Amy Bree Becker is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at Loyola University Maryland. She researches political comedy, new media, public opinion, political engagement, and science communication. Views expressed are her own.
Last Popular Culture & Politics Class: I am a Pole and So Can You
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Well the semester is FINALLY over and I'm happy to report that we had A LOT of fun in my new seminar, Popular Culture & Politics. While the 2012 election didn't provide quite as much entertainment as the 2008 Sarah Palin fest, we spent some quality time talking about SNL's new Barack Obama (Jay Pharoah), Mitt Romney style, and Stephen Colbert's Super PAC - Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow.
We tried to keep up with the various viral videos and comedy appearances that popped up during the election cycle. Here are some highlights:
Lena Dunham's First Time:
This one's not political but it did help us talk about Saturday Night Live:
Barack Obama's appearance on The Daily Show:
We concluded class with the reading of Stephen Colbert's I Am A Pole and So Can You, his childrens' book endorsed by the late, great Maurice Sendak.
As someone who follows political polls, I enjoyed the page about becoming a Gallup poll but I'll admit that my students found the option of a stripper poll a bit more amusing.
We also took a look at Stephen Colbert's interviews with Maurice Sendak that originally aired on the program back in January of 2012. Here's our favorite clip:
Jon Stewart's mug graces the cover of the latest issue of Rolling Stone. Highlights from the interview with Stewart are available on the Rolling Stone web site along with a fun gallery of behind the scenes photos . For those who need even more Stewart, check out this video segment with Rolling Stone Executive Editor Eric Bates: Some highlights from the Rolling Stone interview: Stewart says that the Daily Show has a lot in common with Fox News. "We are both reactions to the news and to government," he says. "We're both expressions of dissatisfaction. Obama has been a disappointment to Stewart. "He ran on this idea that the system and the methodology are corrupt," he says. "It felt like the country was upset enough that he had the momentum needed to re-evaluate how business is done. Instead, when he got elected, he acted as though the system is so entrenched that it has to be managed rather than – I don't want to say decim
Aasif Mandvi, Daily Show correspondent offers a funny piece on the Republican war on science. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes , Political Humor & Satire Blog , The Daily Show on Facebook The science fair kids in the video certainly seem a lot smarter than the GOP nominees featured in the beginning of the video or Noelle Nikpour, the Republican strategist. I'm putting my money on the kids and science.
There's a great article in today's New York Times about the influence of SNL during a competitive election season. As we've been learning in my TSEM class(Popular Culture and Politics: Comedy, Entertainment, Celebrity, and Democracy) this semester, journalists and the public alike look to the cast of SNL to offer their parody version of each general election debate. Parody is a reinterpretation of an original text -- a mockery that is easier to understand if you're familiar with the original event or script. According to the SNL writing team, this past Wednesday's debate failed to offer genuine comic inspiration. From the NYT article: "But the debate itself turned out to be a challenge. There were no big gaffes or obvious springboards for comedy. Instead, the first debate of this election offered up a blizzard of policy details and a lackluster performance from President Obama. At home Wednesday night, Seth Meyers, one of the show’s head writers, watch
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