Film and Media Studies Commons^™

Through Their Eyes: An Analysis Of Misrepresentation In Popular Lesbian Television Narratives, Delana Janine Price

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this thesis is to explore lesbian television narratives that shape popular discourse. My goal is to find and expose the implications of monolithic expressions of queerness through both queer and heteronormative presenting television narratives. This exploration of the queer narrative voice addresses three distinct movements of cultural production: the proclaimed self-represented queer television narrative, the connotatively queer heterocentric television narrative, and the queer narrative produced in fan-based literature. For concision, I focus on the popular television dramas The L Word and Rizzoli & Isles, as well as the fan works produced for the latter. Through the lens …

Slasher Films And Self-Harm: A Relationship Of Self-Hatred And Trauma, Stevie Lee Steers

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This paper’s purpose is to look at slasher films and the potential relationship of trauma and self-hatred that these films hold to adolescents aged 14-20 who commit self-harm. The type of self-harm examined in this paper is cutting and the films that will be studied will have to be from 1979 to 1989, which is the “golden age” for slasher films. The films that will be studied are The Nightmare on Elm Street series, Hellraiser series, and Friday the 13th series. This paper will be using multiple literary lenses to discuss how slasher films convey trauma and self-hatred and how …

The Floating Head Of Feminism: The Domesticated Domain And Erasure Of The Female (No)Body In Contemporary Television And Cinema, Alicia Brooke Turner

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The Floating Head of Feminism is a project that seeks to examine the concept of the abject as that which disobeys borders and blurs boundaries and to subsequently look at this conception through female-coded artificial intelligence. The AI abject is the part of the self that is cast off or removed so that one can claim an identity, which the abject, in turn, threatens. I discuss the importance of the female-coded AI’s digital embodiment in virtual spaces, and this idea is expanded on through an examination of the science-fiction film genre. This thesis serves to reveal the relationship of resistance …

Some-Ness In No-When: Queer Temporalities In The Horror Genre, Melody Hope Cooper

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

In my research, I question why heteronormative society is afraid of the elements of horror films that are inherently queer. My focus is on temporal understandings of horror through the concepts of queer time, as theorized by Jack Halberstam and the theory of the abject, as presented by Julia Kristeva. I examine the relationship between queer time and heteronormative time. The abject serves as the return of time without identity or defined by binaries. Queer time is the time that will destroy heteronormative time’s conception of itself. This then relates to the horror that is created by the queering of …

Media Narratives And Drug Prohibition: A Content Analysis Of Themes And Strategies Promoted In Network News Coverage, 2000-2013, Maria M. Orsini

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Illicit drugs and drug users have been criminalized and stigmatized in social life and in mass media for more than a century in the United States. Researchers have reasoned that media accounts have contributed to the social construction of drug use as deviant behavior. Depictions of drugs and drug users which utilize alarmist rhetoric have been prevalent in media discourse and have targeted allegedly disreputable populations. The ideology which underpins drug prohibition, punitive public attitudes, and media sensationalism has contributed to the tendency of American society to disallow alternative approaches. This study examines the contribution of televised news broadcasts in …

Mike & Molly -- An Other World, Maureen Elizabeth Johnson

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This thesis explores the impact of the television show Mike & Molly on the modern debate related to fat in America. The thesis uses the work of Michel Foucault as well as disability scholars such as Lennard Davis and feminist scholars such as bell hooks to examine how a comedy show like Mike & Molly can further disenfranchise fat people in society. The thesis shows that fat makes people an Other in society, and television shows and other forms of comedy that mock those who are fat just reinforce that Other status.

Chaotic Angel, Nicole R. Pramik

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Chaotic Angel is a sci-fi/action screenplay that speculates the existence of persons with literal dual natures. Such people are called Doppelgangers – two selves, one person, opposite equals both vying for control. The film’s story focuses on Seraphina Striker, a vigilante, who battles her own personal dark side. Seraphina surrenders to her darker nature when Godric Raven, a notorious gangster, hires her as his personal hitman. But when Seraphina refuses to kill, she partners with a federal agent to hunt Godric down. But every step towards Godric is drenched in deceit; soon even trusted government figures are no longer be …

The Commodification Of Tragedy: A Critical Examination Of Contemporary Film, Harold Dawson

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The commodification of tragedy is an examination of contemporary film that depicts real events of human tragedy that are imposed on human society. Commodities are the cultural products of capitalist society through which meanings are attached; nationally released film and documentary-style cinematic productions are objects for consumption that presents tragedy as a simplistic and distorted spectacle of simulated reality. Titanic, United 93, and We Are…Marshall! share the conspicuous traits of distortion in historical facts through fictionalization of the event and reduction of complexity carried out by the entertainment industry.

Accent, Linguistic Discrimination, Stereotyping, And West Virginia In Film, Teresa L. O’Cassidy

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This study examines connections between accent, linguistic discrimination, and stereotyping in portrayals of West Virginia film characters. Ten films featuring West Virginia characters were examined for accent and stereotyping: The Right Stuff (Kaufman, 1983), Matewan (Sayles, 1987), Blaze (Shelton, 1989), The Silence of the Lambs (Demme, 1991), October Sky (Johnston, 1999), Hannibal (Scott, 2001), A Beautiful Mind (Howard, 2001), The Mothman Prophecies (Pellington, 2002), Wrong Turn (Schmidt, 2003), and Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! (Luketic, 2004). Coders were employed to score character accents. Stereotyping data was gathered by comparing portrayals with stereotypical traits associated with Appalachian and/or hillbilly characters. …

Irish Representations In The Films Of Jim Sheridan And Neil Jordan, Jeffrey K. Jack

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This thesis explores four films from "second wave" directors Jim Sheridan and Neil Jordan: The Crying Game, The Butcher Boy, The Field, and The Boxer. In these films, Sheridan and Jordan add complexity to previously static film representations of Irish society and culture. The study analyzes the modifications Sheridan and Jordan make to the cultural and political representations of the "first wave" of Irish films, relating theoretical developments more traditionally used in literary studies, including "postcolonialism" and "postmodernism." It also explores how these four films have influenced more recent developments in Irish cinema, including the recent shifting of the settings …

Race For The Senate–A Content Analysis Of The Campaign Coverage Of West Virginia Senate Candidates Marie Redd And Tom Scott In 1998 And Marie Redd And Evan Jenkins In 2002, Lynne Marsh

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

In the 1998 general election, Marie Redd became the first African American elected to the state senate in West Virginia. In the 5th District Senate race for her seat in the Legislature, Redd overcame the influence of opponent Tom Scott's incumbency, as well as his race and gender. Then, in the 2002 primary election, the freshman senator lost her seat to Evan Jenkins, also a caucasian male and a former member of the West Virginia House of Delegates. Previous research has shown that media treat candidates differently according to their race and gender and researchers have indicated the need for …

Black Or White: A Content Analysis Of Newspaper Coverage Dealing With Nba Players & Race, Daniel Eric Newman

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

A content analysis of The New York Times and The Washington Post was conducted to determine if there were differences in the coverage devoted to African-American and Caucasian players in the National Basketball Association from July 1, 1999, through June 30, 2000.

The study examined 96 randomly chosen articles, 48 from each publication, to determine trends with regard to coverage of each race.

While the hypotheses predicted African-American players would receive more negative coverage than their Caucasian counterparts, the results showed that Caucasian players actually receive slightly more negative coverage.

The results also showed The New York Times is more …

A Content Analysis Of Televised Health News Coverage Within The Huntington, West Virginia Designated Market Area, Leigh Suzanne Hall

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Local media should carefully consider whether or not their health information coverage provides current and useful information to people living within their viewing area. Media play an important role in providing Americans with pertinent health information. As Greenberg and Wartenber (1990) suggest, “American people receive two-thirds more cancer prevention information from television than from their physicians.” Therefore, local television media should make a conscious effort to educate themselves about which health diseases and problems most affect people within their viewing area. For example, people living in Appalachia experience health conditions that are not consistent with those experienced in every region …

A Survey Of Army Reserve Officer Training Corps Instructors To Determine The Importance Of Integrating News Media Training Into The Cadet Curriculum, Kent P. Cassella

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The cover of the November-December 1995 issue of Military Review is emblazoned with the quotation, “We don’t win unless CNN says we win.” This testament to the power of the news media in military operations was given by General John Shalikashvili, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and was carried on the cover of this professional journal of the United States Army. The implied message in his statement is that professional military officers need to comprehend the power the news media have in a democratic society and their importance for the success of modem military operations.

War reporting …

Standardization, Compromise, Or Specialization: A Content Analysis Of Magazine Advertisements In America And Taiwan, Yi-Fan Chen

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

When researchers studied standardization and specialization of advertising, most of them only focused on comparisons of the cultural influences of the advertisements across the different nations. McCarty (1994) studied the general role in cross-cultural research and international marketing and advertising of several different cultural values, such as individualism versus collectivism: masculinity versus femininity; time orientation, activity orientation and humans’ relationship with nature. Kahle, Beatty and Mager (1994) studied implications of social values for European community communications. Astroff (1994) (1994) studied the language culture use of women in advertising.

Huang (1995) studied the different cultural factors, such as norms and ethics, …

An Experimental Study Of The Effects Of Army Recruitment Television Advertising On High School Seniors, Jeffrey A. Dean

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

In order for Army recruiters in the Appalachian region to effectively reach their target audience through television advertising, they must know which segment within the overall stated target audience of high school seniors between the ages of 17 to 21 are most likely to be influenced by Army recruitment advertising. Recruiters must also determine the type of programming preferred by the primary target segment to enable recruiting messages to be placed in programming where it is likely to have the most impact and achieve maximum frequency of exposure among the most receptive audience.

A Survey To Determine How The Media Affected Operational Security Of The 1st Armored Division In Bosnia, Stanford E. Angion

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study is to survey the commanders and public affairs officers who were mobilized and deployed to Bosnia in 1995 with the U.S. Army’s 1st Armored Division as part of Operation Joint Endeavor, for their views about how they think the media affected their units’ operational security. Many articles have been written concerning the adversarial relationship between the military and the media, but little scientific research has been published on the effects of the media on military operational security during times of conflict. This study will build on the research previously conducted by Capt. John B. Snyder …