Sociology in Wall-E (2008)

"Wall-E as Sociological Story Telling" -- Pop Culture Detective, 2017, 15:25 -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1-vPQKwXbY

Video's Description: "Pixar’s Wall-E is a masterpiece of animated filmmaking about two adorable robots falling in love, though I’d argue it also serves as an excellent example of sociological storytelling. Social systems are one of the most important, and most misunderstood, concepts in my work on media and masculinity. So in this video essay I use Wall-E's Axiom star liner (and the board game Monopoly) to illustrate how social systems operate in our culture".  

Science, Intuition, Experience, and Tradition

Equipment Reviews: Best Cutting Boards -- America's Test Kitchen, 2013, 3:10 -- https://youtu.be/lPyhS2LX_Co

I've been looking for a way to incorporate America's Test Kitchen into my classes and believe their equipment reviews are an excellent example of competing sources of knowledge. 

From my own experience, every cutting board I've ever owned cracked and warped. Although I must admit I bought these cheap, experience would tell me to purchase the thickest, heaviest board available. My intuition tells me a different truth. If I was interested in purchasing a new cutting board, I would be attracted to the most vibrant colors and the sexiest design. Intuition also tells me that the most expensive board would be the best board. Tradition tells me a different truth as well. I can vaguely remember the cutting board my parent's owned and if I wanted traditional advice, I can call my parents and ask for their suggestion as to the best board. But a scientific approach to "the best cutting board" reveals a different truth than these former sources of knowledge. Gadget Guru Lisa McManus shows us her sample, method, and results from testing a variety of cutting boards, and the winner of this evidence-based approach differs from what my experience, intuition, and tradition would tell me. The best cutting board isn't the heaviest, sexiest, or most expensive, and the video above proves this with empirical data and methodological transparency. Another video that works with these 4 competing sources of truth is their review of collanders.     

The Music Doesn't Matter

Popstar Factory -- Vice News Tonight (HBO), 2017, 6:14 -- https://youtu.be/avp4a-WKIRU?t=16m43s

Capitalism has a peculiar way of stripping meaning from cultural arts. Here we see a rationalized process to produce musical icons where the music is the least important thing. It's almost genius-- if you can build up enough buzz around a "product" by appealing to popular trends (i.e., tennis, genderless) then you're likely to make a profit from merchandising and the initial hype. 

Max Weber would lose it if he saw this. The dream of becoming a popstar is now disenchanted and the popstars themselves are now trapped in the iron cage.   

Colorism in Ancient Art

Marble Helped Scholars Whitewash Ancient History -- Vice News Tonight (HBO), 2017, 4:02 -- https://youtu.be/86PD8o6xe_4

I became so mad after I saw this news segment on the whitewashing of sculptures. I never knew these iconographic works of art were originally painted and I now feel duped by the numerous museums where these statues are preserved. If they were intended by their creators to be colorful, then they should be presented as such. This revealing clip speaks to the concepts of colorism, whitewashing, imagined communities, and the white racial frame (among others). I bet students may find this to be an awakening moment too. I certainly did!

Subcultural Tastes

Why people keep watching the worst movie ever made -- Vox, 2017, 5:32 -- https://youtu.be/k27mr6p-yhY

Big shout out to Vox @Voxdotcom for explicitly incorporating a major sociological concept, cultural capital, into their video on fans of “trash cinema”. It’s a good example of subcultures and while there is lots of subjectivity here, the idea of having a good taste in bad taste should make for an interesting discussion. I wonder what John Waters would think…