Themes of the Films of James Cameron: Call for Papers
The Popular Culture and American Culture Associations recently circulated a call for papers on the themes of the films of James Cameron:
With Avatar Canadian-born filmmaker James Cameron now has the top two all-time money making films in history, yet little in the way of critical attention has been paid to his work. His movies are [...]
Whitt and Perlich: Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Millennial Mythmaking
In the past I had an opportunity to interview David Whitt and John Perlich with the first book they co-edited, Sith, Slayers, Stargates and Cyborgs: Modern Mythology and the New Millennium (Peter Lang Publishers, 2007). Dr. David Whitt is Associate Professor of Communication at Nebraska Wesleyan University, and Dr. John Perlich is Associate Professor of [...]
2012 and Mayan Calendar of the End
Several weeks ago I first saw the trailers for 2012 in movie theaters and on television. The trailer depicted a man and his family making a last second escape from apparently worldwide destruction as homes, buildings, freeways, and entire landscapes crumbled around them in a catastrophic upheaval. A small private airplane with the family on [...]
The Old West Meets the Undead: PCA/ACA Call for Papers
The combination of certain genres don’t work for me. In this case the Old West connecting with horror, specifically in the form of cowboys combined with zombies, vampires, and other horror icons, but apparently they work for some people and have become the focus of academic consideration. Following is a call for papers from the [...]
Horror, Pop Culture, and Current Events
In the past I’ve connected aspects of the fantastic to popular culture and current events. With this post I do so again, first in serious fashion, and second with tongue in cheek.
In a recent post I asked readers to consider America’s continuing struggles with the legacy of racism through reflection on Conquest of the Planet [...]
The Otherkin: Fantastic Texts, Pop Culture, and Neo-Religiosity
At times the lines between fact and fiction are blurred when it comes to the fantastic in popular culture and identification with the various characters and creatures that inhabit it. At times the lines are not so much blurred as they are dissolved. Christopher Partridge speaks of “fact-fiction reversals” that exist, and that as a result [...]
Cinematic Extraterrestrials: Call for Papers
2008 Film & History Conference
“Film & Science: Fictions, Documentaries, and Beyond,” October 30-November 2, 2008, Chicago, Illinois, www.uwosh.edu/filmandhistory
Second-Round Deadline: September 1, 2008
Area: Cinematic Extraterrestrials
As film made its way into 20th-century popular culture, depictions of extraterrestrial aliens became more prolific and specialized, eventually becoming fixed in the imagination as cultural archetypes, while varying significantly in physical, [...]
Zombie CSU: New twist on exploration of top horror icon in pop culture
It’s no surprise that zombies have become the horror icon of late modernity/postmodernity. As a result, pop culture is filled with various explorations of these flesh eating, social alter egos. One of the forthcoming expressions of this pop culture phenomenon is the book Zombie CSU: The Forensics of the Living Dead (Citadel Press) by Jonathan Maberry, a [...]
Pop Culture Explores the Apocalypse
The January 28, 2008 issue of TIME magazine includes an interesting article in its Arts section title “Apocalypse New” by Lev Grossman. The article can also be found online here. The article is worthy of reflection in that it notes the continued exploration of the end of human life and dominance on this planet through [...]
Sith, Slayers, Stargates and Cyborgs: Modern Mythology in the New Millennium
The Popular Culture Association continues to be a great source for addressing fascinating aspects at the intersection between the fantastic and culture. Yesterday I received an announcement concerning a call for papers dealing with the topic of mythology and the new millennium for a volume that is viewed as a logical extension of a new [...]
