Just about anything of interest to me: thoughts on everything from books to movies, reflections on teaching, ruminations on video games/comics that lame fanboys don't play, and...yeah, mostly comics and video games...
My good buddy at EN/SANE World pointed out this great article on the state of comics studies in the academia--something you may have noticed I've been stressing about of late. It's a great read, and I started to comment on his post but quickly realized my comment was getting a little long, decided to post it on my own blog instead of hijacking his. Here's what I wrote:
"Equally encouraging is the MLA's forthcoming Approaches to Teaching the Graphic Novel, edited by Stephen Tabachnick".
Sorry, but I gotta name drop. Dr. Tabachnick's Graphic Novel lit. class at the University of Memphis is the reason why I study comics today. He was also the chair of my honor's thesis which basically became the rough draft for my Master's Thesis. I owe a lot to this guy in terms of my career direction, so I'm definitely looking forward to this book :-)
To address the rest of the article, despite my previous fear-mongering, I actually like a lot of what this guy is saying. I've also noticed how a lot of academics either treat McCloud like he's the only game in town or ignore him completely.
And one of the things I like about comics is it's interdisciplinary nature, one of my fears that this article is quelling is that one field (like English) will try to "claim" comics to the exclusivity of others.
I also really like this because I'm learning (in my new position) how hard it is to coordinate interdisciplinary studies. And I really don't think it should be. Perhaps comics can be the "great unifier"--even if we discussed this in my comics class yesterday and most of my students refused to believe that this kind of "bridge building" is beyond the medium :-)
Recently, I've been preaching about the importance of a particular medium of art. I'm shocked to discover most of my students are not as familiar with it as they should be. But I'm not talking about books or fine art or classical music or even comics (for once). I'm talking about film. I've begun to find out that the majority of this generation is woefully under familiar with cinema. And I'm not even talking about the classics--Casablanca, Ben Hur, or even my favorite, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. I'm referring to great installments in even contemporary cinema: Slumdog Millionaire, The Dark Knight, Wall-E! Lately, I've been semi-jesting when I remark that my university really should make History or Motion Pictures (an Art Requirement elective) a core requirement. But when I do take a survey of favorite movies in my classes, most students will list Judd Appatow or Will Ferrel movies. And while I admit, these movies have their place, it's troubling to think that this is the "high art" standard the generation will hold as a model--that's setting the bar pretty low.
Indeed, even my wife, a film student, has worked with dozens of film students (from both our university and others) who simply don't watch movies--which to me is sort of like claiming to be a chef but refusing to eat anything. This subject also came up recently when the new film professor approached me about creating a new learning community connected to his History of Film class in the future. And it's lead me to postulate that at least part of the cause can be attribute to the kind of short, pithy pieces that the current generation devours (and is keen to reproduce) on YouTube.
Ironically, I was this afternoon watching the Spaced DVD commentary with Quentin Tarantino. And he stated his take on the theory about the binding power pop culture has on each generation: in the '70s, '80s, and '90s it was mainly TV, movies, and video games; the '40s, '50s and '60s had primarily music; before that was literature. I think the increased popularity of more instant/passive media such as the aforementioned YouTube, but also Twitter, iTunes, and even games like Guitar Hero (which encourage "pick up and put down" play) has decreased the need for more traditional media. And because these new mediums of pop culture are, by their very nature, so temporary, my worry is that with today's generation's lack of TV, movie, video game, music, and literary knowledge, they'll have nothing that ties them together in a decade or two.
This past week was very long for me. I had a kind of "crisis of identity" about my place in comics, the academia, and teaching. For starters, I was pointed in the direction of another new academic journal specializing in comics. In the past, I've been wary of comics recognition in higher places, and I expressed my concerns. The responses, while appreciated and certainly coming from a more experienced source, definitely made me question what it is I want to/can do with comics! Recently, I've been toying with the idea of trying to write for comics, but a quick survey of comics publishers revealed there isn't a lot of room for comics writers like me who can't really draw. And while journalism is another area I've been interested in, there isn't really an audience for anything other than mainstream comics. Which leaves me with doing something in the academia (about which I've already expressed my opinion) and teaching.
But to add doubt to that, I'm three weeks into teaching a very, very "difficult" class. I've never had a class of students like this before. Even with the most difficult, in the past I've been able to take an apathetic classroom and "jolt" them into participation. This class doesn't even laugh at my bad jokes! They just sit there and stare at me. Maybe I've just been lucky in my last couple of years of teaching, but this semester, I have the kind of class that the chair of my department (the PhD who I assist with Freshman Year Programs) calls "resistant."
Quite unrelated, however, she sent me this YouTube video of performance poetry by Taylor Mali:
Undoubtedly, this is funny stuff. And watching it after what had been the most painful class period yet really gave me a boost for the rest of the day. It even had me excited with a new activity I'm planning for one of my higher level courses (I plan on having a class watch the video and handing out a transcript of the poem to correct--should be fun).
Curious about who this Mali guy is (and hoping for some more funny poetry), I checked out some of his other videos. I wasn't disappointed:
This instantly reminded me of a lifeguard I trained/trained with who now teaches high school math for Teach for America (an organization that specializes in providing excellent teachers for underprivileged communities) who also used to teach taekwondo. (Incidentally, he's also trying to raise funds for an important class resource.)
But Mali's work isn't meant to be only humourous. And I realized this when I saw this video:
Really, these videos not only made my day, but really affirmed my desires to teach--even after a week of a "difficult" class and a "crisis of identity." As such, I simply had to share them. So I may still not be sure what I want to/can do with comics, but regardless, I know I want to keep teaching. Thanks, Taylor Mali.
