Jack Black’s 4th time hosting on April 5, 2025 was a refreshingly silly reprieve, from current events and a string of underwhelming episodes. We discuss the implications of the call-and-response-gone-wrong in Weekend Update: Ego Nwodim on the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, ethical non-monogamy in Making Love, and the potential of framing to disrupt collective memory in Times Square Kiss. We also discuss The First Play through the lens of learning to engage with media, the psychology of heckling, and imaginative resistance. Entertainment attorney and Newhouse TRF Professor Immy Farukhi also shares his strategy for teaching obscenity and indecency. Readings include developmental and relationship psychology, the context of offense, and the rise of heckling.
Listen on Libsyn: https://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/id/36109225
Bonus Content
We talk with Immy Farukhi, an entertainment lawyer and professor at Syracuse University, about Ego Nwodim’s appearance on Weekend Update. We discuss the legal distinctions between “obscene” and “indecent,” the role of satire and the First Amendment, and the inherent political nature of the FCC. Prof. Farukhi emphasizes the importance of nuanced legal education, teaching students to analyze legal tests and apply them to real-world situations, fostering critical thinking rather than black-and-white answers.
Readings
Bazalgette, C. (2022). How toddlers learn the secret language of movies. London/New York: Palgrave Macmillan. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/978-3-030-97468-8.pdf
Carlin, G. (1972). Seven Words You Can’t Say On Television. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyBH5oNQOS0
Corsbie-Massay, C.L. (2021). Theatrical Film and Replicating Movement. 20th Century Media and the American Psyche. Routledge.
Crawley, A. M., Anderson, D. R., Santomero, A., Wilder, A., Williams, M., Evans, M. K., & Bryant, J. (2002). Do children learn how to watch television? The impact of extensive experience with Blue’s Clues on preschool children’s television viewing behavior. Journal of communication, 52(2), 264-280. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2002.tb02544.x
FCC (nd). Obscene, Indecent and Profane Broadcasts. https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/obscene-indecent-and-profane-broadcasts
FCC vs. Pacifica Foundation (1978). https://www.oyez.org/cases/1977/77-528
Feinberg, J. (1984). Offense to others (Vol. 2). Oxford University Press. https://global.oup.com/academic/product/offense-to-others-9780195052152
Flicker, S. M., & Sancier-Barbosa, F. (2024). Your happiness is my happiness: Predicting positive feelings for a partner’s consensual extra-dyadic intimate relations. Archives of sexual behavior, 53(3), 941-958. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-023-02766-5
Summarized by Dolan: https://www.psypost.org/study-identifies-key-factors-boosting-compersion-in-non-monogamous-relationships/
Messaris, P., & Abraham, L. (2001). The role of images in framing news stories. In Framing public life (pp. 231-242). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781410605689-22/role-images-framing-news-stories-paul-messaris-linus-abraham
Sauchelli, A. (2019). On the Study of Imaginative Resistance. Analytic Philosophy, 60(2), 164-178. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/phib.12150
Schwartz, B. (1998). Frame images: Towards a semiotics of collective memory. https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/semi.1998.121.1-2.1/html
Terry, C. R., & Wagner, K. (2022). Super Bowl Halftime Shows, Wardrobe Malfunctions, Stripper Poles, and the Never-Ending Saga of Indecency Enforcement by the FCC. Journal of Media Law and Ethics, 10(1), 18-31. https://openurl.ebsco.com/EPDB%3Agcd%3A4%3A29314964/detailv2?sid=ebsco%3Aplink%3Ascholar&id=ebsco%3Agcd%3A164161795
Weeks, L. (2012). Hey! You! The Unstoppable Rise Of Heckling. https://www.npr.org/2012/05/25/153689959/hey-you-the-unstoppable-rise-of-heckling
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