Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 2015-12-01 Resisting the Resistance: The Emancipation of Students from the Hidden Curriculum of Commodified Resistant Narratives in Young Adult Dystopian Film Through Open Pedagogical Space and Culture-Jamming Robert B. Bauer Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the Film and Media Studies Commons, and the Theatre and Performance Studies Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Bauer, Robert B., "Resisting the Resistance: The Emancipation of Students from the Hidden Curriculum of Commodified Resistant Narratives in Young Adult Dystopian Film Through Open Pedagogical Space and Culture-Jamming" (2015). Theses and Dissertations. 5621. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/5621 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Resisting the Resistance: The Emancipation of Students from the Hidden Curriculum of Commodified Resistant Narratives in Young Adult Dystopian Film Through Open Pedagogical Space and Culture-Jamming Robert B. Bauer A thesis submitted to the faculty of Brigham Young University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Benjamin Thevenin, Chair Dean Duncan Wade Hollingshaus Department of Theatre and Media Arts Brigham Young University December 2015 Copyright © 2015 Robert B. Bauer All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT Resisting the Resistance: The Emancipation of Students from the Hidden Curriculum of Commodified Resistant Narratives in Young Adult Dystopian Film Through Open Pedagogical Space and Culture-Jamming Robert B. Bauer Department of Theatre and Media Arts, BYU Master of Arts Young Adult Dystopian Film exercises an influence over young people of which they are not aware. As part of a structure of domination these films teach students to participate in their own oppression by the capitalist system. The film industry maintains a hidden curriculum like that utilized in school classrooms to conceal the oppression from the masses. One particularly effective means is the portrayal of resistance against oppression in the narratives of the YA Dystopian Film. Young people are drawn to that narrative and end up supporting the structure of domination financially and ideologically. Modes of resistance to this oppression can be found in Media Literacy Education and Public Pedagogy (e.g. culture-jamming). Teachers can incorporate Media Literacy and culture–jamming into a form of radical pedagogy to emancipate students from that oppressive relationship. This thesis investigates the usage of this radical pedagogy though an action research project in a high school drama class in the intermountain west. The students learned the theories, critically reflected on the situation, and created a live culture-jamming performance. The results of the action research show the affordances and limitations of this approach and offer suggestions for instigating its usage by media literacy educators. Keywords: ideological state apparatus, media literacy, action research, emancipation, hidden curriculum, dystopian film, culture-jamming ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I feel the need to thank all of those who helped to make this thesis possible. I thank Amy Petersen-Jensen for her encouragement and support in pursuing this degree in the first place. I thank Benjamin Thevenin for coaching me and guiding me through this thesis writing process. I also extend my thanks to the BYU Theatre and Media Arts faculty for providing this incredible opportunity. I thank my Advanced Theatre students for being willing to participate in my research with good humor and enthusiasm. I thank my family for putting up with long hours and stress over the last 2 years. Especially, I thank my wife, Kristin, for her tireless support and encouragement, her willingness to act as a sounding board, and her dedication as a transcriber and copy editor. Thank you. Table of Contents Abstract ..................................................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................................. iii Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................................. iv Index of Tables ...................................................................................................................................................... vi Chapter One ............................................................................................................................................................. 1 ISA, Culture, and Critical Theory ................................................................................................................ 4 Film as Public Pedagogy ................................................................................................................................ 8 YA Dystopian Film and Commodified Resistance ............................................................................. 11 Forms of Resistance ..................................................................................................................................... 13 Critical Pedagogy and Media Literacy Education .......................................................................... 14 Culture-jamming as Public Pedagogy ................................................................................................ 18 Gaps and Spaces ............................................................................................................................................. 21 Terms and Usage ........................................................................................................................................... 23 Plan of Action .................................................................................................................................................. 24 Chapter 2 ............................................................................................................................................................... 27 Action Research Theory .............................................................................................................................. 27 Research Methodology ................................................................................................................................ 29 Data Collection Plan ................................................................................................................................. 30 Data Analysis Plan .................................................................................................................................... 31 Teaching Methodology ................................................................................................................................ 33 Praxis ............................................................................................................................................................. 33 The Curriculum .......................................................................................................................................... 37 Chapter 3 ............................................................................................................................................................... 49 Access/Theory ................................................................................................................................................ 51 Emancipation from the Hidden Curriculum in YA Dystopian Film........................................... 51 Emancipation of Others Through Culture-jamming ..................................................................... 58 Emancipation from the Oppressive structure of Schooling ......................................................... 62 Critical Reflection .......................................................................................................................................... 65 Emancipation from the Hidden Curriculum in YA Dystopian Film........................................... 65 Emancipation of Others Through Culture-jamming ..................................................................... 70 Emancipation from the Oppressive structure of Schooling ......................................................... 73 Action ................................................................................................................................................................. 75 Emancipation from the Hidden Curriculum in YA Dystopian Film........................................... 76 Emancipation of Others Through Culture-jamming ................................................................... 82 Emancipation from the Oppressive structure of Schooling ......................................................... 89 Chapter 4 ............................................................................................................................................................... 97 Access and Critical Reflection Opens Space for Action ................................................................