Henry Jenkins, author of ‘Fans, Bloggers and Gamers: Exploring Participatory Culture’, writes in the Globe and Mail this weekend that, “People around the world are mobilizing icons and myths from popular culture as resources for political speech…”
He notes, “A team of researchers at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism – myself included – have been mapping many recent examples of groups repurposing pop culture toward social justice. Our focus is on what we call participatory culture: in contrast to mass media’s spectator culture, digital media has allowed many more consumers to take media into their own hands, hijacking culture for their own purposes. Shared narratives provide the foundation for strong social networks, generating spaces where ideas get discussed, knowledge gets produced, and culture gets created. In this process, fans are acquiring skills and building a grassroots infrastructure for sharing their perspectives on the world.”
Examples noted in his article:
AVATAR
“Five Palestinian, Israeli and international activists painted themselves blue to resemble the Na’vi from James Cameron’s blockbuster Avatar in February, and marched through the occupied village of Bil’in. The Israeli military used tear gas and sound bombs on the azure-skinned protesters, who wore traditional kaffiyehs with their Na’vi tails and pointy ears.”
To see a 3-minute video of this protest, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=em8gCavZdig.
“The image of the Na’vi has (also) been taken up by protest groups in many parts of the world, the myth has been rewritten to focus on local embodiments of the military-industrial complex. In Bil’in, the focus was on the Israeli army; in China, on indigenous people against the Beijing government; in Brazil, the Amazonian Indians against logging companies. Without painting themselves blue, people like the Indian writer Arundhati Roy and the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek have used discussions about Avatar to call attention to the plight of the Dongria Kondh peoples of India, who have just won a battle with their government over access to traditional territories rich in bauxite.”
HARRY POTTER
“(The Harry Potter Alliance) has mobilized more than 100,000 young people worldwide to participate in campaigns against genocide in Africa; in support of workers’ rights and gay marriage; to raise money for disaster relief in Haiti; to call attention to media concentration and many other causes. J.K. Rowling’s creation, Harry Potter, (HPA director Andrew) Slack argues, realized that the government and the media were lying to the public in order to mask evil, organized his classmates to form Dumbledore’s Army and went out to change the world. Mr. Slack asks his followers what evils Dumbledore’s Army would be battling in our world. In Maine, the alliance organized a competition among fans affiliated with the houses of the fictional Hogwarts school, to see who could get the most voters to the polls in a referendum on equal marriage rights. All this may mobilize young people who have traditionally felt excluded or marginalized from the political process.”
DORA THE EXPLORER
“Consider the ways that Dora the Explorer, the Latina girl at the centre of a popular American public television series, has been deployed by both the right and the left to dramatize the likely consequences of Arizona’s new immigration law.”
BATMAN
“Or how the U.S. Tea Party has embraced a mash-up of Obama and the Joker from The Dark Knight Returns (one of the Batman films) as a recurring image in its battle against health-care reform.”
The full Globe and Mail article can be read at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/avatar-activism-pick-your-protest/article1712766/. Their on-line poll asks ‘Does pop culture have a place in political discourse?’. So far, 65 percent say no.
