Entertainment TV and Politics

1. Entertainment TV and Politics Holbert (2005): Study of media & politics focused on news Entertainment/News divide disappearing Entertainment “media provide compelling descriptions of a public world that people cannot directly experience” Beavers (2002): but some scholars believe TV has had a negative impact on civic engagement

2. Cultivation Research • Violence in the media • Influence attitudes about crime • Reduce trust in society • Sex roles • Family values • The importance of Fictional media • Priming and Framing of issues • Women’s rights, gun control, the environment

3. Disposition Theory “Audience inputs (i.e. expectations) interact with the message inputs” “To what degree can viewers expect politics …. to be raised during the course of a specific piece of media content?” Are they seeking political entertainment? What type of political message is being delivered (explicit, implicit)? Message, messenger, and target’s expectations

4. Holbert’s Typology

5. Traditional Satire: audience expects political messages Situational Comedy Satire: subtle, less frequent political messages and audiences expect this Lifeworld Content: no overt political messages, but subject matter may still deal with political topics Fictional Political Dramas: Overt and underlying political messages

6. Political Docudrama: presenting lifeworld issues, but not imbedded in a political environment. Reality Based Content: COPS, documentaries frequently have explicit political statements Talk Shows: political candidates as guests, audience now expect such guests and brief discussions of politics. Soft News: entertainment news, may touch upon public affairs Entertainment Events: political statements during the Oscars.

8. A Serious Cartoon • Why should we take this cartoon seriously? • Woodcock (2006) serious references • Lord of the Flies/Das Boat • Plato’s Republic • The Eighteenth Amendment • Pulp Fiction • Dr. Strangelove • Holbert: relevance of Lisa Simpson is as important as the professional norms of Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, or Peter Jennings”

9. The Simpsons and Political theory Schaap defines learning political theory as being ‘about acquiring a vocabulary that enables one to reflect more critically and precisely about the terms on which human beings (do and should) co-operate for and compete over public goods, symbolic and material’ (Schaap, 2005, p. 46).

10. Springfield and Democracy • Springfield is a model of deliberative democracy (p. 193) • Equality in votes • And “equal and effective opportunity to participate in processes of collective judgment” • Examples? • Lots of public meetings • The media is accessible • Social Capital - organizations

11. Plato’s Republic and The Simpsons Episode They Saved Lisa’s Brain In the absence of the mayor, ‘a council of learned citizens shall rule in his stead’ Rebuild this city on a foundation of reason What decisions should be made by experts what decisions should be made by the common citizen? A serious critique of Plato’s Republic

12. The West Wing Award winning Purpose is not accuracy, but profit In what ways is the show inaccurate of true politics in the West Wing. One sided depiction of the right wing Size of the offices 90% of what happens is pure boredom Health of the President?

13. The West Wing But the show goes beyond sound bites Shows us that the presidency is more than one individual Beavers (2002): West Wing presents a “more human face” of the president In real life we are only exposed to politicians thru their parroting of slogans

14. The West Wing Holbert (2005): presents a “humanized version of our heroic president” and that this “romantic rendition of presidentiality may restore a sense of idealism to politics” Three different roles of the president, chief executive, political citizen, private citizen. Primes audiences to have a favorable view of the presidency (and perhaps Democrats) Also could spark interest in politics

15. Wrapping up the course Is film and politics a relevant topic for a course in political science? Franklin and Coyne seem to believe so, why? Politics surrounds the making of movies (censorship, regulations, controversies, protests) Films (TV) have subtle and overt political messages Exposes us to ideas, concepts, information we may not normally be exposed to

16. Film and American Politics Franklin asks if film can influence our behavior Coyne asserts that films are made to influence our attitudes and behavior Provide us with morals, inspire us, make us afraid Regardless of whether films influence our attitudes or behavior, they may be a glimpse of our society at a certain point in time

17. Teaching Film and Politics • Ideological objectivity? • What have we not covered? • Foreign films • Documentaries • Social movements (civil rights, gay rights, women’s movement) • Recent films (Golden Age of American Cinema) • What movies would you recommend?

18. Final Exam • Located on Course Webpage • http://faculty.unlv.edu/kfernandez/film.htm • And WebCampus • Due Mon. 12:10pm, May9th. • Electronic copy (place your last name in file title, e.g. fernandez_midterm.doc)