tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9721761.post114770557374585086..comments2024-03-19T07:27:06.216-04:00Comments on VOTARIES OF HORROR: The Theory of At Least OneKatherine Woodburyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14364517253667798449noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9721761.post-87170560158812747182014-03-03T13:40:28.282-05:002014-03-03T13:40:28.282-05:00Absolutely! At the time I wrote this, I was attend...Absolutely! At the time I wrote this, I was attending classes where classroom discussions would occasionally get completely sidetracked/coopted by the socio-economic-blah-de-blah single causative theory students. Which meant the overall intelligence of the discussion would instantly dropped.<br /><br />What made it odd as well as annoying was how non-cutting edge it all was. For example, one day, I said, "Why do we have to have one dominant ideology?" (I was contesting the Marxist idea that all of civilization can be reduced to a dominant group and a subordinate group.) <br /><br />Everyone laughed. "Hee, hee, how naïve." <br /><br />Except my argument was fairly progressive and post-modern. I'm not a fan of post-modernism any more than I am of Marxism (<i>nothing making sense</i> doesn't appeal to me any more than <i>single causation</i>), but I was making a far more relevant academic argument than either the professor or the students. <br /><br />Talk about being stuck in the previous century! <br /><br />It brings me back (always) to my fairytale argument. Why insist that there is ONLY ONE EVIL DELIVERER OF FAIRYTALES (DISNEY) when there's Disney <b>and</b> Miyazaki <b>and</b> Grimm <b>and</b> Perrault <b>and</b> a dozen television shows <b>and</b> graphic novels <b>and</b> Mr. Depressing Hans Christian Andersen <b>and</b> Andrew Lang <b>plus</b> C.S. Lewis/Tolkien reinventing stuff all over the place. <br /><br />You say this to the Marxist students in my master's program, and they would have said, "Yes, but Walt Disney has economically taken over the industry, evil capitalism, yadda yadda yadda."<br /><br />You ask my folklore students (who actually <b>read</b> fairytales) and they say, "Yeah, Disney's okay, and people should read that other stuff too, and there's nothing to stop them." <br /><br />Constructed ideology versus reality: reality wins. <br />Kate Woodburyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06276977170991272672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9721761.post-44095112673140763602014-03-02T21:30:01.370-05:002014-03-02T21:30:01.370-05:00I've long had a similar observation, but more ...I've long had a similar observation, but more expansive: think of anything, no matter how normal or bizarre, and there is a <i>group</i> of people engaged in it and (and this can be even weirder) another group who like to watch the first.<br /><br />I also like your disagreement with, I think if I read right, what could be called "single causative theory". That is; any human behavior can be invented but once. An extension of this is that any behavior must have a cause, be it deliberate invention or a product of biological necessity. Of course, this type of thing is essential for funding departments of sociology, psychology and a myriad of other soft sciences.<br /><br />Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04450897654318345683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9721761.post-71512569396241853832014-02-24T14:55:09.338-05:002014-02-24T14:55:09.338-05:00I love this comment :)
I get a continual kick ou...I love this comment :) <br /><br />I get a continual kick out of reminding myself, "At least one person bases his or her life on Andy Griffith" or "At least one person dresses like Finch from Person of Interest because it IS Finch" or "At least one person decided to become a jazz musician because of that one episode on The Simpsons" (scads of people can be inspired by actual jazz musicians; it takes the individual to be inspired by Lisa Simpson). <br /><br />"Nobody could possibly believe that," I'll think about the premise of a show, and then I'll think, "Ah, yes, but somebody out there does!" Kate Woodburyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06276977170991272672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9721761.post-36866009382346304132014-02-24T10:59:00.687-05:002014-02-24T10:59:00.687-05:00At least one person did read this blog. And at lea...At least one person did read this blog. And at least one person really loved it. "There's at least one person out there who thinks that some minor soap star is the best actor in the world." writes Katherine Woodbury, I used to be that person feeling that way about Sarah Michelle Geller playing Kendall on the show All my children. As I've gotten older I'm no longer a soap opera fan. I am still a fan of Geller although I wouldn't consider her the world's best actor Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com