Jenkins description of Andrew Slack’s Harry Potter Alliance is truly interesting. Slack started the HPA organization, which uses fan culture as a starting point to achieve some pretty impressive results! Once again I find myself fascinated with the application of pop culture – another way of harnessing that which is popular as a lens to accomplish goals. I found myself trying to imagine ways to adapt popular TV shows, books, and movies, and wondering if there is a fan culture out there for specific college programs/fields. Here are a few matchups (smile) - Durham College Program: Pop Culture Matchup
In all seriousness, immersing into our pop culture is an excellent tool for review of what to do (and what not to do) – if we can make learning more fun, all the better! Having watched the Zombie Apocalypse “documentary” I’m reminded of my own Durham College coursework where we focus on critically evaluating sources (evidence). A documentary is defined as “a movie or a television or radio program that provides a factual record or report” and many students see the word documentary and automatically believe that all content is accurate and truthful. People believe documentaries contain cold hard facts. The truth is, many so-called documentaries are in fact full of misinformation and pseudoscience that can mislead and even harm the consumer. Fake documentaries often present only one side of the story with leading experts (proponents) supporting the theme with their own opinions – this approach demonstrates both confirmation bias and appeal to authority, two of the many red flags discussed in our course. Our own usage of the word documentary in our culture certainly stretches the truth…take a look at this screen snip of the latest Netflix offerings under the “documentary” heading, some are straight up fiction. Week 5 Required Readings: Henry Jenkins. “Fan Activism as Participatory Politics: The Case of the Harry Potter Alliance.” DIY Citizenship. Pp. 65-73. Watch: Zombie Apocalypse (Discovery Channel, 43 minutes): https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=75&v=YdAe18Xvs4Q Recommended further reading: Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore. The Walking Dead #1: Special Edition. Berkeley, CA: Image Comics. (May 2008). Comic book.
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11/19/2016 09:33:43 am
I also find it interesting that the word "documentary" can be so loosely applied in many contexts. I think, like anything else, we have to really think about the fact that these are created from one person's perspective and therefore always have a political slant (whether intended or not). Sometimes the politics is very obvious (like Michael Moore) and other times it isn't, but it is always there. Nothing is neutral, especially when edited and organized in a certain way. This comes back to be critically literate as consumers, and realizing that everything we are presented with comes from somewhere. Just because that somewhere seems credible, does not necessarily make it 100% truth.
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