Current Cases in Mass Media and Popular Culture 1.Use recent ideas about the sports industrial complex to analyze the Colin Kaepernick, athlete protest controversy.
How do you see the mass media and popular culture responding to this “crisis in hegemony?” What key terms can you use to make sense of what we are seeing? What about representation of race, class, and gender?
2.Lots of recent TV and Film seems to blur the taken for granted categories of race, class, and gender, or some may simple reproduce the stereotypes and traditional forms of dominance. Choose a show or movie, and describe how you see the race, class, and/or gender representations as either hegemonic or counter-hegemonic, and why. How do they open up or shut down new possibilities for complex person hood?
3.In the political realm, and the news cycle, we see the supreme court controversy and mass protests and arrests over the Kavanaugh appointment, allegations of rape, and his record of 83% of the time voting against the public interest. Where do you see the media leaning right/conservative, supportive of the Drumpf presidency and pick, or where do you see the media leaning left/progressive, calling into question the various trends under this regime? You may also choose the #metoo movement in the news, or the separation of families and immigrant detention centers as they are appearing in the news.
