In the twenty-first episode of The Pop Culture Lens podcast, Christopher and I welcome friend of the podcast Shane Tilton, an assistant professor of multimedia journalism at Ohio Northern University, to discuss filmmaker Wes Anderson by focusing on his films Rushmore and Moonrise Kingdom.

In this episode, our conversation focuses on whether or not to apply the concept of auteur to Anderson, given the common themes and stylistic traits of his films. While Shane and Christopher had different ideas as to what constitutes an auteur, both agreed that Anderson can be considered one. The discussion of his auteurship focused on his literary geek chic, his focus on issues of masculinity, and his tendency to create simulations of reality that are just to the left or to the right of the real world.

I also make the argument that labeling Anderson as an auteur serves not only academics and critics but marketers as well, who want to manage audience expectations in order to increase a return on investment.

I’m cynical that way.

If you want to follow Shane and his research, then you can do so via his Twitter account. As always, you are encouraged to become a part of this conversation by visiting any of the podcast’s social media sites. You can also talk with Christopher Olson on Twitter (@chrstphrolson) and at his academic blog seemsobvioustome.wordpress.com. And you can talk to CarrieLynn Reinhard on Twitter (@mediaoracle) and at her website www.playingwithresearch.com.