Digital Commons Network^™

The Towering Inferno: Art, Policy, And Legacy, Charles R. Jennings

Publications and Research

The Christian Regenhard Center for Emergency Response Studies, leveraging the expertise of its faculty, staff, Advisory Board and colleagues, has consistently programmed activities focused on high-rise fire safety. The upcoming 50^th anniversary of the film The Towering Inferno was an inspiration.

We decided this would be more lighthearted and less purely technical than many of our events. We wanted to consider both the film, and use it to reflect on the state of fire safety in tall buildings in New York City.

Of course it does not escape us that the topic of fire safety is a serious one, …

Metalepsis And Mental Castration: Doki Doki Literature Club As The Cerebral Monstrous-Feminine, Hannah Graham

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Doki Doki Literature Club! is a horror visual novel masquerading as a dating simulation game. Behind the thin veneer of pretty girls in tiny skirts and tight uniforms lurk horrors, glitches, and metaleptic events that take the player’s battle for agency beyond mere point-and-click interactions. This fight breaches containment to the level of the physical, as the player must literally wrestle for control with an in-game character who has commandeered their entire computer system. Players are led to believe that they are making the decisions that further the plot, but come to learn that in this world, there is no …

A Monstrous [Un]-Becoming: Defining The Final Boy, Rhys Crumpton

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Through an exploration of horror theory, monster theory, queer theory, and disabilities studies, this thesis defines a 21st century archetype within the serial horror narrative, known as “the Final Boy.” This character is a manifestation of a queer, often neurodivergent man in peril at the hands of a monstrous society. This harmful socionormativity is narratively represented by a monster wearing the face of a man, one whom the Final Boy must subdue and overcome if he wishes to survive. The seven tenets found in this project highlight the fluctuating morality the Final Boy is forced to engage in per the …

Reject Modernity, Embrace Tradition: Unpacking Gender Roles In Social Media Performances Of "The Good Life", Lauren Mar

Scripps Senior Theses

What do JD Vance, tradwife influencers, and the “sprinkle sprinkle” movement have in common? They all have something to do with the increasing popularity of an apparent return to traditional gender roles. This thesis is an intersectional investigation of women’s gender roles in relation to class and race as they appear in different performances of “the good life” on social media. Through a series of personal essays, this thesis explores how these media examples represent a deeper political unhappiness with present conditions. This thesis takes the time to unpack the different sides of discourse surrounding each subject, and counters the …

Cashing In Or Giving Back: The Role Of Film Tax Incentives In The Cultural Impact Of Runaway Productions, Karolina Krok

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis explores the internationalization of Hollywood through economic and creative runaway productions driven by international tax incentives. It examines how these incentives can impact not only the commercial but the cultural success of productions filmed abroad, focusing on regions such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, California, New York, and New Jersey. The analysis centers on cultural tests and diversity requirements, revealing two main approaches: the first requires a minimum of diversity standards and cultural tests points to be met, while the second prioritizes and rewards productions with the highest achieved assessment of those. Furthermore, …

"Girl, So Confusing": Tiktok Tweens, Technology, And The Authentic Self, Emily R. Dietrick

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis examines the American tween as a postfeminist subject within the context of youth cultural production on TikTok, responding to the recent resurgence of concern about the young girls’ body in popular discourse. The first chapter will explore the origins of the tween as the marketing industry category previously known as the subteen, particularly through the lens of tween media culture and postfeminist narratives of choice and authenticity in identity formation. The second chapter will analyze the current technological facets of TikTok with attention to the For You page, algorithm, user-generated content, and influencer self-branding. This will demonstrate how …

Empowering Women On Screen: Exploring The Influence Of Female Protagonists On Contemporary Culture And Gendered Enjoyment In Film, Fokiya Akhtar, Azmat Rasul

All Works

A prevalent notion in the film industry across the globe suggests that female-led films may underperform, leading producers to avoid casting women as leads. This fear of alienating male audiences perpetuates patriarchal ideologies, objectifies female bodies, reinforces gender stereotypes, and alters perceptions of femininity. Examining this perception, the present study investigated the impact of the gender of the protagonist on the audience preference, challenging the misconception that exists in the film industry globally that films starring females as protagonists are less commercially successful. The study conducted an online experiment of 434 participants who were assigned different movies starring male and …

Philosophy In Filmmaking: Animation Vs. Live Action, Veronica J. Larson

Honors Program Theses

No abstract provided.

True Crime Podcasts As A Scene Of Feminist Reckoning: A Comparative Analysis Of My Favorite Murder And Sistas Who Kill, Rachel C.C. Matteri

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This research examines the cultural impact and ethical implications of true crime podcasts (TCPs). In recent years, TCPs have become a powerful cultural force, with White women often emerging as the primary storytellers and most visible participants in the genre. Their dominance in this space is not neutral and it carries representational weight. It explores the potential for feminist activity made possible by the auditory, self-publishing genre of podcasting. This work focuses on the buddy-comedy subgenre of TCPs. The concerns of this text are that TCPs are dominated by White feminist values and are not an intersectional feminist project. Textual …

Conceptualizing And Problematizing Inclusion Porn In Education Scholarship And Practice, Justin A. Haegele, Anthony J. Maher

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Faculty Publications

Discourses of inclusion are currently used without clear and consistent meaning and multiple and varied interpretations exist, therefore stunting our ability to enhance or utilize the concept in social justice and education scholarship and practice. In this article, we argue that the ambiguous, conflicting, and contested features of inclusion have opened a door for nondisabled policy makers, academics, practitioners, and other stakeholders to exploit the concept of inclusion by crafting the logics and taken-for-granted assumptions that become associated with it. Accordingly, these nondisabled stakeholders gain social, cultural, and symbolic capital in the fields that they operate, while (some) disabled students …

Voices To Faces: The Midnight Cowboy’S Picaresque Journey, Dave Patterson

Anthós

John Schlesinger’s 1969 film, Midnight Cowboy, tells the story of Joe Buck, a Texan who dreams of working as a hustler in New York. Schlesinger’s resulting tale follows the framework of the picaresque, wherein a naive rube ventures to the big city to pursue a better life and exposes societal ills along the way. In this article, Patterson reveals how Joe Buck’s internal tension derives from his materialism, symbolized as disembodied voices, and his devaluing of human connection and empathy, symbolized as faces. The voices from his radio’s advertisements and game shows reinforce his flawed assumptions about life. A midpoint …

Pathos, Winter 2025, Portland State University. Student Publications Board

Pathos

Editor: Adriana Stanzione

Return Serve: Exploring The Dialogism Of The Australia-China Relationship In Media Coverage Between 2020-2022, Jordan Hogan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Australia and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have a dynamic bilateral relationship that is defined by interdependency and mutual political scepticism. This thesis provides an analysis of Australian and Chinese news media perspectives on this relationship. Via an in-depth examination of opinion pieces from national press, I map the significant developments of a period of deteriorating relations between 2020 and 2022. My study captures the more prominent, parochial and vitriolic media coverage of the unravelling relationship, and investigates the motivations, developments, differences, and similarities in the online publications of Australia’s national daily newspaper The Australian, and China’s Global Times. …

History And The Teaching Of Dialect And Slang In Screenwriting, Mitch Olson, Chris C. Palmer

Faculty Articles

This article explores academic and industry perspectives on the use of dialect, slang, and historical language in screenwriting. It offers a chronological overview of major screenwriting manuals’ treatment of dialect and slang (or lack thereof) 1946-2020. It then presents survey data of 53 currently-practicing screenwriters’ views on working with dialect and historical language in scripts, as well as their sense of possible changes in the industry regarding attitudes towards diverse voice representation on the page. It concludes with examples from a teaching sequence that illustrates strategies for writing with dialect, researching it, and ethically considering its usage in scripts. Situating …

The Reel Narrative: The Portrayal And Consequent Archetypes Of Women In Selected Mainstream Philippine Romantic Cinema, Ma. Beatrice P. Pilar, Nathaniel Rey D. Ferrer

Sinaya: A Philippine Journal for Senior High School Teachers and Students

In Philippine society, media, particularly romance films, shapes and reinforces audiences’ perspectives, perpetuating preconceived notions and stereotypical beliefs. However, there is a lack of textual analysis within Filipino films, especially regarding female representation in media. Hence, our study explores the portrayal of female main characters in romance films. Textual film analysis, grounded in Carl Jung’s Jungian archetypes and Jean Shinoda Bolen’s female archetypes in media, was implemented on the six Filipino highest-grossing romance films from 2014 until 2019. This analysis, further supported by a feminist lens, aimed to identify the character portrayal and archetypes of the main female characters in …

Mula Sa Editor (Disyembre 2024), Rowell D. Madula, Dolores R. Taylan

Malay Journal

No abstract provided.

Mga Kontribyutor Sa Isyu At Panawagan Sa Kontribusyon, Malay Journal

Malay Journal

Ipinakikilala rito ang mga awtor ng mga artikulong nakapaloob sa isyu. Inilalahad din ang mga mahahalagang detalye para sa mga interesadong magsumite ng pananaliksik sa journal.

Ilang Malinaw Na Mga Negatibong Imahen Ng Mga Pilipino Sa Pelikulang Elcano & Magellan: The First Voyage Around The World, Lois Mauri Anne L. Liwanag, Feorillo Petronilo A. Demeterio, David Michael M. San Juan, Rae Alegria Mir C. Ferrer, Jyllan Kyla Roemi Q. Hernandez

Dalumat: Multikultural at Multidisiplinaryong E-Journal sa Araling Filipino

Kontrobersiyal ang Elcano & Magellan: The First Voyage Around the World dahil sa pagtatanghal sa mga kolonyalistang Espanyol at Portuges bilang dakila at magigiting na bayani, habang nagmistulang kontrabida ang paglalarawan sa mga katutubong Pilipino. Gamit ang sosyolohikal na perspektibo ni Erving Goffman sa framing, layunin ng papel na itong suriin ang paglalarawan sa mga Pilipino mula sa nasabing pelikula partikular na sa mga lumabas na negatibong imahen. Sa unang seksyon, matatalakay ang mga eksenang nagtatampok sa Pilipinas at mga Pilipino at titingnan kung tumutugma ito sa naratibo ni Antonio Pigafetta. May pagkakatulad sa pagitan ng pelikula at salaysay ni …

Tradition In Transition: Unveiling Social Realities And Lower-Class Oppression In The Film Nyumbang, Purwoko Ajie, Sri Kusumo Habsari, Raden Roro Ratnasari Dwi Riyanti, Dhelinta Fitri Pramadhanti, Fadhilah Mahanani Saputri

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

The tradition of nyumbang has long functioned as a social safety net within Javanese society. However, modernity has transformed the essence of nyumbang, a shift clearly portrayed in the film Nyumbang. This study investigates how the film captures the evolving discourse of nyumbang and its changing meaning over time. By employing Foucauldian Discourse Analysis (FDA), the research examines into how the film utilises discourse as a tool for both knowledge and power, thereby revealing underlying shifts in societal dynamics. This approach uniquely uncovers the interplay between power structures and cultural practices, aspects that might be overlooked by other …

Not The Absentminded Professor: Autistic Experience And Representation In Academia, Martin Brick

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

While there are many facets of a career in academia that may be amendable to autistics, the discipline also presents a number of challenges. These hardships can be exacerbated by misunderstandings or even discrimination from colleagues and administrator with pre-existing assumptions of autistic behavior erroneously based on media representations. This essay will examine literary and television representations of autistics working in university settings to argue that the nature of such portrayals negatively impacts the popular view of autistic scholars. Comedy is frequently used to highlight social awkwardness and other behavioral deviance, perpetuating Damian Milton’s double-empathy problem.

Attack On Titan Anime Memes: Possible Meanings And Interpretations By Young Adults., Yee-Lin Teo, Sze Seau Lee, Xin Jie Lim

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Memes have unpredictable and diverse interpretations because of their tendencies to be parodies, remixes, or mashups. This study aims to examine the possible meanings which memes may express and the interpretations of memes by young adults within the affinity space of Attack on Titan anime memes. The two-phase methodology involves analysing the memes using Shifman’s analytical dimensions of content, form, and stance, before conducting in-depth interviews with ten young adults who represent insiders and outsiders of the affinity space. The findings discuss how Attack on Titan memes normalise sexualisation, violence, and struggles such as suicidal intentions in young adults. The …

Mundane And Magical: How Studio Ghibli Adapts Female Protagonists Toward Gendered Narrative Reconstruction, Lauren F. Frymire

Masters Theses

This paper explores the literary significance of film adaptations, specifically focusing on Studio Ghibli's adaptations of children's novels. Through examining the themes of self-discovery, transformation, and cultural representation in films like *Kiki's Delivery Service*, *Tales from Earthsea*, and *Howl's Moving Castle*, it discusses how Ghibli’s choice of young female protagonists connects with both their original audiences and broader cultural narratives. Drawing on Carl Jung’s theory of the unconscious, Linda Hutcheon's theory of adaptation, and Mariah Chiara Oltolini’s insights on mass media adaptations, the study argues that these films successfully preserve the "magic" of their source material while offering unique, culturally-infused …

Cim316.2 Major Project Development Example 1, Sae University College

Exemplars

Concept reasoning and planning documentation for major project development.

Students went well beyond the required scope of the project to make their case.

Marvelous Bodies: Italy's New Migrant Cinema, Vetri Nathan

Purdue Studies in Romance Literatures

Historically a source of emigrants to Northern Europe and the New World, Italy has rapidly become a preferred destination for immigrants from the global South. Life in the land of la dolce vita has not seemed so sweet recently, as Italy struggles with the cultural challenges caused by this surge in immigration. Marvelous Bodies by Vetri Nathan explores thirteen key full-length Italian films released between 1990 and 2010 that treat this remarkable moment of cultural role reversal through a plurality of styles. In it, Nathan argues that Italy sees itself as the quintessential internal Other of Western Europe, and that …

Flm320.2 Proper Pre-Production, Sae University College

Exemplars

Collection of student pre-production documents, prototypes, crew evaluations and reflection

Framing Motions: Thoughts On Proximity & Recorded Motions, With A Demonstration Using Moving Image Choreographic Documents, Jodi Kearns, Brian C. O'Connor

Proceedings from the Document Academy

A demonstration of a multifaceted documentation method for combining captured frames of dance motions, a vetted dance notation language set as closed captions, and guiding choreographer notes into a fixed form sufficiently descriptive, creative, and suitable for representing dance in a form that upgrades how legislators think about choreographic works. This demonstration is informed by historic representations of the proximities of still frames in sequence and seeks conceptual proximity to this frame-work.

Conversations With Neighbors, Tatiana Pinheiro

Capstones

Conversations with Neighbors is a series of conversations that aim to explore the depths of our neighborhoods here in NYC. It’s a place where history, culture and location unite to connect with the people and experiences we often miss in plain sight.

Between The Satirical And The Sectarian: Review Of The Film Kneecap (2024), Alan Bradshaw

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

No abstract provided.

What Makes A Great Movie Trailer?​, Bridget Hill

Honors Projects

This research analyzes four case study films across two genres to identify the best tactics used in trailer marketing and editing in order to create box office successful films that attract their identified target audiences. Existing research and a pre-existing interview were used to identify and define these tactics before then applying the strategies onto existing film trailers. The two genres chosen in this analysis include Romantic Comedies and Animated Action/Adventure Family Films. In each genre, a successful and unsuccessful film were chosen then compared against one another to determine if the successful film trailers utilized the previously identified tactics. …

Mixed Race Futurity Through Contemporary Archetypes: Mutants, Cyborgs And Dhampirs, Kobe Jackson

Masters Theses

Analysis of Enlightenment philosphes reveals how the contemporary archetypes, mutants, cyborgs and dhampirs may be situated as sources for understanding mixed race positionality. Arranged on a trajectory of hybrid mythology reaching from ancient times into the present day, their contemporary relevance is put into context. Through modern speculative fiction, historical mythology and the theoretical frameworks of sociology, and philosophy, two tropes are revealed to be imposed roles for mixed race people. The first one, the tragic hybrid is a term which references a character specific to the context of American colonial slavery, the tragic mulatto. By reframing the term, tragic …