Reading: Jenkins "Quentin Tarantino's Star Wars?: Digital Cinema, Media Convergence, and Participatory Culture"
The topics of Jenkins' writing is the contradictory existence of media convergence and participatory in culture through the example of Star Wars. Media convergence describes a culture where there are a few large corporations that control most of the culture without influence from people and a monopolizing existence. In media convergence, Star Wars is created by rich people who are seeking to increase their wealth by using a series of very successful movies to continue to support their habits. On the other hand, participatory culture argues that the most influential participants in culture are the majority of people, who direct what happens. According to participatory culture, where people are actors not just consumers, Star Wars is an example of how subcultures promote the continue success of one market. The people who pay for movie tickets, merchandise, and the franchise as a whole ensure its existence. Media convergence states that the creators are the most important people because without them, Star Wars would not exist in the first place. In participatory culture, the general population are the most important people because without them, Star Wars would not be as successful as it currently is. Jenkins does not attempt to make an argument in support of one theory over the other, preferring to allow his reader that decision.
Comments
Post a Comment