Alas, Poor Peanut; I Knew Him Well
By Jason T Sparks My relationship to advertising is complicated, and I know exactly why. I grew up around advertising; my father was an account executive at an agency called Carden & Cherry for...
Category: cultural deconstruction
You Gotta Break A Few Eggs:” Woody Allen’s “Café Society
I’m extremely proud to present a look at the new Woody Allen movie “Cafe Society” from @lordbyron080808! Enjoy! “You Gotta Break A Few Eggs:” Woody Allen’s “Café Society” As Autobiography And A...
Black Like Me: Free State of Jones
Thanks to @lordbyron080808 for taking a look at a new film from his unique perspective! Black Like Me: Free State of Jones,” Eric Foner’s “Reconstruction,” and the Transformation of the Hollywood “White Savior” Complex Have...
Couch Cultural Deconstruction
If all of our furniture could talk, it would have something to say. Maybe this couch in East Austin has self-esteem issues? For more on our cultural relationship to objects, you should really read...
Oh, Canada! On Canadian Nationalism
In light of last week’s spike in Google searches for “How to move to Canada” following the wins of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton at the recent Super Tuesday primary, here is a guest...
“What happened at the New Wil’ins?”: Cultural and Historical (Re)Construction in Beyoncé’s “Formation” videos
I am proud to present an unusual take on Beyonce’s “Formation” video: an academic close-reading of the video by independent scholar and guest blogger Byron King: “What happened at the New Wil’ins?”: Cultural and...
Guest Post: Robert Arjet Takes On the Audi Super Bowl XLVII Prom Commercial
I’m thrilled to bring you my very first guest post on this site, written by my very, very clever friend Robert Arjet. When he hinted at this take on a Super Bowl commercial on social media, I invited him to write the post below!
By Robert Arjet
I’m a big fan of the Super Bowl commercials. That means that every year, after the game, I get involved in discussions about the best and the worst and (sadly) the most offensive. This year I was participating in a Facebook comment thread about the pointing out the gender issues of Audi’s Superbowl ad, and someone else said one of the things that just gets right under my skin during conversations like this. They said: “You’re thinking about it waaaay too much.”
The Geico gecko’s gone working class– why?
If America is a classless society, why has the Geico gecko on the telly suddenly developed a working-class British accent? Although geckos are the only lizards with a voice, this accent seems odd to...
Why we love to see big names brought down to size; It’s all about the love, envy and gossip, experts say
Martha Stewart was in the headlines most of last year for alleged insider trading. Winona Ryder’s legal troubles were covered with more enthusiasm than the recent midterm elections. And most of us knew about...
Meet the SYMPLES
Austin’s recent population explosion very well may have been the result of a shipping error at J. Crew. Think about it. How else could so many young, well-groomed professionals have washed up here on...
