Talking Smack: Verbal Aggression in Professional Wrestling

The current study presents the results of a content analysis of the verbal aggression found in 36 hours of televised professional wrestling. The coding scheme was adapted from the National Television Violence Study and past research on television verbal aggression. Results show that an abundance of verbal aggression occurs in televised professional wrestling, with swearing, competence attacks, and character attacks being the most common types. In addition, the primary motives for verbal aggression use are amusement and anger. Furthermore, verbal aggression tends to be communicated and received by White, male individuals with no clear dispositional characteristics. The results are discussed in terms of potential effects of exposure to the verbal aggression found in professional wrestling.     

December, 1966, meeting of the executive committee of CSSA

Throughout its multiple seasons, the language on Fox's Family Guy has been the subject of criticism, foundation reports, and even lawsuits. The show's creators assert that the language used in the show simply provides satirical social commentary; others believe the language is inappropriate for broadcast television. This study investigated the presence of derogatory language in Family Guy in order to make an argument regarding the potential cultivating effects of such language when presented in an animated format. The study found that derogatory messages were present in roughly 9% of Family Guy scenes and that correlations existed between the types of characters that were the senders and recipients of derogatory messages and the types of messages transmitted.     

Hallucination as epistemology: critiquing the visual in Ken Burns’ The West

A quantitative content analysis of 1,055 television ads reveals that male voiceovers outnumber female voiceovers 4:1. As has been the case for decades in television, a man is much more likely to serve as the disembodied and objective voice of authority, expertise, and reason. However, a woman's voice is twice as likely to be heard if her body is also represented on screen. Based on that finding, the authors argue that scopocentric sexism influences when and how gendered voices are presented. A woman's relative agency, her recourse to “voice” in both the literal and metaphoric sense, is conditioned by her visual presence. After completing the quantitative content analysis, a qualitative textual analysis was conducted on a subsample of ads in order to explore relationships between voice and body at a finer-grained level. The study provides an important update for critical ad research concerning voiceovers and is the first that systematically compares voice and body data. The authors conclude by presenting ideas for integrating critical sound research into media literacy curricula.     

Subscribing to Governmental Rationality: HBO and the AIDS Epidemic

Between 1987 and 2013, HBO produced or distributed over twenty HIV/AIDS programs. These films trace a cultural shift from an early focus on AIDS as a public health issue to be dealt with through individual “safe-sex” practices and ethical citizenship to a later focus on AIDS as a global pandemic where the explicit strategy becomes a reliance on non-state actors to combat AIDS. This article argues that HBO's HIV/AIDS films are embedded within a cultural approach to AIDS that relies on governmental logics and neoliberal solutions – not direct action, but directing action.     

Television Teaching: Parody,The Simpsons,and Media Literacy Education

This paper examines televisual parody as a media literacy educator, and the potential of parody to channel the powers of comedy and entertainment in order to “teach” the techniques and rhetoric of televisual texts and genres. It focuses on the case of the hugely successful and popular animated parodic sitcom, The Simpsons, and its playful attack on advertising and promotional culture. Currently in its 16th season, The Simpsons broadcasts to approximately 60 million viewers in 70 countries weekly, offering a playful critique of television from within the television frame.     

Lying and deception detection in television families

This study explores the use of lying and lie‐detection among television families in situation comedies. The findings indicate that (a) lying was prevalent on these television shows; (b) lies to spare others were told most frequently; (c) the majority of lies went undetected; (d) the husband/father character told the most lies; (e) children were the most honest characters in situation comedies and (f) peripheral characters were the recipients of many lies. Two conclusions were drawn from these findings. First, this study gives insight into the content of family communication as presented on television. Secondly', the study suggests television families mirror real families with respect to family structure and the ability to detect deception.     

明末清初红拂剧改编考略

明未清初出现了多部红拂剧作,以张凤翼《红拂记》、凌漾初《红拂三传》、冯梦龙《女丈夫》及近年发现的曹寅《北红拂记》为代表,各剧本之间关联紧密。经比对分析可知,推陈出新是红拂剧改编的轨迹,不同的曲学主张和创作意图是红拂剧改编的原因。围绕红拂剧目的改编与评点,汤显祖、凌淳初、冯梦龙、吕天成、沈德符、曹寅、尤侗等曲作家、曲论家纷纷卷入其中,在曲辞、音律、情节架构、场上案头等方面表达了各自的曲学立场,从中可以窥见明末清初曲学界理论上的分歧所在。     

Investigating Personality and Viewing-Motivation Correlates of Reality Television Exposure

This study investigated the personality and viewing-motivation correlates of reality television exposure. Results from a survey of 592 undergraduates showed that extroversion negatively predicted reality television exposure, whereas neuroticism was not associated with it. Both instrumental (social interaction, information, and arousal) and ritualized (relaxation, pass time, entertainment, and companionship) viewing motivations positively predicted exposure to reality television. A two-stage model by which personality traits contributed to viewing motivations, which, in turn, contributed to the selection of reality television, was tested and offered an adequate fit to the data. Implications for uses and gratifications research are discussed.     

话剧与戏曲的审美差异与文化整合

话剧与戏曲分别以近似生活原型的“白话”形态和以程式化为特征的“曲”的体式而体现出两“求真”与“求乐”的审美差异。这种审美差异既与话剧及戏曲所根植的各自的化土壤分不开，也与它们所承载的不同的“形式的意识形态”有关。而同时，作为20世纪中国戏剧化的一种结构性存在，话剧与戏曲从最初的历史遇合、经不断地交流碰撞而必然趋于整合。“整合”并非意味着取消话剧与戏曲各自的艺术本体性，实则表现出两在化交流的意义上的一种逻辑的、美感的协调及功能上的互补。而且正是在化整合所提供的超越差异与对立的立场上，才有可能建立起一种跨越化屏障的共同的戏剧诗学和包容着话剧与戏曲的新的现代戏剧史观。     

电视新闻表达探析

随着社会进步和时代变迁,观众对电视新闻的消费观念也发生了很大变化,电视新闻的服务功能和娱乐功能更加凸显。从讲故事、抓细节等方面,在电视新闻与古今中外其他艺术样式的同质构建和比较研究中,对电视新闻的表达进行探析。