Mike McKenny

In just over a decade during this century, there have been some telling examples of a changing socio-cultural paradigm. In 2011 alone there have been various examples of an established model of information/social control being thrown into disrepute. From the “Arab Spring”  to the exposure of underhanded tactics in tabloid journalism leading to the toppling of one of its flagship titles, the News of the World . These instances stem from a complex network of changing socio-cultural values and changing systems of information control either resulting in, stemming from, or simply being part of, disruptive new technologies. Within this movement, this essay will look at one specific example of a rigidly established system, mainstream education , being aggressively called into question in the light of shifting thought processes brought about by the relatively new and disruptive popular technology of videogames.
Ian Bogost (2005) made an impassioned assertion that videogames should be used in education with the revolutionary consequence of overthrowing the current hierarchical system. After laying out Bogost's agenda, what he is proposing will be investigated for how it reflects the works and thoughts of Marshal Mcluhan, as spelt out in his book Understanding Media (2003 – first ed 1964). The complex relationship betwen technology and society will then be examined through Thomas Hughes’ (1989) views on the evolution of large systems, which falls into the Actor-Network Theory school of thought.

Here is another essay that I completed for my MA several years ago now. Having read back through it, I see a fair few things I'd have written slightly differently, and recognise where I have made efficiency savings on the word count, where there really should be a bit more to back up some claims and bold statements.

But I do think it still makes a clear enough argument about Meek's Cutoff's (Kelly Reichardt) position as anti-genre, not simply subverting conventions of the Western, but using its recognisable semantic genre elements in order to demystify its syntax, and reject binary oppositions prevalent within it.

It is the intention of this essay to examine exactly why, in the face of increasing Hollywood synergy and box office control, are film festivals not only still in existence, but constantly growing in number. Cinephilia will be underpinned as the driving force behind finding and presenting films ‘other’ to the dominant model, by constantly reinventing itself to ensure that cinema remains fresh, injects its contemporary landscape with a love of moving images and challenges any attempts to push corporate or nationalistic agendas over the artistic merit of film. This cinephilia will be shown to manifest itself in the specially curated programmes found in the film festival network, or in film societies, such as Amos Vogel’s Cinema 16. This network of cinephile-driven curation and programming goes further than simply creating an unrelated counter-system to the dominant Hollywood mode; it enters into a neo-Gramscian system of counter-hegemony whereby it can influence other forms of more populist film production and distribution, which ensures that the cinematic landscape remains innovative, as well as avoids becoming trapped in cultural ghettos. This process will be set against the changing socio-cultural values at several key points during the history of the film festival. Within these changes, the rise of postmodernism will be foregrounded, specifically using Jean-Francois Lyotard’s (1979) declaration that emerging non-linear ‘little narratives’ are gaining increasing influence over cultural production compared to established, fixed and linear ‘grand narratives’.

This undergraduate dissertation from 2009 postulates that videogames are an exemplary postmodern medium, as per an understanding of postmondernism garnered from the writing of Jean-Francois Lyotard and Jean Baudrillard.

It elaborates that the medium can illustrate Douglass Kellner's postmodern appropriation of neo-Gramscian hegemony, and contributes to a growing understanding of a participatory culture.

Hideo Kokima's Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001) is analysed as an example of a postmodern text within the medium.

Another post from my 2011 repurposing of some undergraduate research on the Superhero Myth and popular culture for the film website Hopelies.com.

This post looks specifically at Captain America as a case study of the tradition within superhero narratives of reinterpretation and reinvention within different times and socio-political contexts.

Once again, this is quite dated, but should still hopefully be of interest and use to some.

p.s. It's interesting how opinions change over time. My assertion that The Dark Knight is in 'another league' to other superhero films does not stand.

In 2011, I broke down a piece of undergraduate research on superheroes, myth, and popular culture.  This slightly re-purposed, more informal and accessible version appeared on the film website Hoeplies.com, who were gracious enough to give it considerable coverage. Although the content is dated, there will hopefully be some things of use to those interested in the study of superheroes and popular culture
This post looks specifically at the proximity of 9/11 to the rise of the superhero on film, and how it may have informed their reception throughout the last decade

In 2011, I broke down a piece of undergraduate research on superheroes, myth, and popular culture.  This slightly re-purposed, more accessible version appeared on the film website Hoeplies.com, who were gracious enough to give it considerable coverage. Although the content is dated, there will hopefully be some things of use to those interested in the study of superheroes..
This post situates superhero films within notions of genre cinema and its mythic potential, with regards to theories outlined by the likes of Barry Grant and Roland Barthes

In 2012, I broke down a piece of undergraduate research on superheroes, myth, and popular culture.  This slightly re-purposed, more accessible version appeared on the film website Hoeplies.com, who were gracious enough to give it considerable coverage. Although the content is dated, there will hopefully be some things of use to those interested in the study of superheroes..

This first one is a simple intro laying out the posts to follow

In just over a decade during this century, there have been some telling examples of a changing socio-cultural paradigm. In 2011 alone there have been various examples of an established model of information/social control being thrown into disrepute. From the “Arab Spring”  to the exposure of underhanded tactics in tabloid journalism leading to the toppling of one of its flagship titles, the News of the World . These instances stem from a complex network of changing socio-cultural values and changing systems of information control either resulting in, stemming from, or simply being part of, disruptive new technologies. Within this movement, this essay will look at one specific example of a rigidly established system, mainstream education , being aggressively called into question in the light of shifting thought processes brought about by the relatively new and disruptive popular technology of videogames.

Bill Nichols opens his book Blurred Boundaries: Questions of meaning in contemporary culture by stating: ‘A variety of evidence... points to a pervasive hunger for information about the historical world surrounding us. But our hunger is less for information in the raw than for stories fashioned from it' (Nichols 1994, ix). This essay is going to focus on this development with reference to the drama documentary as a format in which supposedly ‘true’ or ‘real’ events are embedded into an emotionally engaging fictional story in order to project their significance to a wide audience that may not necessarily want to be lectured through the form of a traditional documentary. The drama documentary can use this engaging, dramatic vessel as a way of revealing an issue in the world that has very real ramifications for people’s lives. Bahman Ghobadi’s 2009 film No One Knows About Persian Cats (NOKAPC) will be investigated for how it utilises some of the techniques revealed in earlier incantations of the drama documentary. It will be revealed how Ghobadi uses this film to raise some of the repressive issues of life in the Iranian capital of Tehran.

The digitisation of information is having a profound impact on many spaces throughout the creation, distribution and consumption of media. This essay is going to look at the specific ways in which these changes are impacting the film industry, with a focus on the growth of online digital distribution. Regarding this paradigmatic rethinking of the industry, Patricia Zimmerman, in her essay ‘Digital Development(s)’, states that: 'Independent narrative film needs to perhaps be rethought as a form of cinema that moves across different platforms and through different audiences and economies, rather than the more static model of a feature length film on celluloid that plays in theatres and film festivals' (Zimmerman, 2004: 214). There are two major things of note in this statement. The first is an emphasis on ‘rethinking’, as previously established and accepted processes change, along with technological and/or cultural developments. The second point of note is to consider the notion of ‘Independent’ in this changing landscape. Combining the two, a consideration will be placed on how independent film production, as a much smaller and therefore nimbler system than large scale studio production, can better take advantage of these changes, and how, through this process, previously marginalised voices will benefit. In order to put into perspective these changes, the points that Chris Anderson (editor of influential technology magazine Wired) makes in his book The Long Tail: How Endless Choice is Creating Unlimited Demand (2006) will be considered. Yet first, because Anderson’s approach is very much akin to what Yochai Benkler proposes in Wealth of Networks (2006), his propositions will be examined.

In just over a decade during this century, there have been some telling examples of a changing socio-cultural paradigm. In 2011 alone there have been various examples of an established model of information/social control being thrown into disrepute. From the “Arab Spring”  to the exposure of underhanded tactics in tabloid journalism leading to the toppling of one of its flagship titles, the News of the World . These instances stem from a complex network of changing socio-cultural values and changing systems of information control either resulting in, stemming from, or simply being part of, disruptive new technologies. Within this movement, this essay will look at one specific example of a rigidly established system, mainstream education , being aggressively called into question in the light of shifting thought processes brought about by the relatively new and disruptive popular technology of videogames.
Ian Bogost (2005) made an impassioned assertion that videogames should be used in education with the revolutionary consequence of overthrowing the current hierarchical system. After laying out Bogost's agenda, what he is proposing will be investigated for how it reflects the works and thoughts of Marshal Mcluhan, as spelt out in his book Understanding Media (2003 – first ed 1964). The complex relationship betwen technology and society will then be examined through Thomas Hughes’ (1989) views on the evolution of large systems, which falls into the Actor-Network Theory school of thought.