Tag Archives: Minerva
Kim Kardashian and Lena Dunham: compare, contrast, explain (a Minerva essay contest)
Kim Kardashian and Lena Dunham. Compare, contrast, explain.
Prize: a Minerva prize and statue
Who may enter: anyone may enter. Just send us an essay that answers the question. Send your answers to grant27@gmail.com.
Deadline for submissions: December 15, 2013
Fuller details:
Designers, anthropologists, strategists, ethnographers, writers, artists, activists, musicians, digitists, and other cultural creatives live or die by their knowledge of culture. The more we know, the more adroitly we know it, the deeper our mastery of this knowledge and the forces that produce it, the more surely we will flourish.
So here’s a test of your knowledge. Who are Kim Kardashian and Lena Dunham? As young American celebrities, they are conspicuous parts of popular culture. They express trends already in motion “out there.” This makes them cultural “effects.” But they also shape and clarify things that are beginning to emerge. This makes them cultural “causes.”
Who are these women and what do they say about our life and times? What are the causes (trends, events, developments) of which they are effects? And what are the effects (trends, events, developments) of which they are causes? What shaped them, what are they shaping?
You’ve got lots to work with. These women have made many stylistic choices, in voice, language, clothing, emotional style, music, make-up, hair, homes, bars, neighborhoods, restaurants, rituals, ceremonies, friends, boyfriends, husbands, celebrity. They have fashioned detailed, vivid, public personae. X-ray these, please. These are very different public performances. Review them, please. At the very least we are looking at very different visions of femaleness. Give us the what and the how. And the why.
We are not looking for ridicule. Kardashian and Dunham are high profile and attract lots of comment and some derision. That’s not our job. Nor is this a popularity contest. We don’t care if you like one of these women more than the other. Your job is to write a beautifully thoughtful, balanced, dispassionate, detailed, insightful piece that might help someone in the year 2113 figure out who these women were and “what they stood for.”
The differences will be readily apparent. The similarities perhaps not so much. But it’s worth remembering that these women come from the same culture, they live in (roughly) the same moment. Honor the differences but see if you can spot the commonalities. (And marvel that American culture can produce two entirely credible woman who are so dramatically different.)
Assignment 2:
Tell me what the world looks like if you are Kim Kardashian. Tell me what it looks like if you are Lena Dunham. Report what their experiences, and views of the world, are from the inside out. Feel free to comment on any or all of the following; voice, language, clothing, emotional style, music, make-up, hair, homes, bars, neighborhoods, restaurants, rituals, ceremonies, friends, boyfriends, husbands, and/or celebrity.
This is the “identity” version of the question. Some people found Assignment 1 inaccessible. My fault. So, if you prefer, treat this second assignment as your question. One way to do this is to give us a 300 word diary entry for Kardashian and a 300 word entry for Dunham. Give us 400 words (give or take) of annotation for things in the diary entry. As in “KK prefers to shop here at [Tiffany’s?] because…” and “we believe this hairstyle became fashionable in the south of France about 12 months ago. It entered the US style scene and KK’s world through the dance scene and specifically Club [X] in Los Angeles. We believe this style matters because…”
Assignment 3:
What should the question have been here? What was the best way to invite people to compare, contrast and explain Kim Kardashian and Lena Dunham.
In both cases:
We only want 1000 words. Because if it’s good enough for a Oxbridge college, it’s good enough for us. The winner will win a Minerva statue and a measure of immortality as a Minerva winner. (Hey, it will look good on your c.v.)
The Minerva Judges:
Caley Cantrell, BrandCenter, Virginia Commonwealth University
Noah Cruickshank, AV Club
Janet Kestin, Swim
Leora Kornfeld, Harvard
Adrian Ho, Zeus Jones
Ruby Strong, Lord Byng
Nancy Vonk, Swim
Culture Quiz
My nephew is up for an interview at the college of his choice. Everyone is thrilled. His speciality is the classics so I am no use at all.
But what, I wondered, would be a good way of quizzing someone about how much they knew about contemporary culture.
As it happened, I was working on a Keynote deck for which I produced the image above. It has several bits and pieces. We could just to hand an applicant the image and invite them to comment. This would be one of several “quizzes” and is not meant to be the only useful test.
There are no right answers. But I think we would be able to judge very swiftly whether someone had depth, range, intelligence, and what do they call it in tennis, “touch.” I want you to identify each of these images and tell us how and why what they represent matters to contemporary culture. You should be able to speak for 5 minutes on each image…and that’s just for starters.
Please have a go and if you feel like banding off a thousand words I would be happy to put together a set of judges with the winner getting a Minerva award.
Or just work out your answers “in your head” and let’s discuss our various answers in a later post.
Click on the image to see the whole test!
I can’t supply attribution for these photos. If you recognize where they came from originally, please let me know!
Minerva contest: recasting NCIS
In her comment on the NCIS recasting post, Jean Latting said she thought she might ask her class to have a go.
And I thought, “but of course, this is an excellent Minerva contest. Why didn’t I think of that?”
So here is the question. We are phrasing this one in the form of a Harvard Business School Case study:
“Don Bellisario, the creator of NCIS who left the show in 2007, has decided to return. [This is false and asserted here merely to supply a compelling pretext.]
Mr. Bellisario wants to freshen the show with some casting changes. What should he do?
From the Culturematic given below, please choose 1 new actor and tell us what effect it would have on the show. Specifically, what difference would this difference make to the show, the dramatic and cultural terrain it can now cover.
Now choose 1 actor from the list you would NOT cast, and tell us very specifically why he or she would be wrong for the part and the show.
Now give us your ideal 5 choices and explain these actors bring to the show individually and as an ensemble. How would NCIS now speak from and to contemporary culture?
Conditions:
One thousand words.
Point form ok.
Be imaginative, concise and interesting. Find your assumptions and express your assumptions. Show off your knowledge and mastery of popular culture
Winner gets a Minerva (as pictured) and a place in our Hall of Fame.
deadline: one month from today, i.e., May 13, 2011.
Judges:
To be announced
Backgrounder:
The Minervas were created to encourage people to ask cultural questions and craft cultural answers.
Winners so far:
Juri Saar (for the “Who’s a good doggie woggie?” contest)
Reiko Waisglass (for the “Who’s a good doggie woggie?” contest)
Brent Shelkey (for the “Who’s a good doggie woggie?” contest)
Daniel Saunders (for the “JJ Abrams vs. Joss Whedon” contest)
Tim Sullivan (for the “Karen Black vs. Betty White” contest)
Lauren LaCascia (for the “Showtime vs. USA Networks” contest)
Diandra Mintz (for the “Showtime vs. USA Networks” contest)
Mark Boles (for the “Antique Roadshow vs. Pawn stars” contest)
Indy Neogy (for the “Nordic Noir” contest)
Judges so far:
Members of the faculty of the SVA (School of Visual Arts) ‘masters in branding’ program,
specifically:
Debbie Millman
Pamela DeCesare
Dan Formosa
Tom Guarriello
Scott Lerman
and Richard Shear
Also:
Rick Boyko, Director and Professor, VCU Brandcenter
Schuyler Brown, Skylab
Bryan Castaneda, Attorney At Law
Ana Domb, C3, MIT
Mark Earls, author, Herd
Brad Grossman, Grossman and Partners
Christine W. Huang, PSFK, Huffington Post and Global Hue
Steve Postrel
Law and Order in Peril?
Stray signals are important to people who want to keep track of contemporary culture.
Here’s one from today’s Wall Street Journal.
Nordic noir, the chilling, realistic Scandinavian crime fiction that has taken movies and books by storm, is coming to American television. The Killing, premiering April 3 on AMC, comes from the hit Danish drama “Forbrydenlsen.”
It is not intuitively obvious why there should now be so much Nordic noir in our world. But to be sure there’s lots. And I think we can see it moving swiftly, from page to big screen to little screen, signs of its ability to command larger audiences.
The question for the Chief Culture Officer and the rest of us: why? What is it about Nordic noir that makes it appealing. Why should this cultural form now threaten the standard police procedurals (Law and Order, CSI, etc) that have dominated TV for so long? What does the rise of Nordic noir tells us about the state of American culture now?
I am not making this an official Minerva competition, but if someone comes up with a dazzlingly good answer, there’s a good chance they will get a statue!
Reference
Chozick, Amy. 2011. Something’s rotten in Seattle. Wall Street Journal. March 25. (subscription required)
Minerva essay contest: brief case, messenger bag, compare and contrast
I was in the Tumi store in Grand Central over the holidays and I was impressed to see their once staid briefcases were beginning to show the influence of the messenger bag.
If Jules Prown (and the worlds of material culture and art history) are right to say that some objects reflect changes taking place in a culture, what are we to make of this?
You have 1000 words and a month to complete the assignment.
I have 9 minutes to get this post up before midnight, so no panel of judges yet.
For more on the Minerva, please see the page marked "Minerva" next to "contact." Eyes right and above. For a little data on the relative position of briefcases (in blue) and messenger bags (in red), see this graph from Google trends.
Post script
Thanks to the many people who commented on the Pomplamoose – Hyundai campaign.
Minerva winners
We have two winners for the latest Minerva essay contest.
Lauren La Cascia and Diandra Mintz.
Hearty congratulations to them both. Here’s the question Lauren and Diandra took on.
The Essay question:
The Preamble:
The Big C, the new show starring the deeply talented Laura Linney gives us a glimpse of what is now possible on cable. It resembles a second show on Showtime, Weeds.
Together these shows give us a glimpse into the Showtime thinktank. (One of the principles, apparently: let’s see what happens to suburban living when we mix things up.)
There is a another experiment at work at USA Networks, from which a string of hits has recently issued (Burn Notice, Psych, Royal Pains, White Collar). (One of the principles, apparently, stay as far away from the suburbs as possible.)
The question:
1. Compare and contrast Showtime and USA Networks. Identify the grammar or algorithm that produces the shows in question. (Consider my "suburb" reference a hint, but merely one very rough indicator of the possibilities. Please do feel free to contradict me.)
2. What larger cultural significance do you attach to the fact that these two approaches to making TV now exist? Did they exist in the 20th century. Why do they exist now?
Conditions:
Fewer than 1000 words.
point form preferred.
points for being crisp and clear.
Contest winners
Contest winners will receive a Minerva (as pictured) and a place on the winner’s list.
Contest judges
Rick Boyko, Director and Professor, VCU Brandcenter
(Mr. Boyko recused himself because on of the essay contestants is a VCU student)
Schuyler Brown, Skylab
Bryan Castaneda
Ana Domb
Mark Earls, author, Herd
Brad Grossman, Grossman and Partners
Grant McCracken
Christine W. Huang, PSFK, Huffington Post and Global Hue
Steve Postrel
Previous Winners
Juri Saar (for the "Who’s a good doggie woggie?" contest)
Reiko Waisglass (for the "Who’s a good doggie woggie?" contest)
Brent Shelkey (for the "Who’s a good doggie woggie?" contest)
Daniel Saunders (for the "JJ Abrams vs. Joss Whedon" contest)
Tim Sullivan (for the "Karen Black vs. Betty White" contest?)
Essay answer by Lauren La Cascia:
“You’re my livestock,” he slurs menacingly as the camera shows the victim’s silent screaming behind the cell glass.
In this first episode of Oz in 1997, a homophobic white supremacist repeatedly rapes and uses a Bic pen to brand a swastika on his cellmate’s buttocks after lights out. With the scene, HBO introduced its version of “original programming” to audiences—in both the unique and primary sense—forever changing television. It debuted the omniscient narrator, point of view camerawork, violence, hard language, male frontal nudity, drug use, homosexuality, mature content and veritè grittiness—all tropes usually reserved for cinema. Sex and the City and The Sopranos followed quickly, making clear HBO’s version of television meant new and different. And successful: once HBO proved risk-taking led to commercial and critical reward, Showtime followed their lead, first rebranding with the “No Limits” tagline in 1997, then launching the groundbreaking Queer as Folk in 2000.
Showtime is still applying cable’s “Is it new and different?” litmus test to great effect. Examining their current line-up, one can verify the shows have no obvious forerunners; imagined (Dexter), implausible (Weeds) and genre-blending (The Big C), the network has no trouble devising kooky premises and giving characters a long leash. This license allows shows to create themselves organically, to build long arcs while still delivering each week, to shock by exploring paths broadcast never could. On another level, Showtime’s thesis reveals a connection to Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio: to shred any idealized depiction of small-town American life left and expose the alienation, standardization and soullessness pervading actual existence. It finds the bizarre and alien—a drug-dealing mom, a serial killer who kills serial killers—contending always that uncanny inner lives belie generic exteriors.
If Showtime is about invention, USA Networks is about reinvention—of the police procedural, the medical drama, the spy thriller. Its programming has definite roots: Psych is made possible by Sherlock Holmes and the kitschiness of Columbo, while Royal Pains seems ripped from the headlines with the death of Michael Jackson highlighting concierge medicine; if Burn Notice is a hybrid of MacGyver and the Bourne franchise, then White Collar’s premise is a straight rip of Catch Me If You Can. By piggybacking off a lineage, USA wisely increases appeal. By executing their versions so well, they maintain broad acceptance and court more discerning segments. The retail industry coined the term “masstige” to illustrate this sweet spot between mass and prestige; USA is the Target of basic cable.
All the mainstream-cool shows in USA’s line-up offer a fresh take on classic escapism. Like much of the screen storytelling from the last century, concepts are built around idiosyncratic personalities barreling through implausible scenarios. The shows read as fiction, acted by “real characters,” and, in fact, two of their keystone programs—Burn Notice and Psych—have led to spin-off novel series, so easy is the leap from viewer to reader. Taking a cue from riskier programs pioneered by non-ad-supported channels like HBO and Showtime, USA’s update comes in execution: the in situ production design’s look and feel, better camerawork, well-researched stunts that border on just possible, witty quips we’d never be able to think of in the moment. The marinated slices of Miami or the Hamptons impart reality even to locals, and it’s this legitimacy that keeps the shows believable even if they aren’t probable. If Showtime is new and different, then USA is familiar but different.
The sturdiest common ground Showtime and USA share is in their mutual fascination with new beginnings: a cancer diagnosis is dropped on Laura Linney, Mary-Louise Parker’s husband dies, newly ex-spy, Jeffrey Donovan, must adapt to his burning, a confidence man is reborn on the straight and narrow. This need/desire of protagonists to reinvent themselves seems especially modern. Recent events, though, have necessitated adaptation at speeds and to degrees historically reserved by Industrial Revolutions and Iron Ages. Our concept of entertainment, too, likes characters to adjust as we have—to quickly-eclipsed digital advances, to terrorism, to economic slides, to mega natural disasters. The stories reflect our dynamism and explore what it means to survive financially, physically, professionally and emotionally in these times. We love seeing the steps and missteps taken to acclimate, the humor people can find in it all, the heartbreaking undercurrents as they beat back gloom. They thrive like phoenixes, whether criminal (Dexter, Weeds, Royal Pains, White Collar), cancer patient (The Big C) or hedonist (Californication).
In contrast, the latter 20th Century was static: the markets only went up, there was no lengthy war, kids were bored and television followed a formula. Sitcoms from the 1980s, in particular, dropped us into this familiar territory in medias mes. Full of stereotypes, programs didn’t require set-up or denouement because the concept stayed largely the same throughout: the Facts of Life girls never leave Eastland in Peekskill; the cast of Friends never changes apartments. Most of these beloved characters would fail in the wild like creatures bred in captivity. So inflexible were these sitcoms that sometimes entire shows had to be spun off to accommodate developments, like The Cosby Show’s begetting of A Different World as Denise heads to college; others died entirely trying to explore new directions, like The Brady Bunch, which couldn’t even accommodate the addition of another character, cousin Oliver. Of course execution matters, but it’s difficult to imagine a successful show today unable to handle such minor tweaks.
Perhaps we, dear viewers, have sophisticated or writers have exhausted all the iconic sitcom premises, but the old constructs seem unforgivably juvenile now. As viewers, we’re like middle-aged men who’ve finally started dating our age. And what a golden age it is. The modern situational comedy/dramedy has been redefined to include more complex, sticky and unpredictable situations. Unafraid of actual character development, writers reject the use of two-dimensional archetypes and trust viewers will join them in exploring the unchartered. Unfailingly, this new covenant between writer and viewer has brokered great television. Perhaps we all were branded in that opening episode of Oz, held in TV’s thrall since.
Essay answer by Diandra Mintz
The male and female fantasies of breaking traditional mores and what it means to be extraordinary.
Algorithm
Woman + composed suburban lifestyle + unexpected tragedy out of her control + newfound self-sufficiency + unorthodox redemption = Weeds, The Big C (Showtime)
Man + remarkable talent + fall from grace + sidekick who tempers and fuels man’s efforts + unorthodox redemption = Burn Notice, Psych, Royal Pains, White Collar (USA)
Ordinary vs. Extraordinary
Showtime gives us ordinary people living in extraordinary circumstances. Nancy and Cathy are going about their lives when they suffer sudden and unexpected setbacks. They seem in no way equipped to deal with tragedy and yet their underlying resilience shines through. Conversely, USA portrays extraordinary people living in ordinary circumstances. Each protagonist possesses an innate talent honed over time through discipline and practice. Standouts in their fields, the men are resourceful and cunning when necessary to come out on top — with their wit and charm in tact.
Gender
There is a marked difference in the protagonists’ gender on each network that is echoed by the gender of the shows’ creators. Showtime’s programs are led by women both on and off-screen, while USA’s programs star men and were created by men. Furthermore, the role of gender is complicated on both networks as each protoganist’s progression is threatened and frustrated by the presence of the opposite sex.
On Showtime, the women have been in some way failed by the men in their lives and seek to take matters into their own hands. The women must overcome the shortcomings of the men who continue to surround them.
Self-Sufficiency
At the end of the first episode of The Big C, Laura Linney’s character pours her heart out to an unseen companion: “I’m warning you that this laughter might turn into a sob in a second.” With a wider shot, the companion is revealed to be her dog. Even if they want a shoulder to cry on, the women make do on their own, demonstrating self-sufficiency.
USA’s protagonists are cushioned by the presence of sidekicks. The sidekick serves a variety of purposes in each program, but across the board the most important task is keeping the main character grounded. At moments when the leading male may seem too quirky or start to veer off plan, the sidekick is there to reel him in and reinforce an objective.
Aspiration and Identification
Not just any actors, Linney and Mary Louise Parker are accomplished actors in their own rights. They made names for themselves long before Showtime came calling. Both actors have the clout to carry a show and the ability to engage an audience on the small screen over the course of an entire series.
In a different vein, relatively unknown actors portray the protagonists on USA series. The actors are good looking enough to be realistically desired by the opposite sex, but not too good looking as to alienate the same sex from identifying with them. In this regard, the shows take a step back from focusing too tightly on the main character and open up to the ensemble cast.
Echoes of the 90s
The programming on Showtime is an extension of an approach seen on the small screen in the form of Twin Peaks (1990-91) later in the decade on the silver screen in American Beauty (1999). David Lynch’s television series asked viewers to take a closer look at suburban life. Below the guise of a smooth veneer, character flaws bubble to the surface. The difference now, in 2010, is that we are painfully aware that things are not what they seem. Bubbles have burst and dips are doubling and we are ready to examine the traditions and ideals that have become cumbersome. While Parker and Linney’s faces are familiar, just as familiar are the darker underbellies exposed in the storylines. As a culture we are re-educating ourselves on what it means to be satisfied.
USA’s programs echo another sentiment of the early 90s represented in the television series MacGyver (1985-92). MacGyver followed ever-resourceful secret agent Angus MacGyver as he solved problems with nothing more than his scientific know-how and ability to improvise with everyday common items. When put to the test, the protagonist comes through no matter what it takes — a mantra especially relevant today when we are recalibrating our lifestyles and learning how to do more with less.
Earned Success and Everyday Heroism
In an era moving past reality television when just about anyone could get their fifteen minutes by being in the right place at right time, the programming on USA and Showtime reflect the common desire to see earned success. As a culture we have moved beyond ascribed fame and fortune and instead hold earned heroism in higher regard. We leap to hear the stories of everyday heroes like Chesley Sullenberger and Jaycee Dugard, who have each signed movie and book deals respectively. We understand that success won’t be handed to us, and there is an inherent value in what is rightfully earned.
USA and Showtime have defined algorithms that resonate with an audience that values the talented and irrepressible spirit. When the chips are down and our flaws are showing, there is the hope of an underlying resilience that will come through in the end. Just test us.
Congratulations to Lauren and Diandra.
Culture Contest: Showtime vs. USA Networks
Preamble
The Big C, the new show starring the deeply talented Laura Linney gives us a glimpse of what is now possible on cable. It resembles a second show on Showtime, Weeds.
Together these shows give us a glimpse into the Showtime thinktank. (One of the principles, apparently: let’s see what happens to suburban living when we mix things up.)
There is a another experiment at work at USA Networks, from which a string of hits has recently issued (Burn Notice, Psych, Royal Pains, White Collar). (One of the principles, apparently, stay as far away from the suburbs as possible.)
Your essay question:
1. Compare and contrast Showtime and USA Networks. Identify the grammar or algorithm that produces the shows in question. (Consider my "suburb" reference a hint, but merely one very rough indicator of the possibilities. Please do feel free to contradict me.)
2. What larger cultural significance do you attach to the fact that these two approaches to making TV now exist? Did they exist in the 20th century. Why do they exist now?
Conditions:
Fewer than 1000 words.
point form preferred.
points for being crisp and clear.
Contest winners
Contest winners will receive a Minerva (as pictured) and a place on the winner’s list. (And immortality as a contest winner, of course. See the list of previous winners, by clicking here.) (Note: the Minerva used to be called the "VOWEL.")
Contest judges
Normally I do the judging for Minervas. But this is a recipe for provincialism. So I am invited several people to act as judges. They are:
Chief Culture Officer
This is precisely the kind of question I would expect a CCO to hit out of the park. If you are having trouble with this question and fancy yourself CCO material, you are not watching enough TV. (When spouses or colleagues complain, look them straight in the eye and say: "It’s doctor’s orders." (Trust me, I’m an anthropologist.)
Previous Winners
Juri Saar (for the "Who’s a good doggie woggie?" contest)
Reiko Waisglass (for the "Who’s a good doggie woggie?" contest)
Brent Shelkey (for the "Who’s a good doggie woggie?" contest)
Daniel Saunders (for the "JJ Abrams vs. Joss Whedon" contest)
Tim Sullivan (for the "Karen Black vs. Betty White" contest?)
When did gray become the color of fast and powerful
Last night walking in Atlanta I saw three muscle cars that were gray. Actually, I think one was a Jaguar doing an impersonation of a muscle car. Low, sleek and noisy.
So two muscles and a Jag.
I noticed because of the ad now circulating that shows a gray Mustang prowling urban streets.
It’s an effective piece of advertising. (The Ford triumph continues.) I found myself thinking,” this isn’t selling Mustangs, it’s selling grey Mustangs.” Dealers are going to be swamped by requests for “the grey one” and they will have to talk buyers into a red or a green. Good luck. This ad makes gray the necessary color.
But I had it wrong. This was a case of life imitating art. Team Detroit was drawing from existing practice, not creating it.
Which raises the question: when did gaey become the color of fast and powerful? The follow up question: why? What is it about gray that makes it the necessarily choice. What is there in the cultural significance of gray (past and present) that makes it the compelling choice?
Start your engines. This is an official Minerva contest. Usual terms apply. Fewer than 1000 words, crisp, high concept, well written. Guessing, especially really good guessing, is perfectly ok. But if you actually know something about car culture and color culture, please do share.
If you are on the creative team of the Mustang ad, I would like to put you on the judging panel. Would Team Detroit’s Toby Barlow, Eric McClellan, Adam Hull, Nick Flora, Ron Schlessinger, Arty Tan and/or Bob Rashid, please contact me at grant27ATgmail.com.
More details
The sound track comes from Band of Skulls. Please tell us what this music does for the ad.
The production players
PRODUCTION CREDITS:
Client: Ford Mustang
Title: _PG
Length: 60-seconds
Airdate: 4/28 TV; 4/30 cinemas
Agency: Team Detroit, Inc.
EVP, Chief Creative Officer: Toby Barlow
EVP, Group Creative Director: Eric McClellan
Creatives: Adam Hull, Nick Flora, Ron Schlessinger, Arty Tan
Producer: Bob Rashid
Production Company: Stardust / Santa Monica, CA
Director: Jake Banks
Executive Producer: Paul Abatemarco
Head of Production: Josh Libitsky
Line Producer: Paul Ure
Director of Photography: Max Malkin
Design & Animation Company: Stardust / Santa Monica, CA
Post / Editorial Producer: Alex More
Designers: Neil Tsai, Gretchen Nash, Bill Bak, Ling Feng, Juliette Park, Angela Ko
Compositors: Alan Latteri, Chris Howard
Animators: Jason Lowe, Giancarlo Rondani, Joseph Andrade, Kevin Ta, James Yi
Type/Element shoot: Stokes-Kohne Associates Inc.
Editorial Company: Cut + Run
Editor: Frank Effron
Post / Editorial Producer: Alex More
Telecine: New Hat
Colorist: Beau Leon
Music Search Company: Agoraphone
Music Supervisor: Dawn Sutter-Madell & Jasmine Flott
Song: Band of Skulls "Light Of The Morning"
Sound Design & Mix: 740 Sound Design
Executive Producer: Scott Ganary
Sound Designer : Andrew Tracy
Sound Designer : Eddie Kim
Mixer : Mike Franklin
Vehicle Drivers: Brent Fletcher, Kelly Hine
References
Wilkening, Matthew. 2010. 2011 Ford Mustang Commercial – What’s that song? AOL Radio Blog. May 10. here.
See the ad here.
JJ Abrams versus Joss Whedon, your CCO assignment
Here’s your assignment.
JJ Abrams and Joss Whedon, compare and contrast.
One way to study our culture is to compare the roughly comparable. Nothing comes of the wildly different. It’s all contrast, no shades of grey.
No, what we want is a common ground from which Instructive contrasts can then emerge.
JJ Abrams and Joss Whedon are roughly comparable. Both were born in the middle 60s. And in the world of popular culture, both were well born. Abrams’ mother and father were TV producers. Whedon is a third generation TV writer. Both have changed the face of television, Abrams with… well, now I’m doing your work for you.
What I want is a brief essay, no more than 1000 words. Let’s stick to their TV work. Point out the similarities between these two fellas, and then their differences. Show what they mean to popular culture. Compare Felicity and Buffy. Or Lost and Dollhouse. It’s up to you. Tell us how their TV has changed our culture.
Keep it short, crisp, intelligent and illuminating. The winner will receive the winged bird you see above. I like to think of her as the Owl of Minerva from Greek mythology. We have been searching for the right statuette for years now. Ana Domb found this one in a museum catalog. (Thank you, Ana.) Officially, this is the Chief Culture Officer Award. Unofficially, we will call her the Minerva.
The Minerva is really heavy. (I have held an Oscar and I’d say they are about the same weight. It was Julie Christie’s Oscar if you must know.) It will look good on your desk or bookcase. When friends and strangers say, "what’s that?" You can say, ever so distractedly, "Oh, that’s my Minerva. I won it for something I wrote." There will be a small pause as your friend recalculates your standing in the world and considers now whether reverence should perhaps replace the impatience with which they now generally regard you.
Our last contest, Betty White versus Karen Black, has a winner. It’s Tim Sullivan. See his excellent answer below. Congratulations, Tim.
References
McCracken, Grant. 2010. Betty White versus Karen Black, your CCO assignment. This Blog. May 11. here.
McCracken, Grant. 2009. Chief Culture Officer. New York: Basic Books. Available on Amazon here. (Citing this book in your essay will curry no favor with the judges. But really, if you haven’t bought a copy, please do so now.)
Previous Minerva winners (now immortal)
Juri Saar
Brent Shelkey
Tim Sullivan
Reiko Waisglass
Tim Sullivan’s answer to the Betty While versus Karen Black assignment
Betty White v. Karen Black
This is a story of generations and media and sex, and the nostalgic value we place on them.
White: born 1922, lived through the Depression—actually arrived in California because of it, and started her career in radio in 1939, followed by TV in the 40s.
Black: born 1939, on the verge of being a Boomer. Trained in theater in college, moved to off-Broadway productions, and then to movies.
White: Since the ‘50s—with her show Life with Elizabeth—she’s had a devilish glint in her eye. She’s played against type: the pretty, sweet, slightly befuddled “girl” who secretly knew exactly what’s going on.
Black: Her first big hit is Easy Rider, 1969, a generational touchstone, cementing her place as a Boomer touchstone. In Five Easy Pieces, she’s plays the easy-to-dupe and pregnant girlfriend—no glint in her eye there. Myrtle Wilson, a variation on a theme, follows in The Great Gatsby.
White: Her medium is TV, in our living rooms every day, especially since her hit shows went into syndication. Some of us ate snacks with her after school or after work. Comforting, familiar.
Black: Lives on the Silver Screen. We visit her once in a while, and we usually don’t much like her—even when she’s determined and focused. By the late 70s and beyond, she had moved on to schlocky sci-fi and horror combined with art house pics.
White: Comedy (i.e., hard work) made to look easy. Sweet, smart, and sexy in our living rooms every day.
Black: Drama that feels hard, a little overwrought, spilling over into a genre that gets no respect.
White: She persists, she’s controlled her own destiny. In fact, with Life with Elizabeth, she was the first woman to have complete creative control over her own show,
Black: The characters she’s best known for were not people we would want to spend time with. Her affect is forced and demanding.
White: Another blow to Christopher Hitchens, who told us, infamously, in the pages of Vanity Fair “Why Women Aren’t Funny.” The reaction to that article, and the respect that female comedians have garnered before and since, culminate in the current celebration of Betty as a model for the current crop of successful women.
Black: Celebrated by the fanboy horror community, but b-grade horror flicks have little chance of breaking out into the mainstream. She’s painted herself into a corner. We can’t be nostalgic for her because her early career represents something about relationships between the sexes that we now eschew: the testosterone driven man chewing the scenery while Black’s character tries to create space for herself. She’s pre-Title IX.
Looking forward: A continued move away from and against the Boomers, as we as a society look for icons who create a foundation for Boomers, X, and Y alike through shared media.
So you’re a Chief Culture Officer, what would you do? (Minerva Contest)
Every Harvard Business School case study seems to open with a manager sitting at his or her desk, contemplating a problem. The case study put us in the manager’s shoes. Here’s the problem, the case says, what would you do?
Let’s say, you’re Patricia Lindbergh. You are the newly appointed CCO at the XYZ corporation.
And your CEO has a question.
Last night, in a rare moment of respite, he was sitting with his wife and kids watching their favorite TV shows. And the family got to talking. Is TV changing? They thought maybe it was. But no one could figure out how or why.
The CEO says, "Hey, not to worry. We just hired a Chief Culture Officer. I’ll ask Pat tomorrow. She’ll know."
So this morning, when you got to work, there was a little note on your desk from the CEO. It reads, "Hey, my wife and I were wondering: is TV changing? Clue us in! Thanks. Charlie."
Geez. Big question. As a CCO, you follow TV. And there’s lots of stuff in play. One of the ways to approach this question is to look at Charlie and his family were watching last night. If you knew what they was looking at…that might help.
As a CCO, you subscribe to lots of data sources, and one of your favorites comes from Marc Berman. Marc writes The Programming Insider, and here’s the snippet that gets your attention.
It’s clear that CBS and ABC are in pretty good shape. And it’s clear that NBC continues to struggle. It’s not that the NBC programming is bad programming. You like some of NBC shows that are tanking. They’re smart, interesting, funny television.
As you sit at your desk, and gaze down into the tidal flows on the Avenue of the Americans, you think, "hmmm."
There’s something here. But what?
Something tells us that this comes down to the cultural difference between what Berman calls "yesterday’s winners" and "yesterday’s losers." What is the difference between these two groups of shows. What do they tell us about TV and our culture?
Please answer this question ("What’s the cultural difference between Berman’s Winners and Losers?") as briefly and as pungently as you can. Please keep your answer to fewer than 500 words.
Best three answers get a copy of Chief Culture Officer and my undying admiration.
References
Berman, Marc. 2010. The Programming Insider. Media Week. January 15. here.
Winners of the last contest
The winner’s of the last competition are:
Bryan
Simon Steinhardt
Batcraft
Congratulations on great work. Please send me your best mailing address, so I can send you your copies of Chief Culture Officer.
Note: this post was lost in the Network Solutions debacle of 2009. It was reposted here December 25, 2010.