Description
Book SynopsisThis anthology examines the constructions of intelligence and intellectuality in popular television and the socio-cultural implications of those constructions. It considers the complexity of popular television images, the influences of these images as they both verify and vilify intelligence, and explores a range of representations of intelligence on television by looking at a variety of TV genres and through a variety of theoretical perspectives and methods. Topics range from broad explorations of patterned representations on television to examinations of particular genres, including science-fiction and reality programming, to in-depth analyses of specific programs such as The Simpsons, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Six Feet Under. This book is grounded in the assumption that knowledge and intelligence are currency in the economics of power and that, given that the proliferation of certain images and the relative absence of others in fictional, reality, and fact-based media play an im
Trade ReviewThe book fills a gap in the study of popular television and provides in total or in part some valuable material for students of cultural studies. -- Kathleen Collins, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York * Communication Booknotes Quarterly, April-June 2009, Vol 40, No 2 *
Table of ContentsChapter 1 Table of Contents Chapter 2 Introduction Part 3 Surveying Smarts on the Television Landscape Chapter 4 1 The Social Construction of Modern Intelligence Chapter 5 2 Representations of Intelligence on Prime-Time Television Part 6 Social Class, Gender, and Youth Culture Chapter 7 3 Class and the Intellectual inThe Simpsons Chapter 8 4 Keeping the Intelligent Woman "In Her Place" Within the Patriarchal Social Order: Containing the Unruliness of Genius Brenda Chenowith Chapter 9 5 "And I Haven't Beed a Nerd for a Very Long Time"—Intelligence and Subjectivity inBuffy the Vampire Slayer Chapter 10 6 Is School Cool? Representations of Academics and Intelligence on Teen Television Part 11 Scientists and Science Fiction Chapter 12 7 Sexy Nerds: Illya Kuryakin, Mr. Spock, and the Image of the Cerebral Hero in Television Drama Chapter 13 8 Brains in Service of Brawn: The Scientist/Soldier Dynamic in Science Fiction Television Chapter 14 9 Priming Science Attitudes in Fictional Presentations:The CSI Effect Part 15 Talk Shows and Reality Television Chapter 16 10 Media-Constructed Anti-Intellectualism: The Portrayal of Experts in Popular US Television Talk Shows Chapter 17 11 Portrayals of Intelligence in Reality Television Chapter 18 12 "Faking" Intelligence? Representing Intelligence in TLC'sFaking It Chapter 19 About the Authors
