On June 19th
2023, The
Sociologist’s Dojo blog will celebrate its 10th
anniversary. In this brief paper, I will look back on the last ten years of
Sociological film analysis, and give “The Dojo’s: Ten years, Top Ten essays.” The criterion for this curated list is eclectic;
some essays are chosen for their significance to the blog, others are selected
because they are connected to specific historical events at the time, while
others are selected because of personal interest, they are well written, or
haven’t been viewed/read by many people.
ORIGINS
The following story also recounted in Episode
1 of the Podcast, and the Episode
312: Zen and the White Male Savior in Film
from The
Social Breakdown Podcast
The
start of the blog began with my first viewing of Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel
in June of 2013. Being such a Superman fan since I was a young child, and
growing up on the Richard Donner/Christopher Reeve Superman, I could not believe
that this paragon of goodness, the best reflection of humanity, was a bleakly
morose brooding child whose parents tell them to let people die, including
themselves, and that secrets, above everything else, are worth keeping. In
addition to the now typical criticisms of wanton destruction, civilian deaths,
and Superman murdering Zod…Krypton’s Sun was Yellow!!!
Zack
Snyder's 'Man of Steel' is such a bloated, shaky, incoherent mess, it robs
Superman of his majesty, grace, morality, and above all...hope. Snyder
"accomplishes" this through a disjointed plot, two-
dimensional/underdeveloped characters, poorly written dialogue, and sloppy
direction. (Man
of Steel Review)
The film was an abysmal mess,
and I could not let it go. My rage did not subside as I started to think about
the many ways that the film misrepresented the character of Superman. I began
to think about what Superman was as a cultural product, and what the imagery of
Superman represented in the public consciousness. Initially, I was doing this
to provide some “evidence” and justification for my hatred of the film (not
good research, to be certain). Yet, as I started to breakdown the character,
applying concepts that I had learned from my expertise and training about
masculinity and religion, I really got into thinking about film and popular
culture in an academic way. So, I started a blog.
Externally, I told myself
that the reason I chose the blog as the initial format for my content is
because I wanted to be like Sociologist
C. Wright Mills; to be a public intellectual and engage
in “Public
Sociology”. Public Sociology is
a style of sociology that seeks to engage directly with the public to help
foster more immediate and (possibly) greater social change. Internally, not
unlike many of the egoistic fascist-like douche bag overtly masculine directors
I despise, I wanted to keep “my vision” of the blog pure. Truthfully, I did not
want to deal with the anxiety and feelings of rejection that come with academic
publishing because I was afraid of rejection, and I did not want to deal with
criticism. A self-published blog was the easiest way to achieve that.
What’s in a Name?
I chose the name “The Sociologist’s Dojo” for a couple
of reasons. The first is that the name and the content represent my three main
life passions: Sociology, the martial arts, and film and popular culture. All
these things represent me, and my interests. Secondarily, aside from sounding
cool, I asked the question: “Where is the Sociologist’s Dojo?” Where do they
learn and train to hone their skills? We would traditionally see this to be in
the ivory tower of academia, but in practice, it is within society.
Sociologists are different than any other type of scientist in that we
constantly participate in the very things that we study. Even we cannot escape
cultural and social norms that we have been socialized to follow. The name is
intended to reflect all of this.
The Shifts in Focus
At the onset, the beginning of the blog had a much
broader focus to cover comics, and martial arts. While some of the early essays
reflect this broader scope, it was more so a starting point, raw materials that
needed to be refined.
Trivia: The first post on the blog wasn’t an essay, it
was a ‘Welcome’:
Greetings all,
I
created this blog as a space to discuss the things that I love: Sociology,
Martial Arts, Superheroes, Books and Cinema.
This blog will focus on the social analysis of popular culture, Martial
Arts and anything that I feel is "Geek" worthy. Essentially, the posts that are to follow are
going to be rants and/or raves about society, culture, social theory, martial
arts, movies, and virtually anything else that comes into my head.
Enjoy
:)
As I continued to refine my writing skills and find
the voice of the blog, I began to narrow my focus to specifically film and
popular culture. In that, I started to think about in-depth analysis of film
from a Sociological Perspective which led to a shedding of a lot of comics and
martial arts content, though it does come up again sporadically. One of the
biggest shifts, early on, was the development of my ongoing series on a
director’s filmography. In the ten years of the blog, I have covered the films
of Christopher
Nolan, Hayao
Miyazaki, Karyn
Kusama and The
Chambara films of Akira Kurosawa. As this feature
continues, I will attempt to do more Avant Garde and less mainstream directors,
while trying to include as many women and people of color as possible. Also, I will
not be covering the white male darlings of 70’s new Hollywood
(Scorsese, Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg, Cameron, Kubrick).
Conversely, there were
things that I have written about in the early days, that I will not do anymore
or have moved away from. Early on, there were straight reviews for films with
little Sociological analysis, such as the reviews for Guardians
of the Galaxy, Gravity,
or Transcendence
(yeesh!). I eventually ended my straight reviews, without a specific
Sociological bent to it with X-Men:
Days of Future Past when I began to develop the (now) typical
structure for the film review that can be found in the Analytical essay for James
Mangold’s Logan. Additionally,
where I used to write a lot about the character of Batman, given “The
Dark Knight Trilogy”, as of my essay on police brutality and
popular culture during the 2020 protests (see below), I will no longer writing
about Batman.
TEN YEARS, TOP TEN ESSAYS IN ‘THE
SOCIOOLOGIST’S DOJO’
With each of the essays that I will highlight in this
section I will give some greater context of the blog:
2013: Man
of Steel Review Part II Analysis of an Icon
Where
it all started. This year saw the most essays written for the blog in a single
year and started the director series with The
Films of Christopher Nolan. This year, the essay
that really stands out for me is the essay “’Man of Steel’ Review part II:
Analysis of an Icon” the second part of my evisceration of Zack Snyder’s Man
of Steel. This essay was the first breath of what the blog would eventually
become. I also came back to this subject years later with the second Podcast
episode “Sparring
with Superman.”
2014: TFCN:
The Dark Knight Rises
During the second year of the blog the structure of the essays and the focus of the blog began to crystallize. But still there were less analytical essays and pieces on current pop cultural news that became too difficult to keep up with. This year also saw essays on the Michael Brown murder in Ferguson and an early review of Bong Joon Ho’s Snowpiercer. The essay that is important out of this sophomore year is the essay on The Dark Knight Rises which signifies the solidification of the structure of the blogs essay analysis.
2015: The
Furious Age of Feminism: The Mad Max and Avengers' Gender Controversy
The
third year of the blog saw some misfires with the soft commitment to writing a “Comics
Character Profile” This idea was later scrapped when I realized
that I just wanted to write on one of my favorite characters: John
Constantine. I later repeat this
mistake in 2017. 2015 also had several “Sociological Alert essays on the Paris
attacks, and Marriage
Equality as well as
Rachel Dolezal and the Domestic Terrorism of Dylan Roof.
I would often use the phrase “Sociology Alert” to convey that the essays would
be more societal/current event focus and not localized to films (Last used in
2021). However, there was an intersection of current events and film with the
very different blowback felt by Avengers: Age of Ultron and Mad Max:
Fury Road each sexist and anti-feminist in nature. This is what let to that
essay getting the spotlight.
2016: The
Machete Cut and the Diminishing Margin Utility of Star Wars
Year
four of the blog begins the lean years. This was a period of 3 years where I
was building new curriculum, writing new degrees/courses and going through a
personal crisis or two, that did not leave a lot of room for non-work-related
fun essay writing. However, I still managed to write my “Trump Analysis
Trilogy” three interlocking essays which served as my process for working
through the events of the 2016 election.
Part
I: “Donald Trump and the Rise of Reality Politics”
Part
II: A ‘Trumped up’ Future: The Shaping of the 45th Presidency
Part
III: Racism, Donald Trump and the Price of Nostalgia
Additionally, in the space of film and popular culture,
we were amidst a new Star Wars Trilogy, and I decided to watch the original
trilogy in the famed “Machete” order and realized that perhaps, I do not like
Star Wars as much as I thought I did.
2017: The
Distilled and Sterilized Feminism of Wonder Woman
The beginning of the
fifth year of the blog saw another awkwardly introduced, but never followed
through, segment spotlighting Social theorists when all I really wanted to talk
about was C.
Wright Mills. I also wrote a bonus essay not included
in the “Trump Analysis Trilogy” discussing
“Trump,
Propaganda and Linguistic Imperialism” This year also saw the
first essay of a new film by a director I had already covered (Nolan’s Dunkirk).
Yet, the essay I chose to spotlight here, goes back to the misfire of Patty
Jenkin’s Wonder Woman and how the character in the Zack Snyder DCEU did
not work.
2018: The
Feminism of “Suspiria” terrifies the Patriarchy
In 2018, the blog had a lot of firsts. It saw the beginning of the series on The Films of Hayao Miyazaki (that lasts for 2 and ½ years). This year was the first time something I wrote, “Zen and the Death of the White Male Savior.” got outside attention (From The Social Breakdown Podcast). This year also saw the first of the blog’s “Top Ten” lists, and the first time I saw Panos Cosmatoes’ Mandy I have talked about Mandy a lot since that initial review. I have done a Bonus Commentary episode on the Podcast about it, and most recently, I was a guest on “Who’s There: A Horror Movie Fan Podcast talking about Mandy. So, I think it a bit self-indulgent to put this review, yet again, front and center. Instead, I am choosing Luca Guadagnino’s remake of “Suspiria” because anything that terrifies the Patriarchy that much, I. Absolutely. Love.
2019: TFHM:
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
This
year saw the
continuation of analyzing Miyazaki films, and a look into the sociological
relevance of the villain motivation in The
Legend of Korra Few essays were
published during the calendar year 2019. I was experiencing the lead up to, and
onset of, a personal crisis that lingered for years afterwards. I had to find
out who I was again and what I wanted. Turns out, I wanted to analyze film and
Popular culture by using the Sociological Perspective.
2020: BLM,
Batman and Police Militarization
With
my personal crisis in full swing, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and I like most
people, was under lockdown beginning in March of that year. I ended up not
going back to my office and teaching in person for almost 2 years. However,
with that time, I decided to recommit myself to the blog, promising myself to
provide one essay a month, or at least 12 essays a year. This is a commitment I
still hold to three years later. To that end, this year saw essays on a
Comparison between Kurosawa’s
High and Low and Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite, as well as the
bulk of Miyazaki essays on Castle
in the Sky, Totoro,
Kiki’s,
Porco
Rosso, Princess
Mononoke, and Spirited
Away. I also wrote a “scathing” critique of the comic book film genre
in defense of M. Night Shyamalan’s “Eastrail
177 Trilogy” as well as reviews of Birds
of Prey and Akira.
In October of 2020, I
started The
Sociologist’s Dojo Podcast, with an equal commitment to one episode a month.
As of this writing, I have published 31 episodes, 4 episodes recorded yet to be
published and 3 episodes planned but still to be recorded. I have had the fortune
to have great guests, many of them turning into friendships. Those that want to
be on the Podcast contact me on
Twitter or email me at thesociologistsdojo@gmail.com.
Yet, given the context of the hellscape that was 2020, the essay I chose to
highlight above reflects a part of that disruption.
The beginning
of 2021 was a scramble to write something relevant
to the Jan 6th Insurrection. After which, I finished up the
Miyazaki series with Howl’s
Moving Castle, Ponyo
and The
Wind Rises, Continuation of The films of Christopher Nolan with
Tenet, and the start of “The
Chambara Films of Akira Kurosawa”. This year I began to dip my toe in the academic
publishing waters with a review of the documentary Crip Camp
for the American Sociological Journal Teaching Sociology. I also
wrote an article that was featured at the North East MLA conference on Disability
and Capitalism among Horror Antagonists, and a essay on the brilliance
of Nicolas Cage which I used as the basis for Episode 20 of the Podcast
aptly titled “The
Nic Cage Episode.”. The essay I chose to feature was inspired out of
discussions with friend of the podcast Dr.
Liz W. Faber, as they developed their ideas for their new book Robot
Suicide: Death, Identity and AI. in Science Fiction.
2022: A Gender Analysis Gemini: When
Gender Socialization met the RomCom… / Police,
‘The Punisher’ and Performative Masculinity
The boon of recognition continued
in 2022 as an essay
I wrote in January of that year was reworked and published in the anthology
Global
Perspectives on the Liminality of the Supernatural From Animus to Zombi
edited by the fantastic Dr.
Rebecca Gibson, friend and frequent collaborator on the podcast. This year
saw the finishing and bulk of The Chambara films of Akira Kurosawa ( Throne
of Blood, Hidden
Fortress, Yojimbo/Sanjuro,
Kagemusha
and Ran)
and the Start of the Films of Karyn Kusama (with Girlfight
and Aeon
Flux). The two essays that I chose to highlight were essays that were a
long time coming, some brewing for years (The romcom essay) others needing a
catalyst (Uvalde school shooting) to provide enough motivation to write the
essay.
2023: Best so far: Death,
Taxes, and Bureaucracy a Weberian Analysis of Kurosawa’s Ikiru
2023 has been consumed by
the completion of The Films of Karyn Kusama (Jennifer’s
Body, The
Invitation, Destroyer
and a bonus essay on Season
1 of “YellowJackets”). The remainder of this year will see an essay analyzing
Thema and Louise to commemorate the recent 4k Criterion
release, and the start of “The Films of Ana Lilly Amirpour”.
The essay I chose to highlight this year is my long gestating essay trying to talk
about the aspect of Weberian theory in Kurosawa’s Ikiru.
CONCLUSION
Part
of finding purpose in life is in the pursuit of marrying your work with your
passions. I have dedicated my life to the study of society, and I love to write
and discuss film and popular culture. I hope that my obsession and life’s
mission has brought both my readers and my listeners some perspective and entertainment
in equal measure. Late in my graduate study, a good friend of mine astutely professed
that to know me, to talk to me, is both parts wisdom and absurdity in equal
measure. I hope I have brought those qualities to my readers over these last
ten years. For those who have stuck with me over the decade, I hope you can say
that both the blog and my style have refined and gotten better. If not, thank
you for riding the wave of quality over the years. Looking forward, I have no
plans on ending this site or its mission. If life creeps and affects the frequency
of publication, please be patient. Lastly, if you have only read my written
work, please check out my Podcast. It is a lot of fun, and I talk to interesting
people about film, popular culture, and their work. Here’s to another 10 years of Sociological
analysis of film and popular culture. Please join me, it will be an adventure. 😊
