Entertainment Studies 2004 Abstracts
Entertainment Studies Interest Group
From Toronto to the World: Rush’s Rhetoric of Oppression and Liberation • Brett A. Barnett, Bowling Green State University • Extending the literature on the rhetoric of music, this paper discusses the rhetorical nature of songs produced by the Canadian band Rush, a genre largely ignored by communication scholars. Through an intrinsic analysis of a sample of songs appearing on the band’s most recent greatest hits album, this essay demonstrates that Rush’s hits tend to alternate between the complementary themes of oppression and liberation, thus providing a potential source of catharsis and inspiration for listeners.
The Assertive, Sexual Woman: “Sex and the City” and Attitudes toward Non-Traditional Women • Mary B. Bradford, University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa • This study explores the relationship of viewing sexual programming and attitudes about females in traditional and non-traditional roles. Participants who reported more frequent viewing of “Sex and the City” were more likely to give a higher rating of an assertive, sexual female and a lower rating of a traditional female. Similarity to the characters on this show was also positively related to ratings of the assertive female and negatively related to the traditional female.
TV Fans as ‘Outlaws’: An Examination of Audience Activity and Online Fandom • Vic Costello, Elon University; and Barbara Moore, University of Tennessee at Knoxville • Self-described fans (N=755) of particular television programs were asked to respond online to a question about their use of the Internet for keeping up with a favorite television program. The authors analyzed textual responses to this question for patterns and themes related to audience-centered theories of television-viewing activity. The results reveal a thriving, interpretive community of ‘outlaw’ fans in search of others with whom to communicate and share the experience of a favorite television program.
Wild Watching: Fans’ Reaction to Televised Sports in a Movie Theater • Michael D. Dorsher, University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire • This study examines how fans like watching a sporting event telecast in a movie theater compared to watching similar games live in the arena, on TV at home, or on TV at a bar or restaurant. The study deduces eight hypotheses from the literature and tests them with a self-administered survey completed by 190 respondents at two National Hockey League telecasts in a movie theater. The data support six of the eight hypotheses: Male and female fans alike preferred watching hockey on TV in a movie theater over everywhere else-better even than watching it live in an acclaimed arena.
“America’s Top Model Meets The Bachelor on an Un-Real World”: Examining Viewer Fascination with Reality TV • Cynthia Frisby, University of Missouri at Columbia • One hundred and ten people were asked to participate in a two-part study on the effects of watching reality television. Each participant was asked to complete a uses and gratifications survey and then return in ten days to watch a popular reality TV program. The focus of the study is to test two hypotheses about the effects of viewing reality television: (a) reality show viewing will be positively related to social comparison gratifications and the viewers need to make comparisons with the guests and situations, (b) regular viewers will report greater affect and enhanced mood after watching a show than non-viewers. Results provided support for both hypotheses. Viewers watch reality shows because watching them allows viewers to imagine what they would do in an extreme situation and this comparison results in enhanced mood.
Constructing the “ideal” wife: An analysis of the representation of women in the reality television show, The Bachelor • Amanda S. Hall, University of Georgia • Grounded in cultural studies, feminism and ideology, this study seeks to gain an understanding of how women are represented and how the “ideal” wife is constructed on season four of the reality television show, The Bachelor. Textual analyses of each episode (9) were conducted to discern how female participants on the show were represented. Findings support the notion that heterosexual relationships as portrayed on the show support the private-public binary between men and women.
Fireworks, Bobbleheads, and Free Hot Dogs: Promotions’ Effect on Minor League Baseball Attendance • Thomas Kim Hixson, University of Wisconsin at Whitewater • Game promotions in minor league baseball are implemented mostly to increase attendance, but little research has examined these promotions and their effect on attendance. Commonly held assumptions regarding game promotions are often the basis on which promotion decisions are made. Attendance data was collected from 1231 minor league openings and matched with game promotions. Overall, game promotions significantly increase attendance; however, surprisingly few significant differences were found in attendance when comparing game promotions.
Still a Man’s Game: Gender Representation in Online Video Game Review Content • James D. Ivory, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • Despite the popularity of video games, the medium is still less popular among women than men. One reason for this may be that representations of female characters in video games remain geared toward a male audience. This content analysis used online video review content to investigate both the prevalence and depiction of video game characters. Female characters were found to be both underrepresented and proportionally more often sexualized in comparison to their male counterparts.
Suspense as the Function of Subjective Probability Estimations • Mina Lee, University of Alabama • Suspense is an internal affective status, responsive to suspense evoking material such as a film or a novel. This study suggests suspense evoking can be described as the function of subjective probability of the final resolution. Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954) was used and participants were asked repeatedly to estimate of their belief of the main proposition of the film. The results supported the idea of subjective probability is involved in the suspense evoking mechanisms, by showing that there is significant correlation between a subjective probability and suspense rating and the subjective probability explains a unique portion of suspense rating in regression models. The results are discussed in the context of situational representation construct.
Portrayal of Older Characters on Children’s Animated Programs • Tom Robinson and Caitlin Anderson, Brigham Young University • This purpose of this study was to determine how older characters are represented, portrayed and displayed in children’s animated television programs. A content analysis of five networks was conducted providing 45 hours of programming and 121 different episodes. The results indicate that older characters, while predominately portrayed in a positive manner, are underrepresented and shown with a variety of negative characteristics including angry, senile and crazy, ugly, overweight, toothless and slow moving.
Liking Them Bad: Positive Affective Dispositions Towards Villainous Characters • Meghan Sanders, Pennsylvania State University • Most research using disposition theory as a driving force have dichotomized characters as protagonist and antagonists, with the latter being deemed as the recipient of negative sentiment. Prior research suggests villains can be the recipient of positive sentiment and hence become attractive to the viewer. This study explored the relationship between personality characteristics of and attraction to villainous characters. Results showed that various personality traits allow us to have different reactions to villains but that these reactions are also filtered by our own dispositions.
‘Here Baby, There Mama, Everywhere Daddy Daddy’: Legal Challenges to the Rock-Musical ‘Hair • Jim Sernoe, Midwestern State University • The controversy over the play Hair led to a series of attempts to prevent its performance at theatres across the country in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These censorship attempts in turn led to a series of cases around the country, primarily in the South, culminating with a 1975 Supreme Court ruling in Southeastern Promotions v. Conrad. This paper examines the cases in depth and speculates as to the reasons for the legal and cultural clashes.
Drama in the Ring and on the Ice: An Exploration of Atom Egoyan’s Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) Television Productions • Marsha A. Tate, Pennsylvania State University • Film director Atom Egoyan’s oeuvre includes two CBC television productions—the 1986 hour-long drama, In This Corner and the 1993 made-for-television movie, Gross Misconduct. This essay examines several aspects of the productions that challenged the normal conventions of 1980’s and 1990’s television along with critical and audience reaction to them.
(R)evolution Of The Television Superhero: Comparing the Portrayal of Superheroes in Superfriends and Justice League • Kevin D. Williams, University of Georgia • Using Mike Benton’s four characteristics of a superhero (costume, powers, secret identity, and altruism), a superhero cartoon from the 1970s, Superfriends, was compared against a superhero cartoon airing since 2000, Justice League. Comparisons were made to examine how American cultural values have changed in the last 30 years. A final statement is made discussing how these superhero narratives were metaphors for American power in the historical periods in which they aired.
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