I used to think pretty seriously about getting a Ph.D. in popular culture. (Yes, there are universities that offer such a degree.) The older I get, the less likely that becomes, but I'm still constantly on the lookout for my would-be research topics. My latest research idea has me so excited I felt the need to share it with my little corner of the Internets, in hopes that some current or future grad student will take it and run with it. Because, as the title implies, it is a dissertation I will never write.
Are you ready?
Here it is.
Friday Night Musical: Portrayal and Performance of Cultural Archetypes in Friday Night Lights and High School Musical.
Amazing, no? (Note that all dissertation titles must have a colon.)
Think about this. How are leading male athletes portrayed in FNL (I'm talking about the TV series, not the movie) and HSM (I'm talking mainly about the first movie, but kind of both)? Compare and contrast Matt Saracen and Troy Bolton. How are female ingenue characters portrayed? (Think Julie Taylor and Gabriella Montez.) Also, compare and contrast Buddy Garrity in FNL with the drama teacher in HSM. They both have parallels with Il Dottore, a stock character from commedia dell'arte who meddles in the lives of young lovers (and, apparently, sits atop a Gatorade cooler).
Let's talk about how both FNL and HSM have a coach/dad role who has certain expectations for his child and fairly traditional ideas about masculinity and femininity. Or how both FNL and HSM deal with the tensions between athletics and academics -- and/or the arts. And how both FNL and HSM feature students as performers, whether on the football field, the basketball court, or the stage. Why are they performing? For whom are they performing? What do their performances say?
When I get started on ideas like this, my husband and our friends often tell me how badly I need to go to grad school. Probably so I have an outlet other than rambling on and on to them about crazy things like this. But I have a feeling my "research interests" might not be that well received at an institution of higher learning.
So should I go to grad school? Or should I just stop reading so much into the stuff I see on TV?
8 comments:
No need to spend thousands on grad school... this is why you have a blog!
go to grad school! I think stuff like that is fascinating and it could turn into one of those rare dissertations that appeals to a wide audience (read: book! money! tenure!).
if nothing else, go to grad school so I have someone to commiserate with.
As someone who was A.B.D. with a doctoral dissertation that I never finished on film and mass culture ... I'd say don't go unless you really, really, really want a job in the academy, with all the bullshit that entails.
Don't go if you're just interested in the subject matter. Doctoral work is as demanding and narrow asit gets. You might get a B.A. in English literature because you love to read novels and poetry (and I did) but once you get past the Master's program, no one is having fun. Ph.D. work is not a self-enrichment program.
And then there's the whole jobs situation. I figured that even with a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, I probably wasn't going to get a tenure-track job anywhere I'd actually want to live, plus I have a husband with his own career to think about.
So instead of finishing my dissertation, I became a mooch. And a blogger. And I don't mind. Although I still generate conference paper/article ideas All. The. Time.
YMMV, of course, and far be it from me to rain on anyone's parade!
Man, never expected to see commedia and those shows mentioned in one article. I can't comment much, since while I've seen a lot of commedia, I have studiously avoided the teevee shows.
It's true...it's a fascinating comparison. And it would be interesting to see how the character development between FNL season 1 and season 2 compares with the character development in HSM movie 1 and movie 2. Are there parallels there?
And on a slightly unrelated note, whatever happened to Smash's bipolar girlfriend? Did she just get bad ratings or something? Or can we (the tv watching public) handle murder but not mental illness? I thought the first season was pure genius, but I've found this season to be, well, strange. And yet still completely addicting. :)
I like it! It sounds more interesting than most dissertations I've ever had the *cough* pleasure of reading.
@Josephine Cameron -- I also miss Smash's girlfriend, and also Street. What happened to all the fun characters? Now it's all Riggins all the time, and I like Riggins as much as the next girl, but there are other people in the show.
My husband was considering getting a Ph.D in popular culture--he wanted to do his dissertation comparing medieval morality plays and WWF wrestling.
I say go for it. My school offers a B.A. in American Studies...I took two classes, one about TV and American Culture and the other and Popular Culture, as electives and I wish my program had more opportunities for electives like these classes...but being in a scientific program of the exact opposite type I never had the chance...but once I get my Masters I will try my best to get back to the school and take some more classes. Anyways, I love your blogs on HSM. (oh yeah, my school was UMBC www.umbc.edu)
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