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Kidult Culture, Identity and Nostalgia: The Case of The Regular Show By Litlhare Moteetee Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree MA Fundamental Communication in the Department of Communication Studies in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Johannesburg Supervisor: Prof. Nyasha Mboti August 2016 1 Declaration Regarding Plagiarism School of Communication, University of Johannesburg I understand what plagiarism entails and am aware of University’s policy is this regard I declare that this final research script is my own original work. Where someone else’s work was used, due acknowledgement was given and reference made according to the School’s requirements I did not submit someone else’s work as my own I did not allow and will not allow anyone to copy my work with the intention of presenting it as his/her own work. Signed: ____________________ Litlhare Moteetee (200826509) Date: _______________ 2 Acknowledgement 1. To my parents, Annah and Leutloa Moteetee, for the unwavering support and uncompromising love 2. To my brothers, Melkai, Kakes, KP and Vinnie, for believing in me always 3. To my children, Hayden-Lee and Angel, who I hope will one day see the value in hard work and creativity 4. To Professor Mboti, for taking the time to understand my passion in cartoons and help me formulate it into what is now a thesis I can be proud of 4 Abstract Not only are today’s cartoons regarded as entertaining, but they seem to incorporate a twisted, random type of humour that may seem strange to the real world. The characters themselves are fascinating to watch and their exploits and misadventures are relatable to the common person. The study hypothesises that animated-media plays a very important role in fostering identity as much as mainstream media does; the content and characters in cartoons may have a very strong effect in fostering multiple and innovative identities that are in keeping with the complex nature of today’s postmodern society. The study proposes that the kidult culture phenomenon is directly connected to popular culture and the hypothesis of nostalgia. The study draws on the Uses and Gratifications theory to display the high level of audience choice and activity when it comes to the consumption of media. Using The Regular Show as a case study, focus groups were utilised in an effort to understand what the 21st century’s active adult audience finds so appealing about the cartoon show itself and other cartoons that are proposed to be adult directed cartoons. The focus groups also discussed kidult culture as a phenomenon and what it means for identity formation. 5 Table of Contents Chapter One: Introduction 1. Introduction 9 2. The Regular Show 9 3. Cartoon animation: a brief background 11 4. Research problem 14 5. Justification/ Rationale 14 6. Research questions 16 7. Aims and objectives 16 8. A note on dramatis personae 16 9. Scope 17 10. Delimitation 18 Chapter Two: Literature Review 1. Introduction 20 2. Kidults and kidult culture 20 3. Nostalgia and Identity 25 4. Popular culture 30 5. Audience 33 6. Animation 35 Chapter Three: Theoretical Framework 1. Introduction 47 2. Uses and Gratifications theory 47 3. Dependency theory 51 4. Deprivation theory 53 5. Demassification 53 6. Criticisms and flaws of the Uses and Gratifications theory 54 6 Chapter Four: Methodology 1. Introduction 56 2. Qualitative Research 56 3. Thematic content analysis 57 4. Focus groups 61 5. Sampling 62 6. Reliability and Validity 63 7. Coding 64 8. Coding high and low comedy 65 9. Limitations of content analysis 66 Chapter Five: Findings, analysis and discussion 1. Introduction 69 2. High and Low comedy analysis 69 3. Focus group findings and discussion 83 4. Limitations 97 Chapter Six: Conclusion Conclusive remarks 99 Directions for further research 102 References 104 Appendices a. Appendix A 113 b. Appendix B 114 7 CHAPTER ONE Chapter One: Introduction 1. Introduction 9 2. The Regular Show 9 3. Cartoon animation: a brief background 11 4. Research problem 14 5. Justification/ Rationale 14 6. Research questions 16 7. Aims and objectives 16 8. A note on dramatis personae 16 9. Scope 17 10. Delimitation 18 8 Introduction This study is an exploration of the television genre of cartoon animation and the identities of its audiences. The focus is on how and why a form of popular entertainment, originally targeted at children, manages to attract adult audiences, and the nature of this adult audience. In essence, this study turns on an exploration of the “kidult” (kid-adult) phenomenon and “kidult” identities in relation to a selected animated cartoon show, The Regular Show, an animated TV series created by JG Quintel that first aired on Cartoon Network in 2010. The term first appeared in The New York Times on August 11, 1985: And in the background, on a much less lavish scale, is LBS communications, which doesn't own its own stations but provides a lucrative stream of 'kidult' — children, teenager and young adult — programming to independents. —Peter Martin, in Falconer (2008). Kidults are adults who seem trapped in the liminal stage between adolescence and adulthood. In its benign form, the kidult identity is reflected in adults who still enjoy and participate in child-like activities such as pranks and constant play, and who have a carefree worldview. As a serious sociological and psychological phenomenon, however, the kidult identity is a whole new weltanschauung. This worldview is regarded by theorists such as Hye Jin Lee, as new culture, or at least a subculture, that signifies “adulthood in crisis”, “the death of the grown- up” and deep seated social anxiety about adulthood (Lee, 2010). In this account, the kidult identity draws on allusions to Peter Pan, the boy character who refused to grow up. This theory will be explored further in the dissertation. The Regular Show The Regular Show (Fig. 1) is a plausible case study for two reasons. Firstly, it draws kidult audiences. Secondly, its main characters, Mordecai and Rigby, are themselves kidults. This allows for the study to weave in the text (The Regular Show) with its context (audiences). The Regular Show revolves around Mordecai (a blue jay) and Rigby (a raccoon). The two are 23 year old 9 carefree best friends who work as groundkeepers at “The Park”. The show follows the duo on their daily lives as they attempt to “slack-off” from work in search of mind-blowing fun. Their attempt to slack off constantly infuriates the Park Manager (Benson), who keeps threatening to fire them from their jobs if they do not grow up. In a real sense, the two main characters literally slack off from adulthood, which is associated with seriousness and taking responsibility. Their preference is for childhood, which is carefree. Mordecai and Rigby’s search for fun, however, always ends in surreal and supernatural disasters. For example, in “Peeps” (Season 2, Episode 4), when Benson becomes frustrated with Mordecai and Rigby’s blatant refusal to do their work, he hires a giant eye-ball as a surveillance system. The giant eye-ball causes all sorts of problems at the park and in the house and the episode ends when the eyeball is defeated by Mordecai in an eye blinking contest. At the heart of The Regular Show is an existential dilemma. The surreal disasters that take place in every episode always end with Mordecai and Rigby having had their fun. Since having fun is at the centre of kidulthood, this means that the two characters have little incentive to grow up. The dilemma is thus a Peter Pan-like problem. Interestingly, the show seems to be an endorsement of the pleasures and benefits of kidulthood. At its extreme, it is an invitation to kidulthood. At the same time, the show allows for reflection on the limits, dilemmas and even dangers of kidulthood by appearing to show Mordecai and Rigby as caricatures that must not be taken at face value. That is, there is a sense in which The Regular Show is best enjoyed with a disclaimer, like entertainment wrestling, “not to do this at home”. Figure 1: The Regular Show (Source: Comic book resources.) 10 The Regular Show is based loosely on Quintel’s college experiences, and many of the characters originate from some of the student films and previous animation work he created. Quintel attended college with Thurop Van Orman and Pendleton Ward, who both went on to work at Cartoon Network Studios. Van Orman created The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack and Ward created Adventure Time, two well-known and popular cartoons today. Quintel simultaneously worked on Camp Lazlo and as creative director on The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack while completing his degree (O’Leary, 2012). Cartoon Animation: A Brief Background Animated cartoons are sequential drawings that are made into films (Bukatman, 2012). Theorists of animation have argued that its appeal is its graphic nature and humour (Ezell, 2002 and Levine, 1969).