Pop Genres 2020

week 8

2. What does the terms détournement mean and how is it applicable to cosplay?

Détournement is a french word meaning; rerouting or hijacking, and in the context of cosplay it can mean reappropriating other culture and even text, into a costume. Cosplay, as we know it today, originated in Japan, and is a short form for the words “Costume play”. Cosplay in its early days was mostly restricted to when cosplayers would dress up and act as Anime and Manga characters, but today there can be cosplay of literally anything, even inanimate objects like phones or shoes. The art of taking a character and reappropriating its costume is a the core of cosplay, as most times costumes of the game and comic-book characters aren’t licenced with their companies, and instead, the costumes are made by the cosplayer, who will play the character, with no official support from their parent companies.

Cosplay is referred to as a citational act (Mountfort, 2018), where normal people who are fans of the anime, wish to show their appreciation for it through their time and effort by making and wearing a costume of characters in the series. Anime and manga are heavily dependant on fan support and outreach, and if a series doesn’t meet certain criteria, it could mean the show or manga won’t continue with sequels, so in Japan, it is very common for Otaku’s to buy figurines collectables, and merchandise, in order to show their dedication and appreciation for the authors work, and to have a physical, tangible representation of their fandom. Cosplay is very similar to this practise, as cosplayers spend both their time and money into sourcing materials, designing and creating props for their costume, to show their support for the content they are fans of.

In my opinion, Cosplay has dramatically evolved from its origins, with the advent of sites like; Patreon and OnlyFans, where cosplayers now have their own dedicated fanbase willing to pay various sums of money in order to see their favourite cosplayer donning their favourite anime character. The process of cosplay has gone from a casual pst time for many to a fulltime job, where greater amounts of time and money are spent to create a higher quality cosplay than they were capable of doing before, as now, their fanbase is paying for it, which gives them a monetary incentive. Even now that cosplayers are getting paid for their craft, I believe the concept of “Détournement” is still in effect, as they still have to have an appreciation of the anime for them to spend hours on a costume build.

To conclude, Cosplay has evolved over the years, from dressing up as your favourite character to go to a convention, to a legitimate business practice with a dedicated fanbase in and of itself. However, the practice of cosplay still requires knowledge of how to make costumes and make props, and also know how the character behaves and their speech patterns, because cosplay, requires the cosplayer to become a character. This justifies the use of characters without the need for permission, as they aren’t making a fake bootleg version of the character, they are expressing their appreciation of them.

References

Mountfort, P. (2018). Cosplay as Citation. In P. Mountfort, A. Peirson-Smith, & A. Geczy, Planet Cosplay. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press

Week 7: Mollie Chater

King (2010) describes Horror as being defined through three basic elements. Explain, using references, what these three elements are. Think of a horror story you’ve read/watched/heard that makes use of all three of these elements and show how King’s definition is at play in that narrative.

Stephen King is known for his horror novels, he depicts that the three basic elements to horror are; The Gross-out, The Horror and The Terror. Looking at Stephen King’s own story ‘IT’ shows these three elements and shows how they add to complete the overall horror experience that people love.

The first element of ‘The Gross-out’ is self-explanatory, it is meant to gross out the audience, this can be done in multiple ways, most common with bugs, and gore as some gross topic’s horror produces. The gross element within ‘IT’ throughout both novel and film, in many different forms. On one hand there is the use of blood, gushing and overwhelming the screen in multiple scenes, but also the use of monsters (King, 2010) that represent disease and disgust to viewers like the leper in the novel that appears to one of the characters. The gross-out is the weakest of the three elements according to King (Reel, 2019).

The second element is ‘The Horror’. This is said to be the portrayal of what is meant to be unbelievable yet sparks fear within the audience, the horror is when we see something so awful, unnatural that we begin to fear it as we cannot grasp or understand what we are seeing. This is the middle of the three elements and is worse than the gross element not only can we be repulsed but our fear is determined by something we can physically see but not understand. Within King’s ‘IT’ the horror can come from Pennywise the clown as he morphs into a child eating clown luring children to their deaths, he takes the form of what the children fear most throughout the novel to make both the characters fear it and the audience watching.

The third element is ‘The Terror’, this is regarded as the worst of the three elements as it is our fear created by our imaginations (Neilan, 2017) When we turn off the light and flick it back on because we think something is there is a factor of having terror cause fear. Within it, this is the constant idea that Pennywise is everywhere watching the characters and that they can’t hide from into matter what they do.

References:

Neilan, D. (2017). Stephen King Breaks Down the Different Levels of Horror. Retrieved from https://www.avclub.com/stephen-king-breaks-down-the-different-levels-of-horror-1806112160

Regal Reel. (2019). Stephen King’s 3 Levels of Horror. Retrieved From https://www.regmovies.com/static/en/us/blog/stephen-king-3-levels-of-horror#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20acclaimed%20author,but%20in%20cinema%20as%20well.

week 7

2. What is the philosophy of cosmicism and how is it used to convey a sense of dread in The Colour out of Space?

Cosmicism is based on H.P. Lovecraft’s idea that humanity and what we do are mere illusions, that “Human consciousness, human civilization, humane values, and all the rest, add up to a bubble that surrounds us and keeps us from seeing that the cosmos is wholly indifferent to us.” (Patheos). The concept of how small and insignificant humans are to the sheer size and age of the cosmos and cosmicism tries to use existential dread to provoke fear into its audience. Lovecraft used Cosmicism a lot in his stories, the most famous of which would be, “ The Call of Cthulhu”.

Lovecraft’s horror doesn’t use much blood or gore, it uses the fear of the unknown, where he would introduce an antagonist that was immense in power, an existence that was as old as the earth, that had no malice but had enough power to destroy humanity without any regard for resistance. Lovecraft’s “monsters” would view humans the same way we would view ants, as either; something to admire from afar, or as a minor inconvenience that posed no threat, which could be dealt with by flicking it away, “Cosmicism is rooted in the absence of God and, ultimately, any sort of morality and meaning tethered to such a Presence.”(Duran, 2016). The Colour out of Space film based on H.P. Lovecraft’s story, directed by Richard Stanley, follows Nathan Gardner portrayed by Nicholas Cage as he moves to the countryside with his whole family after a health scare, where he sees a colourful and bright meteorite that falls on their land. The meteorite gradually reveals itself as the film progresses, to be an evil entity from beyond our concept of reality that corrupts and warps whatever it touches with its colour.

In Colour out of Space, we see the usual conventions of darkness, and muted colour in horror completely ignored, as bright colours are not only used, but they represent the main villain of the film. The main antagonist was simply too large for the Gardner family to face as the entity could corrupt anything it touched, including plants, insects and animals. Near the end of the film, we see Ward played by Elliot Knight, returning to the Gardner farm, which has now been completely overtaken by the Colour, he sees Livinia who has been also taken over by the colour, all the while the Colour is trying to open a gateway to its home above the property. When Livinia touches Ward, both he and the audience are connected to the Colour, and it shows its homeworld, which looked like a bunch of abstract colours, we then see millions of worm-like creatures writhing around, with several giant worm-like creatures moving towards against monument, which looks like an eye which is also seen as a symbol on Livinias forehead. Here the audience is able to see what the colour had in store for humanity and that we would be hopeless in the face of such unimaginable power.

References
King, S. (2010). Stephen King’s Danse macabre / by Stephen King. Retrieved November 6, 2020, from https://cpl.catalogue.library.ns.ca/Record/5394/Excerpt

Week 8: Anastasia Shearer

Question: In what ways can cosplay be understood in terms of notions such as affect, transportation, transubstantiation and mediated fantasy?

Cosplay is the act of dressing up as a character from a film, book, video-game or other media including original content (OC). Cosplay is derived from the terms costume & to play and is the act of “taking on the habitus of a particular character through costume, accessories, gesture and attitude; it is therefore not simply “dressing up” but rather inhabiting the role of a character both physically and mentally.’”(Mountfort, 2018, p.4). Cosplay and cosplayers are typically seen participating in events such as conventions, or larping (Mountfort, 2018).

Cosplay allows fantasy groups across all different mediums to join together in appreciation of the content and the art of cosplaying itself. Cosplay allows these characters to exist in each other’s worlds and extends the possibilities that weren’t there to begin with. For example, a Harry Potter cosplayer could interact as Harry Potter with not only other Harry Potter themed cosplayers but also with cosplayers from different mediums such as Anime.

It also allows for an element of performance. Of course the act of dressing up and playing a part is a huge part of cosplayers performance. But cosplay performance is different from theatre performance in the sense that cosplayers do not script out an entire scene whereas they will begin a scene maybe beginning in something that has already happened in the story and improvise a short scene from there (Mountfort, 2018).

Cosplay takes a person and changes their mind-set in a sense that they become a character from either a source material or an original material. Cosplaying allows cosplayers to redefine that character that better fits them, such as changing the gender or different style of hair or clothing. A cosplayer can alternate between being in character and their real selves when it suits them and the moment that a cosplayer experiences whilst diving back into character is called transubstantiation. The overwhelmingly powerful desire to not only become this fantasy character, but to bring the character out of its narrative and give it a physical form often brings empowerment and a sense of belonging to the cosplayers (Mountfort, 2018). The idea of transportation is interesting, in terms of cosplay it does not work in just one way. Of course the people who become these characters are transported into an alternate mentality different from their own. But in a way the characters that they portray also get transported into our world.

Cosplay can bring in mediated fantasies where people will write guidelines and strict ways on becoming a character. They can have events related to such things such as competitions around who’s the best Batman or best dressed. Although many people enjoy these mediated fantasy events there are people who dislike it because it takes away some of the creative freedom and expression that they use in their own or others cosplay.

To summaries cosplay is widely used to express interests as well as and bring people together who share the same passions for many different types of mediums.

References

Mountfort, P, Peirson-Smith, A, & Geczy, A. (2018). Planet cosplay: Costume play, identity and global fandom. Intellect Books.

Week 6

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

Lovecraft’s horror doesn’t use much blood or gore, it uses the fear of the unknown, where he would introduce an antagonist that was immense in power, an existence what was as old as the earth, that had no malice but had enough power to destroy humanity without any regard for resistance. Lovecraft’s “monsters” would view humans the same way we would view ants, as either; something to admire from afar, or as a minor inconvenience that posed no threat, which could be dealt with by flicking it away, “Cosmicism is rooted in the absence of God and, ultimately, any sort of morality and meaning tethered to such a Presence.”(Duran, 2016). The Colour out of Space film based on H.P. Lovecraft’s story, directed by Richard Stanley, it follows Nathan Gardner portrayed by Nicholas Cage as he moves to the countryside with his whole family after a health scare, there he sees a colourful and bright meteorite that falls on their land. The meteorite gradually reveals itself as the film progresses, to be an evil entity from beyond our concept of reality that corrupts and warps whatever it touches with its colour.

References
Reimann, T. (2020, February 28). ‘Color Out of Space’ Ending Explained: Color Me Bad. Retrieved from https://collider.com/color-out-of-space-ending-explained-easter-eggs/#:~:text=Based on the short story, from beyond space and time.

Wiley, C. R. (2017, September 28). Lovecraft’s Cosmicism: What it Is, How It Works, and Why It Fails. Retrieved November 6, 2020, from https://www.patheos.com/blogs/gloryseed/2017/08/lovecrafts-cosmicism-works-fails/

Duran, M. (2016, October 31). The Real Horror of Lovecraft’s Cosmicism. Retrieved November 6, 2020, from https://www.mikeduran.com/2016/10/31/the-real-horror-of-lovecrafts-cosmicism/

Week 9: Mollie Chater

According to Mountfort et al. (2018), what are the three main genres of cosphotography, and how did they historically develop?

Cosphotography is the idea of cosplay and photography becoming one. Taking photos of cosplay or people in cosplay, has become a form of entertainment over social media and for conventions like Armageddon. Cosphotography can refer to both taking photos and videos to gain recognition and money through the act of becoming a character convincingly and usually in an aesthetically pleasing way. People spend thousands of dollars trying to recreate characters from fandoms either with their own spin or in a way that convinces others that it is a good rendition of the said character.

Historically cosphotography can been seen dating back to 1908, when a man dressed as a character from a carton strip at a masquerade ball. Adapting again in the 1970 in Japan when people would dress as characters from anime and manga

The first of the three main genres would be a fashion show of cosphotography (Mountfort, 2018) where cosplayers would go to show off their cosplay and performances of their characters to a planned crowd of people and cameras, where they would be filmed, these show events would usually have a competition to reward the cosplayers hard labor and performances they create for the characters they portray.

The second would be what Mountfort refers to as ‘Hallway’ cosphotography, this can be seen most usually at conventions where cosplayers show off to crowds for fun, photos are usually taken without permission, yet a photo with another fan can be negotiated with to allow for the cosplayers to be able to make some for of capital for their labor. Again, the better or more realistic the cosplay the more rewarding the experience can be for the cosplayer. According to Mountfort, the cosplayers see it as a compliment when fans do want to have a photo taken or produced for them and can also been seen as a reward for the cosplayer.

The last genre of cosphotography would be studio portrait. This is where cosplayers are in a private location, having photos and videos taken with full consent to then share the photos and videos to share and distribute the photos themselves so that they can gain rewards for their work for themselves.

From all three genres, typically the most publicly seen is the hallway cosphotography where cosplayers go to conventions and share their work though social networking and negotiated and 50/50 consensual photos and videos.

References:

Mountfort, P. (2018). Cosplay as Citation. In P. Mountfort, A. Peirson-Smith, & A. Geczy, Planet Cosplay. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press

week 5

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

Shojo in Japanese means a young woman or girl, in the context of manga and anime, shoujo describes a genre, most stories feature a female protagonist and plot that is based heavily in romance. Most shojo anime and manga are based in highschools and feature a slice-of-life based story, and have drama stemming from the romance. “Shoujo anime will typically feature romance as part of the main storyline. There are an endless number of shoujo anime and manga on the market revolving around high school romances.” (Angle, 2018).So the intended audience would be teenage girls. As both settings and plot are similar to what young women are experiencing through high school. There are several sub-genres of Shojo, there is the Mahou- shojo, which features a girl who is able to transform using either magic or an alien power, to defeat monsters plaguing their area, the most popular example of this genre would be Sailor Moon, which has since become a classic, inspiring many similar stories.

Another sub-genre would be the “reverse-harem” genre, in these stories a female main character is surrounded by handsome boys who all want to go out with her, similar to the Shonen “harem” genre. Much like every other anime show, each episode is roughly 24 minutes long and follows a basic episodic approach to TV shows. Episodes usually begin by resolving what the cliffhanger was in the previous episode, and develops the characters and their relationships, and ends with an open-ended cliffhanger, forcing the viewer to want more of the show. Shojo anime functions like regular anime but the only difference is that its intended audience is girls

Comparing Shojo to its more popular opposite, shonen anime and manga. Shounen means “boy” in Japanese, and in the context of anime and manga, it is a more widely known and more accepted genre. Shonen stories usually have a male protagonist, and unlike the shojo genre, stories in the shonen genre vary wildly, with completely different stories depending on what subgenre is watched. An example would be the show, “Konosuba”, where the main character is reincarnated into another world, which is called the “Isekai” subgenre, this particular show is mainly comedy, with a mixture of visual and slapstick type comedy used, but if you look at another show like, “Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari”, it has the same premise of reincarnation, but takes on a much darker tone overall, with issues like; rape allegations, and the class system being tackled.

Shojo anime is the less popular of the two, and so it has less variety in its series, this may discourage new watchers, particularly male watchers, as the stories rely heavily upon the romance aspect. But Shojo is important and necessary in pop culture, especially now that the internet has connected the world close together, many new viewers are able to access these shows. Also Shojo provides a different option for viewers, while shonen anime becomes similar to each other, as they try to copy the success of previous stories that have succeeded, shojo could become an alternate source for watching.

References

Napier, S. (2005). Why anime? In Anime: from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle (pp.3-34). Hampshire: Palgrave/ Macmillan.

Angle, J (2018, May 28). What is Shoujo [Definition, Meaning]. from https://honeysanime.com/what-is-shoujo-definition-meaning/

Week 4

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

Anime has been in western pop culture for many decades now, and characters like, Saitama, and Goku are now in the cultural zeitgeist. Akira (1988), by director and creator; Katsuhiro Otomo, is set in Neo-Tokyo a post-WW3 Tokyo, filled with corruption, biker gangs, and addiction. Where politicians seek to make themselves richer while the commoners must live in this dystopian ghetto, amongst the filth and rats. The anime differed form those coming out around the same time, as its art style was inspired more by western cartoons, than other anime. “Otomo’s drawings for “Akira” were distinctive for their realism; he used lighting, color and an attention to detail to create a vivid, lived-in space.”(Chu, 2018)

Akira has remained in the cultural spotlight, due in large part to how many popular shows and films still reference the anime to this day, one extremely popular reference shared by several shows throughout the years would be the “Kaneda Bike Slide”, where different characters would stop their bike or mode of transportation copying how Kaneda did in the film, a few notable shows that did this would be; TMNT(2003), where Raphael can be seen pulling the maneuver on his red bike, Clone Wars (2003), where Obi-Wan can be seen on a hovering machine, but pulling the maneuver, and Ready Player One, where both the move and a replica of the bike itself can be seen. These examples are just some of the few that can be seen throughout recent pop culture. (Shambrookblog, 2018)

Akira tells the gritty world of Neo-Tokyo through the eyes of the youth, It follows Kaneda and his friend Tetsuo, as they are swept up, through no fault of their own into this large government conspiracy, and they can’t do anything about it but rebel. Tetsuo gets spirited away, and awakens to his powers, in a new situation, and Kaneda moves heaven and earth to save his best friend. But as the situation continues we see Tetsuo despising his only friend, feeling oppressed and smothered, living in Kaneda’s shadow. To Tetsuo, Kaneda’s bike symbolized his power, and by trying to steal the bike multiple times and failing due to not knowing how to handle the bike, this shows that Tetsuo wasnt ready for his psychic abilities either.

Akira tells the story of a corrupt government that tries to gain power through any means necessary, and by doing so they forget their citizens and leave them in disgusting conditions with no support to fix these issues. The sense of civil unrest is shown throughout the film, with “Akira”, being used as a synonym for an overwhelming power that will topple the current regime. Which is eerily similar to today in many countries, including America. Countries like; Palestine, India, Kurdistan, Hong Kong, and several more countries, all have ongoing civil rights protests, fighting against the existing regime, and because a godlike power like Akiras, doesn’t exist, people are forced to fight against the common enemy. Beneath, Akiras, amazing and fluid animation, its cyberpunk aesthetics, and its compelling narrative, the underlying story is one of oppression, and how things will eventually get better if people rise up against the oppressing force. Because of this people are able to relate with the text making it forever relatable, which is why it is one of the Anime greats.

References

Shambrookblog. (2018, October 16). An Incomplete History of “The Akira Bike Slide”. Retrieved from https://the-avocado.org/2018/03/28/an-incomplete-history-of-the-akira-bike-slide/

Chu, H. (2018, July 13). Why the pioneering Japanese anime ‘Akira’ is still relevant 30 years later. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/why-the-pioneering-japanese-anime-akira-remains-relevant-30-years-later/2018/07/12/b7577c74-813f-11e8-b851-5319c08f7cee_story.html

Week 12 – Reality TV

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

The beginnings of reality TV were rooted in a desire to convey real, ordinary life and eventually over time, developed to include a myriad of sub-categories within (Wood, 2004). Tv shows typically included in this category are the likes of news and public affairs programmes, talk shows, entertainment, documentaries, real world events, police or emergency worker drama, and quiz shows. Smith mentions that this development is what we can understand as reality TV cannibalising itself in order to survive (Smith, 2020). This means that reality tv is in a constant space of being reproduced, recreated and reimagined. It also hones in on the dilution of the genres authenticity as more remaking occurs. Because people can easily change the channel or switch off the TV, the entertainment factor of reality TV is a pillar to its success in longevity. So it is no wonder that new reality tv concepts are constantly being thrown at us. Wood points out that despite the ongoing reformation and reversioning of reality tv, that many people view reality tv as a genre in itself (2004). As a viewer, I don’t think we consider shows in regards to their sub-genres when picking a programme to watch. We see reality tv as an umbrella term, and associate it with the presence of ‘real people’ or ‘real life’, as opposed to the type of entertainment the show is providing (dance or singing competitions, house makeovers, cooking shows, dating shows, etc). Entertainment and what people are interested is constantly fluctuating, so to understand reality tv as an umbrella genre, leaves a space open for it to continue changing.

References

Smith, P. (2020). Reality TV (part one) Recorded lecture.

Smith, P. (2020). Reality TV (part two) Recorded lecture.

Wood, B. (2004). A world in retreat: the reconfiguration of hybridity in 20th-century New Zealand television. Media, Culture & Society.

Week 3

Week 3 Questions – Tintin

Why might the queering of Tintin offer new life to the series?

Herge wasnt well known for his inclusivity of other cultures and their beliefs, and his depictions of other races were blatantly racist which could be due to his upbringing in a very conservative home. So, especially in today’s political climate, we must look at the text with the death of the author and detach his intended message, and view the text in another context. With this, readers today can enjoy the text without accepting Herges intention with the racist depictions, and readers are able to realise the damage it caused to these communities as the albums were so popular. The “Queering”, of Tintin, is just one way of today’s readers being able to interact and “talk back”, to the text.

These claims that Tintin is either gay or Asexual arent unsubstantiated, as the reader is never shown any romantic interests and the fact that Tintin surrounds himself with only male friends makes a greater cause. He even moves in with Captain Haddock but only as “friends”, which many gay couples used to do to avoid being labelled as homosexual by their peers. The two share an unbreakable bond, where they would risk their lives for each other, and after years and years of adventuring have become each other’s confidants. Tintin also never shares his past life, and according to an article on Business insider, “Tintin never talks about his parents or family, as though trying to block out the very existence of a father or mother. As psychologists will confirm, this is common among young gay men, some of whom find it hard to believe that they really are their parents’ child. The “changeling” syndrome is a well-known gay fantasy…”. (King, 2009)

This topic can be greatly debated, but there is no denying that perhaps subconsciously, Herge was writing the adventures of a closeted gay man, who faces danger alongside his life partner. Or it could just be about two “bachelors”, living the life, travelling the world together, having a blast.

Tintin and Herge, haven’t always portrayed acceptable representations of minorities, and depictions of other races and cultures could sometimes be problematic in today’s standards. Depictions of black and Asian characters always seem to end up as mere caricatures, while Tintin and other white characters are portrayed as the moral compass and heroes, even the Captain who is an alcoholic which is played off as comedy. “Tintin in Congo”, “Recently a Congolese resident in Belgium, Bienvenu Mbutu Mondondo, has litigated to get the album banned, or at least relegated to the adult shelves of bookshops and libraries” (Mountfort, 2012). However, despite the shortcomings of both the author and his series, they remain classics to this day, being enjoyed all over the world, even warranting a Speilberg film adaptation. But as the world moves toward a more progressive outlook, the Tintin albums may fall into obscurity. So by finding new perspectives to look at this text we may be able to interpret the new meaning behind the text, giving Tintin a new lease on life, exposing the next generations to his antics.

References

Calamur, K. (2016, June 03). Coming to Terms With Tintin. Retrieved November 6, 2020, from https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/06/tintin/485501/

King, R. (2009, January 07). Breaking: Tintin Gay. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/2009/1/tintin-revealed-to-be-gay?r=AU&IR=T

Mountfort, P. (2020). Tintin, gender and desire. Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics. https://doi.org/10.1080/21504857.2020.1729829

Mountfort, P. (2012). ‘Yellow skin, black hair … Careful, Tintin’: Hergé and Orientalism. Australasian Journal of Popular Culture, 1(1), 34-49. https://doi.org/10.1386/ajpc.1.1.33_