My Motivation

I spent two decades in Hollywood editing and producing film trailers, music videos, and national TV spots. I collaborated with artists, directors, and producers to create plenty of eye candy. In my second career, I teach university students how to make eye candy in courses such as digital filmmaking, editing, film studies, and social justice media.

Through the lens of an emerging scholar, I am intrigued by ways in which the media concretize current ideologies and perpetuate existing ones. For instance, I look at how the media, to include filmmakers, communicate the image of the Black man through racial ideology. It seems the more ways in which films represent a Black man with social mobility, the portrayals eventually dovetail into longstanding stereotypes as entertainer, servant, and/or troublemaker.

How about ways in which the media ideologically depict working-class to viewers? Perhaps a working-class neighborhood includes scenes dominated by hardscape (asphalt, chain link fences, fast food restaurants, hyper bling, mass transit vehicles, wrought iron bars, etc.).

The first topic that comes to mind regarding girlhood is commodification. In one sense, it seems taboo to package, distribute, market, and sell innocence; especially embodied as a preteen girl. However, as evident by advertisements seen in various media outlets, commodification of girlhood would not exist without a robust audience and consumer base.

I have examined and explored many types of ideology, but know little about girlhood. I look forward to learning about the topic, then sharing my interpretations and sensibilities. I invite ways in which notions of girlhood may influence my academic endeavors.

Bobby