Wheel of Fortune‘s ableist tendencies are endless. I’ve previously written about some of these here. But its ableism extends in other directions, too. Back in August of this year, I made a social media post focusing on Vanna and wrote:… Read More ›
media
Notes on Flawed Characters vs. Flawed Scripts
I often aspire to help my students realize the difference between flawed characters and flawed scripts, but recently realized I had sometimes neglected to apply this notion to my own cultural criticism. My thoughts about How To Get Away With… Read More ›
Big Business and the Media that Facilitates Its Lies, Chick-fil-A Edition
In September 2019, Chick-fil-A opened its first location outside of the United States in Toronto, Canada. The problem — this is a lie. Chick-fil-A actually opened its first location in Canada in the mid-1990s but was unsuccessful. Chick-fil-A attempted another,… Read More ›
What’s Happening at NBC Entertainment?
NBC Entertainment currently has a number of high-quality, status-quo-challenging programs. As previously written, in its twenty-first season now, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit brings attention to the systemic problem that is sexual violence. In contrast to rhetoric spoken and… Read More ›
Yes, you should have free speech on Facebook.
Please read and then share my latest publication: “Yes, you should have free speech on Facebook“ found on History News Network. Thanks! Dr. Andrew Joseph Pegoda
Alex Trebek. Aunt Becky. Not Your Friends.
Parasocial relationships form easily. Carefully-scripted and highly-rehearsed, people see fictional characters people on their screens from the comfort of their homes and almost naturally come to believe they really know and very much like them. People are not able to internalize that… Read More ›
How To Get Away With Murder as Propaganda
I have previously written about ABC’s How To Get Away With Murder here and here. With the current season, I am growing more and more frustrated because of the constant twists (within twists, within twists, within yet more twists), the very… Read More ›
Notes on: The Hate U Give (2018)
It is impossible to be unarmed when our Blackness is the weapon that they fear. The Hate U Give (2018) is a powerful movie. Its ultimate power stems not so much from its indictment of institutional and systemic racism but from its… Read More ›