Study: Television and Film Reboots Can Reclaim Black History and Culture
A new study has found that Black history can be rehistoricized to articulate contemporary racial issues in an entertainment format.
The findings by University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Journalism Assistant Professor Rachel Grant and Hayley Markovich, Ph.D. 2022, are featured in “Rehistoricizing Black Masculinity in ‘The Wonder Years’ Reboot” published in Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly on Oct. 26.
According to the authors, “Popular entertainment remains one of the last places where Black history lives on despite the recent political erasure of U.S. Black struggles. The 2021 reboot of ‘The Wonder Years,’ reframing Black masculinity through the young eyes of main character Dean Williams, rehistoricizes modern notions of Black families in the post-Civil Rights Movement.”
They add, “The purpose of this study is to explore Black masculinity media representations within reboot culture as a means to rehistoricize Black struggle and civil rights.”
Based on discourse analysis, the authors found the following three discourses: Reimagining Black Excellence, Recontextualizing Black Masculinity and Revisiting Respectability Politics.
Grant has studied other television and film “reboots” and found that when authenticity is emboldened, cultural narratives can shift and viewers can learn and grow. More information on her previous studies is featured in: https://www.jou.ufl.edu/insights/we-cant-overestimate-the-power-of-representation-in-reboots/
Posted: October 29, 2024
Category: College News
Tagged as: Black History, Film and Televivion Reboots, Journalism, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Rachel Grant
