Episode 19: The Cabinet of Dr. Obama
posted by Matthew Wrather on Monday, November 10th, 2008 at 12:44am
Matthew Wrather, Mark Lee, and Matthew Belinkie are joined by less frequent podcasters David Shechner and Peter Fenzel and (again!) by guest Josh McNeil to overthink:
- What it means to be a blog
- What is Popular Culture
- The Cosby Effect
- A Fictional Cabinet of Barack Obama
lee on Mon, 10th Nov 2008 1:07 am
Bonus points to the first commenter who catches the title reference (I think it’s pretty obscure, but you all may prove me wrong).
Matthew Wrather on Mon, 10th Nov 2008 1:21 am
Oh snap. I just twittered the same thing. Maybe I gave too much away?
sarielthrawn on Mon, 10th Nov 2008 4:09 am
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari?
shechner on Mon, 10th Nov 2008 1:31 pm
I dunno what this says about me, but I *own* the Doktor Caligari action figure.
Maybe it says that a 30-year old man shouldn’t own action figures. Even German Expressionist ones. Nay, *especially* German Expressionist ones.
-Sheq, who’s got a thing for somnambulists, in general.
Katie on Mon, 10th Nov 2008 7:23 pm
I was sad that you gave it away via Twitter. Good reference.
Gab on Wed, 12th Nov 2008 10:12 am
I don’t follow the Twitter thing because I’m pretty opposed to it in general, so I didn’t get *that* clue. But after figuring it out, I watched the movie online (and it’s in public domain now, so no IP laws being violated, take that). I couldn’t help but think of the similarities in camera angles, set design, and general style between it and the Red Hot Chilipeppers video for “Otherside.” Am I nuts?
And I feel like Keith David’s plethora of diverse roles (gargoyle, cop, general, etc.) was left out of Obama’s cabinet. I’d feel safe/secure with regards to whatever department he was head of.
Mads on Thu, 13th Nov 2008 7:52 am
This is a comment on the discussion on what separates the popular from the advangarde i tirms of culture. In “The distinction” Bourdieu seperates fine art from popular taste in this way: fine art (he called it “legitimate taste”) is what is being dictated by the elite (elite in terms education). popular taste is dictated by how well known a piece of art (in this case music) is in all classes of society. So a piece of art can be devalued by popularity.
I read something a while a go, and I thefore don’t remember the source. But someone claimed another separation between popular art and fine art. Thats is complexity. The more complex a piece is, it will be regarded as more fine. The more cultural capital (Bordieu of cause) you need to understand a piace of art, the better it is regarded. The whole point of the article was a critique of the way the elite maintain the privilege too dictate high and low culture by choosing complexity over quality.
Mads on Thu, 13th Nov 2008 7:55 am
…oh and i didn’t only get the reference I have the movie on DVD, though sadly not the action figure…