The University of Southern Mississippi The Aquila Digital Community Dissertations Spring 2019 “Goth Barbies”: A Postmodern Multiperspective Analysis of Mattel’s Monster High Media Danianese Woods University of Southern Mississippi Follow this and additional works at: https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations Part of the Other Film and Media Studies Commons Recommended Citation Woods, Danianese, "“Goth Barbies”: A Postmodern Multiperspective Analysis of Mattel’s Monster High Media" (2019). Dissertations. 1637. https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations/1637 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by The Aquila Digital Community. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of The Aquila Digital Community. For more information, please contact [email protected]. “GOTH BARBIES”: A POSTMODERN MULTIPERSPECTIVE ANALYSIS OF MATTEL’S MONSTER HIGH MEDIA by Danianese Woods A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School, the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Communication at The University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Approved by: Dr. Christopher Campbell, Committee Chair Dr. Loren S. Coleman Dr. David R. Davies Dr. Cheryl Jenkins Dr. Fei Xue ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ Dr. Christopher Dr. Casey M. Dr. Karen S. Coats Campbell Funderbunk Dean of the Graduate School Committee Chair Interim Director of School of Communication May 2019 COPYRIGHT BY Danianese Woods 2019 Published by the Graduate School ABSTRACT This research examines the historical, cultural, and social context in relation to the monster characters of Mattel’s Monster High, a franchise about animated dolls that are the offspring of famous horror monsters. The animated dolls are an intersection of complex gender and racial identities that are constructed in a postmodern reality. The goal of this research is to formulate a more complex understanding of the social and cultural contexts, relationships, interactions and meanings within production, circulation, and distribution of Monster High media. The preferred reading of the Monster High series is postmodernism. Monster High displays a multitude of postmodern elements, such as de-centering the subject, intertextuality, pastiche, transmedia storytelling, hyperreality, fragmentation, self- reflectivity, irony, and postmodern identity. Magical elements, fictional places, and colorful and talking creatures allow for young children to separate realism and make- believe. A negotiated reading of the series allows for a closer examination into the gendered and racialized identities of the monsters as well as gender roles and racial tensions within the series. Monster High presents the characters from a heteronormative perspective allowing the actions and storylines of the ghoulfriends to perpetuate stereotypes about binary gender roles. Incorporating monstrous versions of celebrities adds to not only the parodied function of the series, but the series functioning as a hyper- reality that references and reinforces certain aspects of popular culture that relate to young viewers. ii Monster High’s media content includes stereotypical elements of gender, race, and other intersecting identities, neglects contemporary depictions of Eastern cultures, veers away from societal issues, and sanitizes adult content for childhood consumption. From a postmodern perspective, young viewers can dismiss the physical attributes of the characters as exaggerated, fictional, and fanciful. However, it is harder to ignore elements of discrimination, prejudice, and gender performance within the storylines. While young audiences may not identify with the physical and nonsensical appearance of the monsters, they can relate to the behaviors, interactions, emotions, and values of the animated characters. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Special thanks are extended to the professors and staff of the School of Communication at USM for their assistance with fulfilling all the requirements for this degree. Specifically, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my dissertation chair, Dr. Christopher P. Campbell. His direction, feedback, and encouragement helped not just during the dissertation process but also during my entire time at USM as a doctoral student. I would also like to thank the rest of my committee: Dr. Loren S. Coleman, Dr. Cheryl Jenkins, Dr. Fei Xue, and Dr. Dave Davies for their invaluable support and providing mental and emotional stability during this process, even my breakdowns. I would also like to thank my support network of family, friends, and graduate colleagues for the endless encouragement, support, and advice. I would like to specifically thank my work study students, Justin Hartsell and Cara Brooks, who spend countless hours helping with citations, formatting, and editing. Without you, I would never have been able to complete this project. iv DEDICATION I dedicate my dissertation to my daughter, Ryian, who is the inspiration behind the concept of my research. She taught me and provided much needed insight about Monster High. I also dedicate this dissertation to my parents, Moses and Darlene. Their years of hard work and wisdom have always been a source of inspiration and motivation for everything I do. My family listened to hours of dissertation talk, viewed several videos and movies, and provided unlimited support, even shoulders to cry on. I would not have finished without their support and motivation. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iv DEDICATION .................................................................................................................... v INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1 Monster High: Beyond the Ordinary .............................................................................. 5 YouTube / Television Studies: Television and Videos as Media Text ........................... 8 Ideology and Ideological Criticism ............................................................................... 11 Method: Analyzing Monster High ................................................................................ 18 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................. 22 Disney, Nickelodeon, Warner Bros As Media Producers Of Children’s Culture ........ 22 Emergence of Children’s Horror .................................................................................. 28 Constructing Identity with Toys and Characters Through Play.................................... 30 WE ARE (POSTMODERN) MONSTER HIGH ............................................................. 40 Postmodernism and Mass Media .................................................................................. 43 Postmodernism and Animation ..................................................................................... 45 Postmodern concepts of Monster High ......................................................................... 46 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 63 MONSTER HIGH UNIVERSE AS A DYSFUNCTIONAL HETEROTOPIA .............. 66 Postmodernism and Gender .......................................................................................... 68 vi Postmodernism and Race/ Ethnicity/ Otherness ........................................................... 71 The Foundation of Postmodern Horror in Monster High ............................................. 73 Gender and Racial Identities in Monster High ............................................................. 76 Monster-Normie Relations and Racial Tensions in Monster High ............................... 85 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 103 SING IT LOUD: MUSICALS, MUSIC VIDEOS, AND POPULAR CULTURE ........ 106 Postmodernism and the Music Video ......................................................................... 108 Pop Culture Influence or Pop Culture Parody? ........................................................... 111 Monsters in Motion: Zombies Can Dance Too! ......................................................... 113 “Imagined” Locations in Monster High Universe ...................................................... 120 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 130 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................... 132 Limitations of the Study and Future Research ............................................................ 134 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 137 FILMOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................ 159 vii INTRODUCTION I have always been passionate about examining gender and racial portrayals in the media and considering the underlying meanings, messages conveyed, lessons taught, and relationships of power both apparent and