Television Series Research Articles

The Stalinist Soviet Union in the Disney Animated Cartoon Tale Spin

Abstract The Disney animated cartoon television series TaleSpin was released in 1990, at the end of a decade that started with an escalation of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, and ended in the abolition of nuclear weapons, which foreshadowed the eventual downfall of the USSR in 1991. This “adventure-plus comedy” American series successfully combines sources not only from within the studio (the 1967 Disney animated version of The Jungle Book), but also from adventure films outside the studio (Casablanca, Indiana Jones movies), and most interestingly, it weaves in a harsh parody of Stalinist Soviet Union. TaleSpin effectively captures the complex political climate of the 1980s–1990s by presenting the conditions of high Stalinism (mass repressions, executions, and show trials) in the military state Thembria with her Thembrian inhabitants, the anthropomorphic warthogs. The essay explores the characteristic topoi of Stalin’s Soviet Union in the series with an overview of US–Soviet relationship and the general perception of the USSR in the United States in the 1980s. The essay argues that the American image of the USSR established in the 1930s–1950s was extrapolated to post-Stalinist periods of Soviet history and was still prevalent in the 1980s, thus shaping the conception of Thembria and the Thembrians. (ÁLK)

Analysis of South Korean Class Conflict Revealed by Elements of Lies and Violence in Cinema - Parasite as an Example

Since the implementation of neoliberal economic policies in South Korea in the 1990s, the huge gap between the rich and the poor has become a phenomenon, an acute social issue, and a frequent topic of film and television series, which has stimulated a series of topics and discussions critical of capitalism and anti-neoliberalism. This paper examines the class conflicts that exist in South Korean society in the context of the neoliberal economic system. It explores the representation of class conflict and the gap between rich and poor in South Korean film and television productions. This paper applies a case study approach to the film Parasite, through reviewing its narratives and the analysis of mise-en-scne, it deals with the elements of lies and violence to illustrate the class conflicts in South Korean society. The findings of this study highlight the presence of a severe class conflict in South Korean society, which is reflected in the immoral behavior of the lower-class characters in Parasite, as well as in the violent declaration of war within the lower class and towards the upper class.

Analysis of discourse conflict through Turkish television series: Sample of Hacı

Rather than seeing the world as it is, individuals prefer to see it as they wish it to be. Beliefs, feelings, thoughts, and assumptions affect the way they view the world. This situation, according to Althusser, occurs under the influence of the ideological order. Ideologies attempt to describe and interpret the world by making claims or assumptions about human nature, historical events, facts, and future possibilities.Hegemony is all about power relations; which group is dominant and which group is subordinate to the other group. It is indispensable to consider this, as power relations are central to human behavior and where it is.It is not difficult to understand that the tension between ideology and hegemony are not abstract macro forces. It is also possible to see examples from the daily life of people. It helps to explain this tension between the openness and closure of television texts and the practices of coding or decoding. In other words, people engage in hegemonic struggles through common sense in their daily lives and force textual ambiguity.The purpose of this essay is to discuss the relationship between the secular and conservative discourses in Turkey and their representation in one work of popular culture. The research begins to be analyzed by establishing a method from Althusser's perspective, as the media is one of the most effective Ideological State Devices in many parts of the world today. By looking at various branches of the media and the practices used, it is almost possible to understand which discourse is dominant in Turkey and how it is done to prevent the other discourse. In this context, in terms of flexible limitations, the 'Hacı' series, which is one of the examples that explains the difference between RSA and ISA very well for the general and society, was chosen. The limited number of TV series that glorify Islam, such as Hadji, shows that the ISAs of the conservative discourse are not strong enough to outweigh the secular discourse. This is a sign that the dominant discourse in Turkey is almost completely successful in naturally eliminating dissidents. In this context, the study constituted an important research in terms of contributing to the literature on how the dominant discourse is constructed through the media.

Commodified Death as the Ultimate Outcome of Social Inequalities: An Analysis of the Squid Game Discourse

This paper explores how death is represented in the popular Netflix television series Squid Game. While death is an overarching theme in this series, there is one feature of its storytelling that sets it apart from other fictional deadly games’ televisual or cinematic franchises. Indeed, Squid Game depicts players implicitly consenting to die if they lose the game. This narrative is centered on the deep vulnerabilities that come from social inequalities and create conditions in which death can be staged as merchandise to be sold or bought for entertainment purposes. This paper describes and analyzes how the implicit consent to death was portrayed as the ultimate outcome of social inequalities, as a commodity, and as an object of leisure. We will conclude the paper by discussing the implications of exposure to this discourse during leisure.

Awareness, reflection and imagination: how the metatheatrical explores the self and society in contemporary storytelling

ABSTRACT Building from the authors’ own experiment, the conception and creation of Watchlist (Vickery-Howe, 2020), this article interrogates metatheatricality in contemporary theatrical works: How Not To Make It In America (Steel, 2021) and Destroyer of Worlds (Lewis, 2015) and recent television series: Kidding (Holstein, 2018–2020), Landscapers (Sinclair, 2021) and Wakefield (Dunphy, 2021-). It will argue that these works represent a significant movement into alternative, meta-dramaturgies wherein the characters portrayed, and the worlds they inhabit, exist behind a porous and fragile fourth wall, through which they may wink at their audience – not so much stories within stories, but stories reflecting stories.

The “Witch” Prototype in Fairy Tales and Its Reflection in Turkish Television Series: Example of Yasak Elma Series

The “Witch” Prototype in Fairy Tales and Its Reflection in Turkish Television Series: Example of Yasak Elma Series

Cultural Awareness in Pre-Service Early Childhood Teacher Training: A Catalogue of British Cultural Elements in Peppa Pig

Foreign language teaching should integrate the culture embodied in the target language. However, raising cultural awareness does not systematically produce the intended effects when considered an integral component in the teaching context. This quantitative research study focuses on creating a catalogue featuring elements representative of British culture in the animated television series Peppa Pig as part of pre-service early childhood education teacher training in English as a Foreign Language (EFL). This prompts the examination of the potential of Peppa Pig to not exclusively enhance EFL proficiency but to foster a comprehensive understanding of British culture for non-native speakers. Eleven pre-service teachers at the University of Cádiz, Spain, analysed the 52 episodes of Peppa Pig’s season 1 and classified all elements into 13 categories, according to the Qualitative Text Analysis approach. To minimise differences between evaluators, each element of each episode was only checked if at least three evaluators agreed; therefore, 1050 elements were identified, with 501 elements verified in 48 of the 52 episodes. The resulting catalogue contributes to selecting the most significant Peppa Pig’s season 1 episodes concerning British culture elements. The major limitation of the investigation may be the fatigue experienced by the evaluators.

Pogranicze w ogniu (1992–1993) von Andrzej Konic, eine historische Fernsehserie als Kulturtext oder als Versuch, den „heiligen Krieg“ in der polnisch-deutschen Geschichte der Jahre 1917–1939 zu rekonstruieren

This article attempts to present the television series as a distinctive text which can persuasively and therefore effectively appeal to contemporary viewers, providing them with an insight into the events of a predefined period of Polish and German history, arousing certain emotions and thoughts or, in a general sense, even making them reflect on the history of both nations. With its attractive storyline based on, among other things, the dramaturgy of the presented events, this type of series can be perceived, to some extent, to be part of contemporary historical narration.

I fucking love you! Emotional address in Fleabag, or how viewers’ empathy becomes voyeurism

Abstract This paper examines the effects of emotional language and telecinematic direct address in the BBC television series Fleabag (2016–2019) on viewers’ empathetic engagement, showing how multimodal narratives can invite empathy. In this series, direct address, often used to create intimacy with the audience, is the vehicle through which the eponymous protagonist shares or does not share her emotional states with those within or outside the diegesis. This way of communicating her feelings, I argue, shapes and intensifies viewers’ potential empathetic engagement in different ways throughout the series. In particular, I explain that the way in which Fleabag recurrently uses expressive language, most prominently swear words, while addressing the audience, initially invites viewer’s empathy in Season 1, before a stylistic shift in Season 2 eventually redefines this kind of emotional address: at the end of the series, viewers’ empathy is disinvited, positioning them as unwanted voyeurs.

The Magic of Media and Culture

The Magic of Media and Culture

Magic and Spells in <em>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</em> (1997-2003)

Magic and Spells in <em>Buffy the Vampire Slayer</em> (1997-2003)

Conjuring Up a King

Conjuring Up a King

"I Love Every Part of You"

"I Love Every Part of You"

Art Is Magic

Art Is Magic

The Goal Is For You to Get Better: Comparing the Representations of Biomedical and Mental Health Treatment in the Television Series Bates Motel

The current study explored the representation of biomedical treatment and mental health treatment in the television series Bates Motel. We used a sample of episodes from the fourth season of the series to create a set of codes inductively. We did this to answer two research questions about the topics of conversation and verbal expressions with character dialogue. Results revealed the distinctions in topics of conversation and verbal expressions by examining dialogue between either the biomedical patient and mental health patient and a conversation partner. Appendix A shows a detailed listing of episodes coded. Results also showed that communication was more hopeful and agreeable in the biomedical settings, more procedural (or direct), worried, and urgent in the mental health setting. In both settings, we found communication was caring between provider and patient. Future research should expand on this small yet important sample, even considering smaller samples of episodes as case studies of media representations of health settings.

Anglo-American Fan Studies and Their Impact on the Development of Popular Culture in the Twenty-First Century

The aim of the article is to reveal the main stages of the research of fans in fan studies discourse and analyse the evolution of fan culture development that took place in the 21st century. Results. The article demonstrates that a separate scientific direction is dedicated to the study of fan communities in the Anglo-American academic environment — fan studies, which went through three distinct periods in their development: deviation, resistance (20th century), and mainstream (21st century). In the cultural aspect, the concepts of “fanatic/fanaticism” and “fan/ fandom” are distinguished. It is shown that Anglo-American fan studies define fan culture as an expressive lifestyle of fans of a certain cultural phenomenon or of a bearer of a certain cultural tradition, and in the last two decades, the fan studies direction, where fan culture is connected with fandom, has been intensively developing. It is stated that fandom is a self-organised community built around shared pleasure from a certain product of cultural industries in the digital media environment, and a fan is considered as a person who invests his time, energy, and money in interaction with a media product that is the object of his interests. The scientific novelty consists in determining the methodological status of the concept of “fan culture”, revealing the role of fan communities in the creation of popular culture in the 21st century. Conclusions. Fans began to play an active role in the processes of cultural creation, thanks to their creative work, there was a transition from passive consumption of mass culture products to active production of works of popular culture. Fan culture as a special community and environment of joint creative work among fans of literary works, television series, comics, and computer games, blurs the difference between consumption and production, becoming a vivid phenomenon of popular culture.

‘Fast-paced,' ‘snakey' and ‘commercial': How American student audiences make sense of representations of journalism in fictional television series

This study set out to understand how student audiences make sense of fictional representations of journalism in television series. To do so, we conducted five focus groups with American students. First, participants expressed a need for more diversity in representations of journalism in terms of narratives and characters as they see fiction as a complementary source of information on the profession. They relied on non-fictional reference media, normative journalistic discourses, and if applicable, experiences with working in (school) newsrooms to make sense of these representations. Second, they discussed how public opinion on journalism is influenced by fiction and consequently fear that one-sided and stereotypical representations of journalism contribute to increasing the already low levels of mistrust in U.S. news media. This fear was also found to be gendered as the participants expressed concerns about the stereotypical representation of female and minority journalists as “bitchy” and “promiscuous.” This manuscript puts forward journalism fiction as a metajournalistic discourse in which non-fictional and fictional journalism blur in confounding ways.

What role does Entertainment-Education play in the adoption and maintenance of sustainable behaviours: a case study of reusable coffee cups in millennials

ABSTRACT Entertainment-Education interventions can be influential communication strategies to help facilitate audiences to live more sustainable lifestyles. Understanding the process of influencing viewers’ behaviour is essential to further design and enhance Entertainment-Education interventions. This current research uses focus groups to explore the role the first season of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s television series, War on Waste, played in encouraging an uptake in reusable coffee cup behaviour in Melbourne’s millennial generation (people born between 1982 and 2000). The results indicate the investigative style, local context and joint-learning experience were all elements that promoted reusable coffee cup behaviour. Millennials described this behaviour as being more widely adopted – compared to other behaviours shown in War on Waste – because it aligned with their lifestyles, was considered ‘easy’ and projected their environmental values. This case study aims to provide practitioners with a useful framework that can be applied to broader Anthropogenic issues to generate behaviour change at scale.

AIRA: An Intelligent Recommendation Agent Application for Movies

An intelligent Recommendation App has been developed to assist caregivers. This project's primary objective is to assist parents in determining whether a particular movie/cartoon/drama is adequate for their children by providing ratings that will assist them in identifying age-appropriate content. This application will provide reliable evaluations, reviews, and recommendations to parents. Each rating and review are based on fundamental, essential child development principles. Intelligent Recommendation Agent aids families in making intelligent media selections. It provides the most extensive and reliable database of learning ratings, age recommendations, and content evaluations for films, television series, and dramas. In addition, there will be a list of abusive words from the content with its subtitles so that parents can identify appropriate content for children. By limiting their child's exposure to violent acts, parents can play a positive role in their child's life by using this application. Movies with positive role models can also have a positive effect on children.

Superman as the Measure of All Things: Black Gods and White Saviours in Watchmen and Doomsday Clock

Abstract While the groundbreaking graphic novel Watchmen (1986) responded to Cold War paranoia with a nihilistic critique of a benevolent God, recent spinoffs have taken radically different approaches to race and Christology in the Trump Era. Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ original Watchmen has spawned two unlikely and unauthorised—by Moore, at least—quasi-sequels in different media: HBO’s limited TV series Watchmen (2019), created by Damon Lindelof, and Geoff Johns and Gary Frank’s graphic novel Doomsday Clock (2020). Like estranged siblings, HBO’s Watchmen and Doomsday Clock take the same source material in opposite directions. HBO’s Watchmen explores themes of racial justice by foregrounding 1921’s Tulsa Massacre and vesting Black characters with divine power. In contrast, Doomsday Clock departs from the original Watchmen’s cynicism about cultural and political change, embodying its message of hope and renewal in a white saviour. This article contributes to the growing body of literature examining how pop culture circulates Christological concepts by exploring the racial and theological significance of two of DC Comics’ most iconic characters—Superman and Dr Manhattan. I examine how Black theologians conceptualise Christology, discuss the deistic portrayal of Dr Manhattan in the original Watchmen, analyse the character’s incarnational iteration in the television series, and contrast this with how moral influence Christology underpins the relationship between Superman and Dr Manhattan in Doomsday Clock to show that superhero comics in particular, and pop culture more broadly, are crucial sites of Christological imagination and negotiation over race.