Instructor: Noel Murray
Office Hours: By Appointment
E-mail: bear@conwaycorp.net

Description: What does "it's a matter of taste" actually mean? When discussing movies, television, music or any of the other high and low arts, does all debate begin and end with "I liked it" or "I hated it"? This course will surf the often overwhelming tide of popular culture, as we strive to understand the methods and the meanings behind the entertainment that we often passively consume. Course materials will include film and TV, popular music and comics. We'll be reading media critics, and we'll become media critics. More to the point, we'll learn the vital skill of thinking critically-- watching and listening with our senses keenly attuned to what's being said, how well it's being said, and how we feel about it on a personal level. Come to class ready to take and rationally defend a position, and be prepared to put that defense on paper.

Course Objectives:
+To know what we like and why we like it
+To appreciate the subtleties of popular art
+To understand what it means to think critically

Texts:
+Afterglow: A Last Conversation With Pauline Kael By Francis Davis
+Readings to be distributed at class time ($20 copy fee required by mid-term).

Notes On The Reading:
+The amount of reading may seem heavy. Don’t get anxious. You will neither be explicitly tested nor called on in class to discuss something that you may not have had time to read. Although the class discussion will be more lively (and your participation more relevant) if you have read everything, I’ll understand if it takes a little time to catch up.

+Some of the art we will be looking at in this class may be patently adult, with profanity, nudity, and graphic sex and/or violence. If such material offends you, consider dropping this class now.

Class Structure: Most class periods will be divided into three segments. We will be begin each class with roughly ten minutes of open discussion -- I’ll throw open the floor to students who wants to comment on anything they’ve seen or heard recently that they’ve found interesting for one reason or another. After that, we will go over the between-class reading. At the end of most class periods, if there’s time, we will conduct an in-class exercise, which will consist of my showing you some piece of film or video (or playing a piece of music) and asking for your informed reactions.

Requirements:

+Class Participation.
You will be expected to attend class regularly, and to contribute to the discussions, even if it’s just to express a simple opinion about the material we are covering that day. You may be called on for comment if the conversation lags or if I feel we need to hear your voice; if you have no comment or if you haven’t read the material, please be honest -- unless your reticence is habitual, you will not be penalized for neutrality (or ignorance). If you have to miss a class, please contact me to receive your reading packet for the next class. But take note: Absences result in grade reductions. There’s really no reason beyond illness or pressing obligation not to show up in class. Even if you haven’t done the reading, all you have to do is sit quietly for an hour. Make the effort.

+Listserv.
At the end of each Tuesday class, I will offer a topic for further discussion. You will be expected to post a short response to the topic before the next class commences. Your post will be read by everybody in the class, so please be respectful and use proper grammar. Anybody in the discussion group is welcome to respond to your comments, and you are welcome to respond to theirs. I encourage a lively debate out-of-class. I will be reading all of the posts, but will not be writing responses; however, I hope that the written discussion will influence and become part of our face-to-face discussions. If you fail to post on-time or if I feel you are not giving sufficient thought to your postings, I will give you fair warning and a chance to improve before your grade suffers. (See separate page of notes for further Listserv instruction).

+Projects.
Your Listserv posts will serve as most of your writing requirement for this class, but you will have one other long-term writing project, which I’ll explain when the time comes.

+Presentation.
At the end of the term, each of you will be expected to choose either a movie, television show, or piece of music to critique in front of the class. The presentations will be seven minutes (with no more than two minutes devoted to showing clips or playing musical snippets), followed by a three minute Q&A. More details will be coming later in the term, but start thinking about what you’d like to do.

+Exam.
The final exam will be Thursday, May 1st at 8 AM.


CLASS SCHEDULE / READING SCHEDULE

+TUESDAY, JANUARY 14TH -- INTRODUCTION

In-class Exercise: The Power Of Observation

Between-class Reading: “Introduction,” (1998) from Totally, Tenderly, Tragically by Phillip Lopate; “Air Guitar” (1995) from Air Guitar by Dave Hickey; Excerpts from “The Vocabulary Of Comics” and “Blood In The Gutter,” (1993) from Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud

+THURSDAY, JANUARY 16TH

In-class Exercise: Advertising Survey

Between-class Reading: “Is Hollywood Dying The Death Of A Thousand Cuts?” (2002) by Chris Hodenfeld from Premiere Magazine; “Was It A Montage For You Too, Dear?,” (?) from Totally, Tenderly, Tragically by Phillip Lopate; “Million-Dollar Graffiti: Notes From The Digital Domain” (199?) by Jonathan Romney from Movies (edited by Gilbert Adair); “Projection” (1977) by Gerald Mast from Film Theory And Criticism (edited by Gerald Mast & Marshall Cohen)



+TUESDAY, JANUARY 21ST

In-class Exercise: How We See

Between-class Reading: “The Complete Film” (1933) by Rudolf Arnheim and Excerpt from “Metaphors On Vision” (1963) by Stan Brakhage from Film Theory And Criticism (edited by Gerald Mast & Marshall Cohen); “Warhol’s Sleep” (1965) by Jonas Mekas and “Some Ideas On The Cinema” (1953) by Cesare Zavattini from Movies (edited by Gilbert Adair)

Listserv: The purpose of entertainment.

+THURSDAY, JANUARY 23RD

In-class Exercise: Advertising Survey

Between-class Reading: “On Film December 26, 1942,” “On Film March 20, 1943,” “On Film September 25, 1943, ” “On Film April 1, 1944,” “On Film August 19, 1944,” “On Film September 13, 1947” from Agee On Film by James Agee; “The Kingdom Of Shadows” (1896) by Maxim Gorky and “A Conversation On Film” (1895) by Leo Tolstoy from Movies (edited by Gilbert Adair)

Project, Part One: Write a 1,000 word defense of your favorite television show, past or present. Project is due before the start of class on Tuesday, February 4th.

+TUESDAY, JANUARY 28TH

In-class Exercise: Ghosts Of The Past

Between-class Reading: “Comedy’s Greatest Era,” (1949) from Agee On Film by James Agee;
selections from Jokes And How To Tell Them (1963) by Larry Adler; selections from Television-Related Cartoons In The New Yorker Magazine (1993) by Ronald Jacobson; “The Wisecrack,” “The Joke” and “The Anecdote” (1952) from The Humor Of Humor by Evan Esar

Listserv: A good joke, and why it’s funny.

+THURSDAY, JANUARY 30TH

In-class Exercise: Dissecting The Frog

Between-class Reading: “Dressed To Kill review” (1980) from Midnight Matinees by Jay Scott; “Dressed To Kill review,” (1980) from For Keeps by Pauline Kael; “Blow-Up review,” (1966) by Andrew Sarris from The A List (edited by Jay Carr); “Blow-Up review,” (2002) from The Great Movies by Roger Ebert; “Blow-Up: Tourist In The City Of Youth,” (1967) from For Keeps by Pauline Kael

+TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4TH

In-class Exercise: Dressed To Kill

Between-class Reading: “Movies On Television” (1967), “From The Forward To Reeling” (1976) and “Intro to Fear Of Movies,” (1978) from For Keeps by Pauline Kael; “The Passion Of Pauline Kael,” (?) from Totally, Tenderly, Tragically by Phillip Lopate

Listserv: Bad movies

+THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6TH

In-class Exercise: Kael’s Faves

Between-class Reading: Afterglow: A Last Conversation With Pauline Kael By Francis Davis

+TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11TH

In-class Exercise: The Commentary Test

Between-class Reading: Excerpt from “Fantasies Of The Art-House Audience: Hiroshima, Mon Amour,” (1962) and “Replying To Listeners,” (1963) from For Keeps by Pauline Kael; “The Movie Camera And The American” (1952) and “The Liberal Conscience In The Crucible” (1953) from The Immediate Experience by Robert Warshow

Listserv: Guilty pleasures

+THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13TH

In-class Exercise: Trash & Treasure

Between-class Reading: “Isolationism As A Control System” and “Multinational Pest Control: Does American Cinema Still Exist?” (2000) from Movie Wars by Jonathan Rosenbaum; “Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done review,” (1988) by David Edelstein from Produced And Abandoned (edited by Michael Sragow); “Visual Pleasure & Narrative Cinema” (1975) by Laura Mulvey from Film Theory And Criticism (edited by Gerald Mast & Marshall Cohen)

Project, Part Two: Rewriting your first project (more details to come). The re-write will be due by the start of class on Tuesday, February 25th.

+MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17TH ~ MTV, 3 PM ~ Freestyle: The Art Of Rhyme

+TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18TH

In-class Exercise: Context (Amandla!)

Between-class Reading: “Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska,” (1981) from Fortunate Son by Dave Marsh; “Interview With Jerry Herman” (1995), “Interview With Alan & Marilyn Bergman” (1995), “Interviews With Burt Bacharach” (1996/1998), and “Interview With Jimmy Webb” (1995) from Behind The Muse by Bill DeMain

Listserv: What we buy and why

+THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20TH

In-class Exercise: The Singer & The Song

Between-class Reading: “Preliminaries,” “How We Listen,” and “The Creative Process In Music” (1939) from What To Listen For In Music by Aaron Copland; “…to melody…,” and “…to listening…” (1997) from Music, The Brain And Ecstasy by Robert Jourdain




+TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25TH

In-class Exercise: How We Hear

Between-class Reading: “Introduction & Acknowledgements,” (1987) by Greil Marcus; “Chicago At Carnegie Hall, Volumes I, II, III & IV” (1972), “Let Us Now Praise Famous Death Dwarves” (1975), “Where Were You When Elvis Died?” (1977), “A Reasonable Guide To Horrible Noise” (1982), and “Untitled Notes” (1981) from Psychotic Reactions And Carburetor Dung by Lester Bangs

Listserv: Responding to music

+THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27TH

In-class Exercise: Visions Of Bangs

Between-class Reading: “The Myth Of Stagerlee” (1975) from Mystery Train by Greil Marcus

Project, Part Three: Further rewriting (more details to come). Due by the start of class, March 6th

+TUESDAY, MARCH 4TH

In-class Exercise: Cold Reviewing

Between-class Reading: “Limits Of The Novel And The Film” (1957) by George Bluestone and “The Hollywood Screenwriter” (1970) by Richard Corliss from Film Theory And Criticism (edited by Gerald Mast & Marshall Cohen); “The Magic Cockpit,” (1993) from The Phantom Empire by Geoffrey O’Brien

Listserv: Post the results of project, part three

+THURSDAY, MARCH 6TH

In-class Exercise: Script To Scene/Psycho to Psycho

Between-class Reading: “The Little Church Of Perry Mason” (1995) from Air Guitar by Dave Hickey; “The Imagination Of Disaster” (1965) by Susan Sontag from Film Theory And Criticism (edited by Gerald Mast & Marshall Cohen); “The Gangster As Tragic Hero” (1948) from The Immediate Experience by Robert Warshow; “A Ticket To Hell,” (1993) from The Phantom Empire by Geoffrey O’Brien

+TUESDAY, MARCH 11TH

In-class Exercise: More Trash, More Treasure

Between-class Reading: “I Guess” by Chris Ware from Raw; “Dinner At Eight” from Astro City by Kurt Busiek; “The Abyss Gazes Also” and “The Darkness Of Mere Being,” from Watchmen by Alan Moore

Listserv: Videogames as art



+THURSDAY, MARCH 13TH

In-class Exercise: Pen & Ink I

Between-class Reading: selections from Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson; selections from Peanuts by Charles Schulz; “The Profit From The Dead: Peanuts – The Art Of Charles M. Schulz & Jack Cole And Plastic Man” and “Not Just Another Rerun: Peanuts 2000” (2002) by Jesse Fuchs from The Comics Journal magazine

+TUESDAY, MARCH 18TH

In-class Exercise: Pen & Ink II

Between-class Reading: “Short And Happy” (194?) by Manny Farber from Movies (edited by Gilbert Adair); “Life, Death And ‘Nature’ In Children’s TV” (1966) by George Bluestone and “A Twenty-One Inch Medium For Thirty-Six Inch Receivers” (1966) by George Dessart from TV As Art (edited by Patrick D. Hazard); “Paul, The Horror Comics And Dr. Wertham” (1955) from The Immediate Experience by Robert Warshow

Listserv: R for restricted

+THURSDAY, MARCH 20TH

In-class Exercise: Moral Objections

Between-class Reading: “In The Business” (1999), “The Matrix review” (1999), and “Political Ethnography Of The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences” (1992) from Left In The Dark by Stuart Klawans; “Some Vagaries Of Promotion And Criticism” (2000) from Movie Wars by Jonathan Rosenbaum; “The Profits Go Up Up Up” (1978) and “I Don’t Want My MTV” (1982) from Fortunate Son by Dave Marsh; “Life As A Remake Of The Movies” (1988) by Dusan Makavejev from Movies (edited by Gilbert Adair)


TUESDAY, MARCH 25TH - SPRING BREAK

THURSDAY, MARCH 27TH - SPRING BREAK


+TUESDAY, APRIL 1ST

In-class Exercise: Advertising Survey

Between-class Reading: “The Face Of Garbo” (1953) by Roland Barthes from Film Theory And Criticism (edited by Gerald Mast & Marshall Cohen); “Entomology Of The Pin-Up Girl” (1972) by André Bazin and “Marilyn” (1975) by Norman Mailer from Movies (edited by Gilbert Adair)

+THURSDAY, APRIL 3RD

In-class Exercise: Voices & Faces

Between-class Reading: “I Remember…” (1975) by Joe Brainard and “Bad Movies” (1980) by J. Hoberman from Movies (edited by Gilbert Adair); “Little Deuce Coup: The Beach Boys’ Pat Sounds” (1978) and “A Dose Of The Real Thing” (1979) from Fortunate Son by Dave Marsh; “Every Man Is Free: Newman’s Failure,” (1975) from Mystery Train by Greil Marcus

Listserv: Who’s hot?

+TUESDAY, APRIL 8TH

In-class Exercise: Cults

Between-class Reading: “A Home In The Neon” (1994) from Air Guitar by Dave Hickey; “A Short History Of Fun,” (1993) from The Phantom Empire by Geoffrey O’Brien

Listserv: I remember...

+THURSDAY, APRIL 10TH

In-Class Exercise: The Critical I

+TUESDAY, APRIL 15TH - A VISIT FROM PHILIP MARTIN

In-Class Exercise: A conversation with The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette critic-at-large

Listserv: Knowing your place


THURSDAY, APRIL 17TH - PRESENTATIONS

TUESDAY, APRIL 22ND - PRESENTATIONS

THURSDAY, APRIL 24TH - PRESENTATIONS



THURSDAY, MAY 1ST - FINAL EXAM, 8 AM