Chris Olson and I kick off the In Media Res theme week to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who. This piece, with a wonderful video produced by Chris, is based on the conference paper we recently presented at MPCA. You can see the post and the video via “I AM the Doctor”: Polysemic rhetoric and non-traditional audiences in Doctor Who | In Media Res. Tune … Continue reading Doctor Who Theme Week @ In Media Res
“I AM the Doctor.”: Polysemic rhetorical flexibility and non-traditional audience reception in Doctor Who By Christopher J. Olson, DePaul University & CarrieLynn D. Reinhard, Dominican University This paper was presented at the MPCA 2013 Conference in St. Louis, Missouri. This is the longer version of the presentation, and thus it represents are full current thoughts on this topic. Taking a methodological stance that combines political economic … Continue reading “I AM the Doctor.”: The Historical Trajectory of Doctor Who
It was quite a busy day yesterday on the My Little Pony Facebook page. Hasbro announced the release date for the Equestria Girls movie (on DVD this Tuesday! which makes it the widest release!) as well as the toy line associated with the spin-off.
As I have been tracking since the beginning of the marketing for the spin-off (starting here, then here, and here), there has been a lot of displeasure among the professed fandom of bronies, to both the movie and the toys. The amount of in-fandom fighting has been particularly keen on the representation of the ponies as quasi-humans, and the new toy line only drives home the pony/human hybrid that has been created by Hasbro. The criticisms range from anorexic to sell-outs to disingenuous — with very little voiced reflection as to whom the toys are actually meant. (Hint: it is not the bronies.)
Continue reading “Equestria Girls: Displeasure Among Bronies”
Dialogue may be considered to be a session of give-and-take that occurs with relatively short turnaround time — one person speaks, then the other person responds, leading to the first responding to the second’s responses, and so forth. The time lag between the first person speaking and then speaking again is the consideration for the length of time the second person speaks. Such an exchange occurs from between two people and becomes decidedly more complex as the number of participants is added, as in a focus group setting.
When we talk about dialogue in terms of the relationship between the media audience/user and the media industry, we are talking about how the one speaks to the other, and the other listens and responds. The dialogue can result in the opinions of the audience/user influencing the content of the media texts because the industry has incorporated the opinions of the audience/user.
I wrote this week’s Dr. Geek piece for Clearance Bin Review on the recent implementation by the big five ISPs in the United States — AT&T, Comcast, Verizon, Cablevision and Time Warner — of a new “educational program” designed as a warning and punishment system to stop people from engaging in peer-to-peer filesharing of copyrighted material. Since the media conglomerates have not been able to … Continue reading Corporations Ploy to Educate Online Pirates
CBS is no newcomer when it comes to experimenting with giving their audience a more interactive experience with their television programming. As I’ve discussed elsewhere on this blog, the television network in the past had offered their audience a chance to engage in social interactivity while watching their favorite shows online. The network had structured online spaces to become chatrooms wherein viewers could congregate and talk amongst themselves while watching the show — and earlier versions of these virtual living rooms even permitted the viewers to superficially engage with the content via reactions and trivia.
Continue reading “CBS, Hawaii Five-O and Content Interactivity”
We’ve been contemplating acquiring a 3D printer at my university for pedagogical and research purposes. As part of this contemplation, I have had to learn more about the technology and uses of desktop manufacturing. And in doing this, I began thinking about how the diffusion and integration of 3D printing into everyday life could change our culture and society. If desktop publishing helped begin the … Continue reading 3D Printing: The end of consumerism?
