Henry Jenkins returns to Atlanta, speaks on pop culture and politics

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• ANDREW YOUNG??
• ACA-FAN: Henry Jenkins visits Emory to discuss his scholarship on pop culture.?

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Emory University kicked off its new major in Media Studies last Monday by hosting prominent media scholar Henry Jenkins. An Atlanta native and Georgia State University graduate, Jenkins is the Provost’s Professor of Communication, Journalism, and Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California, and a self-identified “aca-fan” — an academic who is also a fan of the media that he or she studies. Living up to the moniker, Jenkins has written prolifically on film, television, video games, and comics, ultimately helping to usher pop culture into scholarly circles.?

In the vein of previous titles such as Convergence Culture and Fans, Bloggers, and Gamers, his forthcoming book studies the way that media franchises empower fans to participate in politics. Jenkins took an “advanced peek” at the book in his lecture and zoomed in on the role of youth within the political landscape: “What I want to shatter is the idea that young people are uniquely apathetic.”?

In his lecture, Jenkins described how youth are politically active in a way that appears different than it did in the past. For instance, he views young people as distinctly savvy social media users, which can be used as a tool for forming and participating in grassroots movements. It’s how a video like “Kony 2012” can reach 70 million views in just four days. Though the success of the video was too fast for its own good, Jenkins says that it demonstrates “how much power there is in the communication of everyday people.”?

As far as Jenkins sees it, the kind of political change that young people seek is ripped straight from pop culture, which gives them a vocabulary to articulate their thoughts on political issues. He says that fans of Harry Potter, for instance, have a platform to engage with matters like the Patriot Act or Fair Trade. Additionally, he observes the appearance of pop culture symbols in politics, from the use of “Winter Is Coming” signs at Occupy Wall Street to the appropriation of the three-finger salute from The Hunger Games in Thailand’s anti-coup protests.?

Overall, he says, the manifestation of pop culture in politics illustrates that “the line between fans and activists has blurred substantially.”?

But Jenkins is also sure to point out how the corporations that control these media franchises don’t always have their fans’ best interests in mind. Take, for example, the plastic mask of Guy Fawkes, an icon of the hacktavist group Anonymous. While the mask has come to symbolize many things, including protestation of corporate greed, its image remains under the control of Time Warner, which profits from sales of the mask. The paradox of being a politically active fan, warns Jenkins, is that one must also scrutinize his or her own passion.?

After the lecture, a student asked Jenkins for a comment on the news that President Obama had advocated for net neutrality, an issue that Jenkins follows closely. He says, “I would love to think it becomes the state of U.S. policy.” If the support from the president lives up to how it looks, then Jenkins sees it as a step in the right direction for fans. He says, “The fight we need to fight right now is net neutrality.” It’s not about having better Internet service, he says, “It’s about our right to critique our government.”??