Studying cultural studies has opened my eyes to consume media with a much more critical eye, yet in most cases I am still able to disconnect and enjoy the programming without an overbearing critique. That being said one of the most prevalent changes however is my perception of shows I had grown up watching. Shows like Spongebob Squarepants and Courage the Cowardly Dog, both take on a very different tone now as an adult opposed to when I was a 8 year old watching these shows religiously. Obviously I mature over time but the shows content remains the same. Upon going back and watching sporadic episodes I have begun wondering how the structure of these shows compliment the message (if any) the writers and producers try to convey. Courage the Cowardly dog was morbidly interesting and down right creepy but was built on the common belief (doxa) of mans best friend being the dog and the loyalty that comes with it. Although the love may not always be reciprocated, Courage constantly works to save his owners from the demonic/paranormal tribulations that endanger his home no matter what it cost him or how "cowardly" he proved to be. Spongebob Squarepants on the other hand takes on a different tone but deals with its own share of critical theories to apply, one of the most prevalent being the hegemonic power relation between Spongebob and Mr. Krabs. Mr. Krabs is a cheap money hungry business owner who works to only benefit himself, but is completely reliant on Spongebob to keep his business afloat. This dynamic is addressed in countless episodes and always ends the same, with Mr. Krabs expressing his gratitude for Spongebob just to fall in the same cycle once more. Could that be reflective of the hegemonic power relations in political and economic relations? Who am I to say... but yes.
So although cultural studies has opened my eyes to a wide range of new theories and concepts to apply to the media I consume, I still find myself in most cases able to turn off that critical eye and enjoy. Whether I can say that once the semester comes to an end remains to be seen.
I think you bring up a good point in examining kids shows we all used to watch. In my post I only took a look at recent developments in media, but looking at past shows we revered as children is a good idea. To further the discussion, it might be worthy to look at kids shows today and what kind of messages children may be ascertaining from them. I do not have a child on hand right now so we can put off this investigation for now.
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ReplyDeleteI'm glad you chose to analyze Courage the Cowardly Dog in this post. It was one of the few shows that I watched religiously, although I'm not sure why I did because I was always freaked out, but this reminds me of the Power Puff Girls. The PP Girls were my absolute favorite and now that I'm looking back, I think I loved it for the fact that it was female empowerment. Although female empowerment is great, I'm also reminded of the fact that the show excluded numerous other races and cultures that are non-white. Also the fact that the hill-billy, poor people, gang of guys were villains just feeds into the fact that we are constantly socialized to be workers and follow the American dream. Nice post!
I share a similar effect of studying cultural studies. Whenever I go back and rewatch cartoons that I used to be addicted to as a child, I notice a lot more about the show that I hadn't before. Sometimes it's surprising to see how inappropriate or controversial the show can be, whether it's certain things a character says or how they are depicted in the episode. Certain things we don't really pay attention to, because of our innocent, blissful mind as a child, but when we get older and look back on them it's like, "Wow, I didn't even think twice about the way that character was represented." Sometimes it's not always negative either. There can be a lot of positive messages behind a show that we didn't really appreciate before, but now being more knowledgable about cultural studies, we enjoy it even more.
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