Browsing by Subject "Sacha Baron Cohen"
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Item Laughter and consequence : rhetoric and the trouble with intention in humor and identity politics(2015-08) Blouke, Catherine McKenzie; Davis, D. Diane (Debra Diane), 1963-; Roberts-Miller, Patricia; Gunn, Joshua; Boyle, Casey; Hodgson, JustinAt the turn of the 21st Century, comedians such as Sacha Baron Cohen and Dave Chappelle, as well as the theater group Speak Theater Arts (figures analyzed in the following chapters), use humor to critique contemporary notions of identity in terms of race, gender, and sexuality. As we increasingly see humor used to address issues of identity, we must strive to understand the implications and effects of laughing at/through/with (our) communities. When and how do performers and audiences perceive humor as the means to disrupt harmful cultural stereotypes? And when, conversely, does humor reinforce negative ideologies, preserving racism and homophobia, chauvinism and bigotry? By thinking through individual relationships to various topics and to the structural modes of presentation, we might move a step closer to understanding humor’s positive potentials and its destructive forces -- how they veer in one direction or another, how it can be used as a tool of liberation and oppression, and how this depends fundamentally on the subjects it touches (upon). Read across texts of cultural and linguistic theorists of the past fifty years, the works of many contemporary comedians question the possibility of stable contexts and fixed meanings, as well as the very notion of group or self-identity. The humor we see emerging from the chasm that the civil rights and political correctness movements sought to bridge operates within and relies upon instabilities: challenging the notions of what a humorist can get away with and what an audience will (or should) accept. Within the system of identity politics, these humorists act as double agents: often gaining authority from the notion of a group identity while simultaneously breaking that notion apart. They highlight the totalizing effects of identity politics: the claim that one voice may speak for the many (with or without their consent) on the basis of a shared identity. And they do it with a smile. Laughter and Consequence analyzes the relationship between humor and identity politics, how we tend to read laughter and intention in relation to the body, and how language, violence, and power come together in comic performances.Item Satiric infotainment TV shows(2012-08) Alonso, Paul, 1978-; Harp, Dustin, 1968-; Jensen, Robert, 1958-; Alves, Rosental; Dahlby, Tracy; De Uriarte, Mercedes Lynn; Dietz, HenryThis dissertation analyzes the discourse of three infotainment television shows built around their hosts – characters who have gained considerable importance and influence in their respective countries: American Jon Stewart (host of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart); British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen (the actor who incarnates the popular characters Borat, Bruno, and Ali G in the Da Ali G Show), and Peruvian Jaime Bayly (host of the Peruvian TV show El Francotirador/The Sniper). These three shows responded to their specific national, cultural, social, and political contexts, while simultaneously demonstrating important similarities: they parody journalistic genres while questioning traditional journalism authority and arbitrary media norms; they use humor to develop political, social, and cultural critiques; and they revolve around a talented character who is a media celebrity. Drawing upon theory and literature related to media spectacle, infotainment, tabloidization, celebrity, and the carnivalesque, this research analyzes the three media characters’ discourse and critiques within their respective national and cultural contexts in order to understand their role in those societies and how they negotiate discursive power in the public sphere. This analysis also seeks to reveal how Stewart challenges the mainstream news media by exposing the difficulties of debate in the U.S.; how the subaltern voices of Ali G, Bruno, and Borat position Sacha Baron Cohen to confront hegemonic culture and identity; and how ambiguity and contradiction allow Bayly to be a transgressor in a society where entertainment has a particular political history. This research establishes commonalities and differences among these three representative cases in relation to the broader, global phenomenon of satiric infotainment, and introduces the notion of “critical infotainment” to characterize this satiric trend that combines entertainment, comedy, journalism, popular culture, and politics to develop social critique. Critical infotainment is interpreted as a result of and a transgressive reaction to the process of tabloidization and the cult of celebrity in the media spectacle era. Finally, this dissertation includes recommendations for future critical infotainment experiments to fill the gap left by the traditional press in today’s mediascape.