intercultural final exam do or die set

Media

Communication channels that share information and cultural messages.

Popular Culture

Entertainment, trends, and cultural products widely consumed by people.

Cultural Forms

Ways culture appears in music, film, art, fashion, and entertainment.

Folk Culture

Traditional practices passed down within communities.

Network Media

Connected digital platforms where users share information.

Culture Industry (Adorno & Horkheimer, 1972)

Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Comcast mass-produce standardized cultural goods; theorists warned this makes audiences passive consumers.

Culture Industry Argument (Adorno & Horkheimer, 1972)

Standardized entertainment encourages passive acceptance of dominant ideas.

Functions of Popular Culture (Dustin Kidd, 2007)

1. Generates profit; 2. Establishes social norms; 3. Forms social identities; 4. Maintains boundaries; 5. Creates shared consumption rituals; 6. Enables innovation and change.

Globalization of Popular Culture (Lane Crothers, 2021)

U.S. entertainment circulates globally, but cultural exchange also creates resistance, local adaptations, and hybrid identities.

Cultural Corruption

Perceived damage to local traditions from outside cultural influences.

Cultural Homogenization

Different cultures becoming more alike.

Cultural Imperialism

Powerful societies dominating others through cultural products.

Fragmegration (James Rosenau, 2003)

Globalization simultaneously connects and divides people.

Transnational Media Production (Lee Artz, 2024)

Entertainment created and financed across multiple countries.

Global Media Circuits

International networks distributing cultural products.

Regional Media Circuits

Networks circulating entertainment within a region.

Soft Power (Joseph Nye, 2005)

Influence through cultural attraction rather than force.

Multicountry Cultural Imperialism (Tanner Mirrlees, 2024)

Multiple powerful nations compete to spread their culture.

Global Semicultures

Groups across countries sharing popular-cultural interests.

Diasporic Cultural Identity

Maintaining ancestral cultural ties while living elsewhere.

Hybrid Transnational Identity

Identity blending influences from multiple nations.

Telenovelas

Latin American serial television dramas.

Bollywood

Major Hindi-language film industry in Mumbai, India.

Hallyu/Korean Wave

Worldwide popularity of South Korean entertainment and culture.

Great Firewall of China

Chinese government controls on internet content and access.

Media Hegemony

Dominant interests shaping which media ideas seem normal.

Production Analysis

Studying who creates and controls media.

Textual Analysis

Studying symbols, messages, and ideologies in media.

Audience Analysis

Studying how viewers interpret media.

Encoding (Stuart Hall, 1980)

Producers put intended meanings into messages.

Decoding (Stuart Hall, 1980)

Audiences interpret media through their experiences.

Encoding/Decoding Model (Stuart Hall, 1980)

Media producers encode a preferred meaning, but audiences decode it from their social positions through dominant, negotiated, or oppositional readings.

Meaning Structures 1 (Stuart Hall)

Meanings created by media producers.

Meaning Structures 2 (Stuart Hall)

Meanings interpreted by audiences.

Three Readings of Popular Culture (Stuart Hall, 1980)

1. Dominant: accepts; 2. Negotiated: partly accepts; 3. Oppositional: rejects intended ideology.

Dominant/Hegemonic Reading (Stuart Hall)

Accepting the intended message.

Negotiated Reading (Stuart Hall)

Accepting some of the message but questioning other parts.

Oppositional Reading (Stuart Hall)

Understanding but rejecting the intended ideology.

Positionality in Media Interpretation (Stuart Hall)

Identity and experience influence interpretations.

Representation

How identities and communities appear in media.

Stereotypical Representation

Oversimplified portrayals of groups.

Cultural Appropriation

Using marginalized cultures within unequal power relationships, often for profit.

Cultural Resistance

Challenging dominant cultural messages.

Alternative/Independent Media (Waltz, 2005)

Media practices outside mainstream corporate ownership, offering perspectives independent of multinational interests.

Citizen/Participatory Media (Clemencia Rodríguez, 2001)

Media made by ordinary citizens rather than corporations, including YouTube videos, zines, blogs, vlogs, podcasts, and digital stories.

Participatory Media (Chris Atton, 2002)

Citizen-produced accounts of events that document experiences and challenge mainstream media viewpoints.

Culture Jamming (Kalle Lasn, 2000)

Creative media that subverts mainstream messages and talks back to corporate, political, and symbolic power.

Media Literacy

Critically questioning media creation, meaning, and purpose.

Five Core Media Literacy Questions

1. Authorship: who created it? 2. Format: how made? 3. Audience: how interpreted? 4. Content: what values? 5. Purpose: why made?

Three Steps of Media Intercultural Praxis

1. Critical analysis: question; 2. Informed action: challenge; 3. Creative production: make alternatives.

Critical Analysis

Examining media values, stereotypes, and power.

Informed Action

Acting on critical media awareness.

Creative Production

Making alternative media that challenges dominant messages.

Black Twitter Case (Parham, 2024)

Black online communities shaped hashtags, memes, and cultural representation.

Black Twitter After Musk Takeover (Cottingham, 2024)

Post-2022 platform changes threatened the community through hate speech and reduced DEI efforts.

LGBTQ+ Athlete Representation Case (Colin Grafton & Sean Gunn, 2024)

Athletes publicly came out, highlighting representation and career pressures.

AI and Elections Study (Garcia, 2024)

77% of U.S. adults said tech companies should address election-related platform misuse.

Facebook Criticism Case (Hein, 2024)

Platform criticized for misinformation, deepfakes, privacy, and youth safety.

U.S. Media Consumption Study (Guttman, 2024)

U.S. adults consumed over 12 media hours daily, roughly twice Canada and India.

Global Film Revenue Study (Lee Artz, 2024)

Over half of U.S. film revenue came from international distribution and sales.

Transnational Film Production Examples (Lee Artz, 2024)

12 Years a Slave, The Shape of Water, and Green Book involved international production or financing.

Avatar Global Production Case (Tanner Mirrlees, 2013)

International investment, labor, and New Zealand filming supported Hollywood production.

Avatar Imperialism Interpretation (Tanner Mirrlees, 2013)

Film criticized for a White-savior portrayal of Indigenous people.

Avatar Global Resistance Case (Jenkins, 2010)

Activists in several countries used Avatar imagery against exploitation.

British Television Globalization Case

The Office, Dancing with the Stars, and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? spread through adaptations.

Dutch Television Globalization Case

The Voice and Big Brother originated in the Netherlands.

Korean Television Globalization Case

The Masked Singer originated in South Korea.

Latin American Telenovela Globalization Case

Dramas spread internationally and sustained diaspora connections.

Jane the Virgin Adaptation Case

U.S. adaptation of Venezuelan Juana la Virgen.

Ugly Betty Adaptation Case

U.S. adaptation of Colombian Yo soy Betty, la fea.

Chinese Soft Power Case

China uses entertainment and cultural institutions to increase international appeal.

Chinese Television Industry Case (Abasi, 2024)

China had the largest domestic TV audience and produced many drama episodes.

Bollywood Industry Study (Yeung & Mogul, 2024)

Indian cinema used 20 languages; Bollywood revenue projected near $5 billion in 2024.

Bollywood Diaspora Case (Kumar, 2022)

Films help migrants maintain ancestral identity and traditions.

Bollywood Nationalism Case (Yeung & Mogul, 2024)

The Kashmir Files and The Kerala Story drew criticism for anti-Muslim portrayals.

Annapoorani Netflix Censorship Case (Yeung & Mogul, 2024)

Netflix removed a film after backlash over a Brahmin Hindu woman preparing meat.

Parasite Film Case (Bong Joon-ho, 2020)

Korean class-inequality film became first non-English Best Picture winner.

Squid Game Globalization Case (Rao, 2023)

Worldwide success contributed to a reported 200% rise in U.S. Korean-drama consumption.

Korean Wave Development

1. China/Taiwan: early growth; 2. Japan: regional spread; 3. Gangnam Style: 2012 worldwide visibility; 4. Streaming: global reach.

BTS Economic Impact Study (Rao, 2023)

Reported over $5 billion yearly contribution and 800,000 tourists to South Korea.

Blackpink Streaming Case (Rao, 2023)

How You Like That reached 86.4 million views in one day.

Chinese Internet Population Study (Thomala, 2024)

China had over 1.1 billion internet users, mostly on smartphones.

Chinese Internet Censorship Case (Pei, 2024)

Central authorities set censorship priorities and police enforced restrictions.

Avengers: Endgame Dominant Reading (Stuart Hall)

Superheroes symbolize courage, sacrifice, and defeating evil.

Avengers: Endgame Negotiated Reading (Stuart Hall)

Enjoys heroism while questioning limited representation.

Avengers: Endgame Oppositional Reading (Stuart Hall)

Rejects individual heroes as solutions to structural problems.

Avengers: Endgame Commercialization Case (Keith Spencer, 2018)

Superhero films reinforce individualism and corporate branding.

USC Film Representation Study (Smith et al., 2024)

Analyzed 1,700 films from 2007–2023; persistent gender and racial disparities.

Gender Representation Study (Smith et al., 2024)

Women held 31.7% of 2023 speaking roles; 11% of films had gender-balanced casts.

Racial Representation Study (Smith et al., 2024)

2023 speaking roles: 55.7% White, 12.6% Black, 18.4% Asian, 5.2% Latinx, 4.1% multiracial.

Disability Representation Study (Smith et al., 2024)

Characters with disabilities had 2.4% of speaking roles in top 100 films.

Transgender Representation Study (Smith et al., 2024)

No named speaking transgender characters in top 100 films in 2014 or 2023.

Female Filmmaker Representation Study (Smith et al., 2024)

Women: 12% directors, 15.2% writers, 24.4% producers, 9.4% composers.

Director Race Study (Smith et al., 2024)

78.4% of directors were White; Black directors featured more Black characters.

Normalizing Injustice Study (Rashad Robinson, 2020)

Crime TV normalized racial injustice and unethical policing.

Latinx Media Representation Case

Latinx people were underrepresented despite being nearly 20% of the U.S. population.

Asian American Media Stereotypes Case

Asian characters often depicted as dangerous, submissive, exotic, or model minorities.

Gwen Stefani Harajuku Lovers Case (Jesa Marie Calaor, 2023)

Japanese-inspired perfume marketing criticized as cultural appropriation.

Pocahontas Representation Study (Buescher & Ono, 1996)

Disney film minimized colonial violence and repeated racial and gender stereotypes.

Pocahontas Audience Study (Amy Aidman, 1999)

Compared Native and White girls ages 9–13; responses differed by identity and community.