#genremixing

In the readings for this week, the authors discuss how genre, content, and visual form can work to heighten social critique and surpass expectations. While animation and cartoons are typically thought of as shows made for a child audience, shows like the Boondocks and the Simpsons are able to work within this visual form and challenge traditional assumptions. In Rex Krueger’s Aaron McGruder’s The Boondocks and Its Transition From Comic Strip to Animated Series, the author explains that “the Boondocks chooses animation as its medium for much the same reason The Simpsons does: potentially dangerous and inflammatory subjects can be explored from multiple angles and with a freedom that traditional sitcoms do not have” (Krugger, 324). With that said, the Simpsons and the Boondocks are able to repurpose the frivolous nature of cartoons to serve a new agenda. Even as the shows remain in a 2-D form, the multi-layered narratives, characters, and cultural references open up this genre to an adult audience. “By breaking away from the limitations of the sitcom and cartoon genres, both shows achieve ‘situational realism’, where the social and political environment the characters live in is more realistically depicted” (Krugger, 325). In Jason Mittell’s Cartoon Realism: Genre Mixing and the Cultural Life of The Simpsons, The Simpsons and the Boondocks make references to contemporary culture, which works to mature the intended audience and while challenging them to deal with issues that often cease to exist within traditional sitcoms and animations. Ultimately, The Simpsons and the Boondocks laid the groundwork for other adult cartoons to emerge. 

(via: https://analyzingtv.wordpress.com/2016/03/01/archers-narrative-structure/)

As new forms attempt to challenge traditional conventions, narratives within these shows have been under criticism. The Simpsons have been criticized for being “anti-family”  while the Boondocks has been criticized for perpetuating black stereotypes. When the animated comedy, Archer, emerged, people criticized the show for its sexist portrayal. Yet in the same fashion that the Simpsons and the Boondocks work within the context it wished to critique, some argue that “the sexist attitude of the show's protagonist encourages us not to sympathize with his opinions but to view his arrogant, dismissive behavior as the object of our ridicule.” While the narrative within Archer doesn’t appear to be self-critical, the show still works within 2-D animation to challenge assumptions and norms.  In the same way, Family Guy has also worked within traditional forms of animations while commenting on aspects of our culture. Even though the show has been criticized similar to other adult animations, the show includes current issues of contemporary culture such as women protesting against misogyny depicted below. 

(via: https://www.tubetoon.com/video/womans-sexist-protest/)

Works Cited

Jason Mittell (2001). “Cartoon Realism: Genre Mixing and the Cultural Life of The Simpsons” in The Velvet Lightrap, pp. 15-28.

Animated television series are notably deserving of analysis as shows like The Boondocks and The Simpsons have complicated how realism and cultural references are presented to complex audiences.  Rex Krueger noted in his article that The Boondocks series has exceeded expectations with its “formal elegance and narrative complexity” (Krueger, 2010). The dense plot, controversial contemporary topics, and exciting visuals has allowed for the show to garner success while demanding critical attention. Krueger describes the show as more of an appropriation from the original comic strip rather than an adaptation. The primary reason for this conclusion is how the show appropriates elements from other sources in order to adapt. The show also utilizes cultural references that straddle the line of universality and currency. Furthermore, I think the idea of cultural references that give expected media literacy from audience and award them for being cultural conversant is especially relatable in my media consumption. For example, throughout high school I wanted to become a doctor so I took biology classes and even shadowed a surgeon at a hospital. I became avid Grey’s Anatomy fan, a medical drama focusing on the world of surgeons. I enjoyed watching the show because i was able to understand the references made in the surgical scene pictured below. The doctors would gather around and use human biology terms and names of certain equipment that I could put meaning to and get the feeling that I was right there at the surgical table.  Although, Grey’s Anatomy has been critiqued for not being an accurate representation of a surgeon’s life, people in the medical field are a large portion of series’ audience probably because they are awarded for knowing many of the cultural references. This relates back to The Boondocks and The Simpsons as they are able to make universal references to racism in America or the danger of nuclear power plants.

Picture 1: Source

Another aspect that makes these references successful in regards to universality and currency,  is their speculative quality and how they envision the future. A definitive example of this seen in Picture 2, The Simpsons episode where Trump becomes President, aired 16 years before the actual 2016 election.  Although quite an eerie speculation, The Simpsons took the culture of glamorized politics and the involvement of the media to construct this potential reality of a TV star taking office. The episode, with the clip of Trump that can be found here, displayed a scary and bleak political reality that was quite difficult for the characters. Working as a parallel to The Simpsons use of speculative cultural reference, Krueger also notes that, “When The Boondocks uses current events and popular culture, these elements must be re-envisioned in the series’ universe, because direct commentary would lag too far behind the actual event.”

Picture 2: Source

In Jason Mittell’s article, he also notes how through the display of the cultural life and the use of genre mixing along with various other textual and formal decisions, The Simpsons achieves a high standard of realism. Mittell claims “genres as culturally circulating set of practices that work to categorize television texts and link together various cultural assumptions” (Mittell, 2001) I thought this point was particularly interesting as it includes an essence of changeability with the times and the understanding of the versatility of cultural assumptions. Another related article by Mittel, “A Cultural Approach to Television Genre Theory”, brings up more interesting points about how the medium fits into his analysis of genre mixing. Mittell lays out his 5 Principles of Cultural Genre Analysis. The first principle is:  “Genre analyses should account for the particular attributes of the medium.” (Mittell, 2001) This reminded me of the new Black Mirror season coming out this year. One episode, as cited in this article, is incorporating a “choose-your-own-adventure” option in which the audience can decide alternative endings based on the decisions they make for the characters. Black Mirror has mixed the genre of suspenseful drama with the video game medium. This is a clear example of Mittel’s argument that medium distincion is becoming increasingly blurred. The attributes of both television dramas and video games must be taken into account when looking into the components of genre within this particular Black Mirror episode.

Jason Mittell (2001). “Cartoon Realism: Genre Mixing and the Cultural Life of The Simpsons” in The Velvet Lightrap, pp. 15-28