With the new release of the book The Sopranos and Philosophy by Richard Greene and Peter Vernezze, pop culture is once again being closely examined.
Putting TV shows and philosophy together in a book is not a new concept. Already, Open Court have published books on "The Matrix", "The Lord of The Rings" and "The Simpsons" and all have been big hits among their respective fandom, but one book that stands out from the rest is Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy.
Published in 2003, the book demonstrates the philosophical reflection that comes from watching Buffy. Because of its brilliant writing, here was a show worth thinking about. It is not a stretch to say that our thinking about philosophy is always going to intersect with popular culture.
Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and its spin-off series Angel, said the academic attention given to his show is "a little surprising," but he said pop culture should be taken seriously, not trivialized.
He went on to say, "Popular culture is a thing on its own that needs to be examined very carefully, very philosophically. If someone has a Nietzschian bias or a Freudian bias or any kind of bias that they want to put Buffy into as a mold, it's legitimate."
At the same time Whedon, who said he had not read any of the Open Court series, cautioned against getting too carried away with pop culture scholarship.
Right now, students are sitting in college classrooms around the country, studying where "The Simpsons" fits into modern philosophical thought or analyzing how "The Sopranos" follows in the Shakespearean tradition.
It's the stoic scholars' worst nightmare: pop culture invading academia.
"Pop culture is a study of everyday life," said Charles A. Coletta Jr., an instructor of popular culture at Bowling Green State University. "It reflects what people are interested in. You could learn a lot about American history by knowing what people were watching."
The trend of incorporating popular culture into academic courses has arrived at UNC. Lawrence Rosenfeld, professor of communication studies, teaches a class using Buffy the Vampire Slayer to study interpersonal relationships.
"It's more realistic in its depiction of relationships than most shows on television," he said.
But using movies and television programs as a way to gauge society is one thing: Both mediums are still reasonably young and have understandable value in observing and critiquing society. Literature is another beast altogether, and appeasing the literary community often requires an effort of mammoth proportions.
Leslie Wilson, the executive director of Americana: The Institute for the Study of American Popular Culture, said, “"Popular culture is democracy and capitalism at its finest -- it's about making money," Wilson said. "That's why the careful study of pop culture tells us so accurately what the hopes, dreams, needs and desires of the people were in any particular historical moment."
Roll over Shakespeare…..
To purchase Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy, edited by James B South, go to Amazon and for those in the UK, visit Amazon UK
Sources: Daily Tar Heel and Mercury News |
