be an experience to enjoy if that is what you would like to seek out. The idea of “fear”, of “dread” is a fundamental component with dismay classification, which is the reason we reliably pine for the adrenaline surge in alarming movies. Neuroscientists, therapists, and producers continually study the audiences reactions in terms of fear to see which procedures can startle such watchers (Park, 2018). Thus, that being said, according to (Carroll,2003) the idea, the being of “the monster”, is the defining aspect of a given horror movie. She (Carroll) states that “they are putrid or moldering things, or they hail from oozing places, or they are made of dead or rotting flesh, or chemical waste, or are associated with vermin, disease, or crawling things”. This distinguishes the genre of horror from many others. The supposed actions which are taken when the protagonists, or set group of people face such creatures within the story line. For instance, in fantasies, myths and fairytales the being of monsters are acknowledged as conventional creatures by characters as ordinary creatures known to mankind and are of commonness. They can be somewhat irritating or unnerving creatures in the story, however they normally enter the characters’ recognitions and don’t commit any actions to create the feeling of “fear” for them. Be that as it may, with however, horror stories, such beasts, “monsters”, are acknowledged as disturbing the request for the universe past the existential legitimacy of humankind. The distinction between the monsters from harrowing tales and other famous types of common genres is that they are scary and tainted. The monster from the horror story is consistently perilous. They can be mentally, ethically, or socially undermining. Also according to (Carroll, 2003) “Monsters may also trigger certain enduring infantile fears, such as those of being eaten or dismembered, or sexual fears, concerning rape and incest”. However, according to (King, 2011) he has attempted many, many times to portray a portion of the contrasts between sci-fi and horror, fear and loathsomeness and ghastliness and repugnance. This, again in contrast with (Carroll, 2003) who also tends to separate the idea of sci-fi and horror. She (Carroll) claims that “it is tempting to follow the lead of the defenders of science fiction and to differentiate the horror genre from others by saying that horror novels, stories, films, plays, and so on are marked by the presence of monsters”. The facts demonstrate that monsters tend to be the most essential conditions with sickening apprehension stories, however they are insufficient to be an essential for loathsomeness since they originate from a wide range of stories, for example, fantasies and legends. So Carroll is searching for approaches to recognize shocking tales highlighting characters of monsters and other mainstream classes. Monsters can be extraordinary in relation to the supernatural or science fiction, contingent upon our motivation, which then makes horror recognizable from stories of fear or Gothic activities. Asides from all of this, (Bauer, 2018) also says that “a monster is something more inhuman than human. The monsters can resemble humans, but they lack the mercy and compassion of a normal human being. Monsters are typically cruel and destructive”. Film makers utilise a splitting or combination of devices to pollute a monster, for instance, they intertwine portions of a human body into a beast’s body, or they partition distinctive natural creatures so they can exchange in one body. These awful creations inspire enthusiastic responses to perusers, for example, dread of incomprehensible creatures, and cause them to feel terrified just by their essence, indicating that it isn’t another sort yet Horror itself. Thus, characters then deny reality. The idea of these settings conjure dread and disgust. This further then determines if the story is horror or not based on the given reaction.

References:

Bauer, A. (2018, October 14). The Case For Horror Films, Part 1: Creature/Monster Films. Retrieved September 08, 2020, from https://medium.com/cinenation-show/the-case-for-horror-films-part-1-creature-monster-films-3f921a9c0501

Carroll, N. (2003). The philosophy of horror: Or, paradoxes of the heart. Routledge.

King, S. (2011). Danse macabre. Simon and Schuster.

Park, M. (2018). The Aesthetics and Psychology Behind Horror Films [Doctoral dissertation]. https://digitalcommons.liu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1030&context=post_honors_theses

Week 6 Questions – Horror

What is the philosophy of cosmicism and how is it used to convey a sense of dread in both The Shadow Over Innsmouth and The Colour out of Space?

Cosmicism is the scholarly way of thinking created and utilized by the American writer H. P. Lovecraft in his works of “weird” fiction. Lovecraft was the creator of thoughtfully extraordinary stories of horror that included themes and ideas of what was deemed out to be “mysterious marvels”, such as for instance the concepts like astral projection and alien miscegenation, and the topics of his fiction after some time added to the advancement of this philosophy (“Cosmicism,” 2006). When comparing cosmicism to humanism, the idea of the two are incompatible. The being of cosmicism imparts numerous qualities to the thoughts of nihilism. Anyway it is to take note of that one noteworthy contrast is that cosmicism will when all is said in done underline the unimportance of humanity and its doings, as opposed to immediately dismissing the conceivable presence of some higher reason (or purposes); e.g., in Lovecraft’s Cthulhu stories, it isn’t the nonattendance of implying that causes dread for the heroes, as it is their revelation that they have definitely no capacity to transform anything in the tremendous, apathetic universe that encompasses them. In Lovecraft’s accounts, whatever importance or reason might be put into the activities of the grandiose creatures is totally difficult to reach to the human characters. In spite of the fact that cosmicism shows up profoundly skeptical, H.P. Lovecraft thought of himself as neither a person who was deemed optimist or even pessimistic for that matter. However, he instead saw himself as a logical (per say, scientific) or “cosmic” indifferentism. This a topic communicated in his fiction as a means of expression (Lord dunsany, H. P. Lovecraft, and Ray Bradbury, 2014). That being said, the theory of comicism is a Lovecraft’s fiction give a decent material in a conjured up universe, for example, baffling articles, prohibited privileged insights, experiences desert, the disclosure of repulsions in a city in terms of the horrors that were present, metaphases, stunning disclosures, the concept/ ideas of dream and reality, outsider creatures, inestimable beasts, and so forth (Menegaldo, 2019). For instance, the use of cosmicism is used to convey a sense of dread in The Shadow Over Innsmouth (1931) demonstrated the comic to the commonplace; The comic’s components are introduced under the surface to show their capacity. A dispossessed hero who goes by the name Robert Olmstead he was never actually named in the story yet however the name was present in Lovecraft’s story notes (Joshi, 2006), is an extraordinary incredible grandson of Obded Marsh and a Deep One, whom would eventually transform into one of the land and/or water types of “amphibian” whom miscegenation between outsider fish-frogs like he observes in the rotting Massachusetts city of Innsmouth. In ‘the Innsmouth look” is a sign that let them know something is going on in their initial being of place, something that is of a large and significant physiological and mental change that will come and frequent them in essentially everlasting and stay perpetually in their undersea urban communities (Joshi, 2006). This same applies for ‘The Colour out of Space’ and this is when something from above falls down onto their backyard with bright intense colour, that this then is a sign for them to believe it or not. Some characters in the movie believe that this is a seemingly unlucky sign and that they need to leave from there before it is too late too. Despite that, some did not believe in it. They continue to stay in the house they were at yet horrible things continue to happen making it so they can not leave from there any more. Taking a look at all this, the one thing that was common in: The Shadow Over Innsmouth’ and “The Colour out of space” is where they dwell in terms of lets say where the aliens used to hide themselves before they decided to make moves and scare people which also then further led to making people start to lose their mind. The overall concept of aliens is one that can be deemed to be that is unpredictable and unexplainable even with the use of science. A greater audience of people tend to believe in the beings of aliens but many still do not. “The colour out of space” goes as far as showing the audience that at the end of the day it is really up to humans whether they chose to believe such things or not.

References:

Cosmicism. (2006, April 9). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved August 29, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmicism

Lord dunsany, H. P. Lovecraft, and Ray Bradbury: Spectral journeys. (2014). Choice Reviews Online, 51(12), 51-6626-51-6626. https://doi.org/10.5860/choice.51-6626

Menegaldo, G. (2019). HP Lovecraft on screen, a challenge for filmmakers (allusions, transpositions, rewritings). Brumal. Revista de investigación sobre lo Fantástico, 7(1), 55. https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/brumal.591Joshi, S. T. (2006). The Cthulhu Mythos. Icons of Horror and the Supernatural: An Encyclopedia of Our Worst Nightmares, 1, 97-128.

Joshi, S. T. (2006). The Cthulhu Mythos. Icons of Horror and the Supernatural: An Encyclopedia of Our Worst Nightmares, 1, 97-128.

Week 5 Questions – Anime Pt.2

What is the ‘shōjo’ and how does it often function in anime?

The term ‘Shojo’ first showed up in 1903 it is actually originally derived from a chinese form of expression made up of the same characters (Wikipedia, 2012). What is Shojo? Initially it is one of anime’s numerous subgenres, shojo is a segment marker for anime and manga (Japanese comic book) its purpose is to be focused on younger females audience in terms of readership. Shojo is related with visuals and set in a narrating style instead of with a segment. These bases of visuals that are found inside shojo are in clear differentiation to the ones that tend to be more realistic and grounded in comparison to other anime which highlights aspects of violence and modernism. Another minor subgenre that can be from the shojo found inside anime, making it much more otherworldly and dream-like, would be the maho shojo which further translates to enchanted or magical female. This subgenre has an uplifted spotlight on otherworldly and dream components. The concept of Shojo is the literal, direct opposite of shonen. While shonen is the manga aimed at teenage boys, such as for example naruto, bleach, one piece, my hero academia, death note and many more. Shojo is manga aimed at teenage girls. It is a genre of its own, for the means of having a target audience and thus catering the media to a specific demographic. Japan is a male dominated country. The various female appeal are usually to be distinguished as a persevering difference to the male in the anime. This is “subverting convention” the gender commanding force in the nation of history. The capacity of shojo in the anime is to raise the other entangled beings (Napier, 2005.) Shojo characters are bound to be distinguished as a solid, strong young lady who happens to “save” the world or shield them from enemies of all sorts. Then again, some different creators recognize them as feeble and shortcoming. A prominent example of such a character that had been more or so believed to be a solid hearted courageous woman was San in Miyazaki’s film Princess Mononoke yet she didn’t show the characteristics of for instance, like being what is deemed cute or in japanese terminology “kawaii”, by any means in any way at all. She was depicted to be wild and fearsome going up and standing her ground for what she believed, what she trusts in and suddenly giving her adoration for creatures and security of the forest. This in correlation to when (Napier, S. (2005) stated that “Perhaps many of anime’s most important characters are female because it is so often the female subject who most clearly emblematizes the dizzying changes occurring in modern society.” Overall the aim of shojo is to empower “girlhood”, in 20 century Japan. It is a way for Japan to contribute in the means of contemporary, feminist art (Wakeling, 2011). Asides from this, the concept of both daughters and lets say, maiden both suggest the closeness of a male master in choosing a seemingly young ladies personality while the possibility of shōjo has neither of these affiliations. The shojo is deemed to be free spirited and bold particularly in contrast to normal and ideal female roles in the Japanese culture.

References:

Napier, S. (2005). Why anime? In Anime: from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle (pp.3-14). Hampshire: Palgrave/ Macmillan.

Shōjo. (2020, August 1). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved August 29, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ShōjoWakeling, E. J. (2011). “Girls are dancin”: Shōjo culture and feminism in contemporary Japanese art. New Voices, 5, 130-146. https://doi.org/10.21159/nv.05.06

Week 4 Questions – Anime

What was the cultural impact of Akira (1988), and why does it occupy a key place in the canon of anime greats?

Despite the fact that in today’s time there is an endless list of anime, some which hold more prevalence than others. That being said, amongst this vast list of given anime there is nothing more critical in means of popularity as well as the strong basis of foundation for good and classic means of anime particularly in terms of entertainment to the turn of events and notoriety of the class than Akira (Otomo, 1988). A baseline explanation concerning why Akira built up itself as one of the greats in the anime group is the manner by which it has remained socially pertinent even 32 years after its creation. This is because of the powerful concepts and aspects of symbolism in Akira taking after a great deal of the constant battles that individuals face against degenerate government frameworks. The faction following that Akira obtained was generous thinking about how obscure anime was toward the western world gaining over $80 million worldwide in VHS deals alone. Set forth plainly, Akira demonstrated to the western world that the factor of animation other than the typical western, generic products existed, that this concept of such animation in Japanese style existed. Akira is on the list of one of, if not the most significant anime manifestations. It was that one film that had further uncovered numerous western crowds to the universe of Japanese liveliness and thus, the social effect of Akira was undoubtedly massive and growing. Akira’s visuals, soundtrack, story line, and different perspectives were not normal in terms of any concepts and aspects for anything the western crowds would have seen up until that point. Asides from such factors, Akira also indicated to western crowds an enlivened film that didn’t wander away from what would actually be considered to be realistic portrayals of brutality, the concepts of visual violence as well as the following ideas of sexuality. This was something that was basically never observed until the approach of Akira. Akira was firm in such a manner and is another motivation behind why it had an enormous social effect. This factor of popularity is also most likely due to one of the facts that before the (western) world came to know of Akira, the basic basis of animations lay within cartoon such as disney and children at the time only knew of such visuals of animation. So when they came to know of Akira, the visuals and such would have been exceptionally in a different style, a different presented tone of work. They would have been stunning yet however unusual, as it was fundamentally not the same as what they would have been presented to, what they had actually been used to. This can be backed up by the fact that “Its complex storylines challenge the viewer used the predictability of Disney … while its often dark tone and content may surprise audiences who like to think of ‘cartoons’ as ‘childish’ or ‘innocent’.” (Naiper, 2005, p. 9). Akira also further then influenced the growth and creation of sub genres, such as for example cyberpunk. Overall, without the foundations of Akira other prevalent and influential anime would not be produced. Because of the fantastic as well as engraved and long lasting social effect of Akira, it has established itself as a key film in the incredible standard of anime close to numerous other extraordinary works of anime.

References

Napier, S. (2005). Anime: from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle. Hampshire: Palgrave/ Macmillan.

Otomo, K. (Director). (1988). Akira [Film]. Tokyo Movie Shinsha.

Week 3 Questions – TinTin Pt.2

How and why have Tintin’s gender and sexuality been question?

Tintin’s gender and sexuality have heavily always been questioned, one of the reasons for this being is that: all through The Adventures of Tintin there are strikingly scarcely any female characters, less despite everything having significant jobs. This is a rundown of the female characters included in the arrangement. Hergé had been blamed for sexism, however he adamantly denied being a misogynist, saying that, as quoted “…for me, women have nothing to do in a world like Tintin‘s, which is the realm of male friendship” (“Female characters,” n.d.) The absence of females in his undertakings is likewise undermined to be of a suspicious nature and what not – just eight out of nearly 350 characters are recognizable as female.That being said and further fueling onto potential theories there have been much speculations that Tintin is gay. In 2016, a two-page spread broadcasted this hypothesis in The Times. This case around Tintin’s sexual direction depended on the accompanying perception: the ginger-haired journalist is once in a while found in the organization of individuals from the more attractive sex. While we can’t generally question this present, there’s a clarification for it, one that reveals a fairly unflattering insight into a specific time of Belgian comic book history; Up until the finish of the 1960s, a proposal of a lower leg, a trace of a lady’s knee or even a brief look at cleavage were viewed as absolute means of taboo, that being the ideology of the French in terms of such matter (“Women in Belgian comics P1: Invisibility to objectification,” 2020).

Mr Parris, a previous British MP who is transparently gay, said Tintin’s sexuality was clear to any individual who peruses the animation books intently and reads between the lines.His (TinTin’s) family foundation provides a first insight.”Tintin never discusses his friends or family, like attempting to shut out the very presence of the idea of a dad or mother. As psychologists will affirm, this is normal among young gay men,” Mr Parris composed (“Tintin was gay, times journalist claims,” 2009). Tintin himself has been scrutinized as unequivocally feminized, especially similar to Haddock, and one could even battle that he is of in every practical sense unsure of sexual direction. Identified with this is the issue of perhaps his internal need and despite the fact that these particular adventures being plainly revolved around kids, utilizing the means of psychoanalytic assessment have coaxed out proof of both a sublimated Oedipal family sensation and frustrated sexual subtexts. By strategies for conversation of solicitations of Tintin as a gay picture and basic questions wrapping both hetero-and homoerotic subtexts, It can be found that his queering, in the broadest notion of the term is essential to a central comprehension of Tintin (Mountfort, 2020), thus then maybe perhaps Tintin’s social recovery.

References

Female characters. (n.d.). Tintin Wiki. Retrieved August 20, 2020, from

https://tintin.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Female_Characters

Mountfort, P. (2020). ‘Tintin, gender and desire’. Journal of Graphic Novels and

Comics, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/21504857.2020.1729829

Tintin was gay, times journalist claims. (2009, January 12). ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). https://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-01-12/tintin-was-gay-times-journalist-claims/263208

Women in Belgian comics P1: Invisibility to objectification. (2020, May 28). Europe Comics.

Women in Belgian Comics P1: Invisibility to Objectification