| Apr 08 |
Boston, MA – 04/08/11
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| Apr 04 |
Chicago – 04/04/11
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| Mar 31 |
Chicago, IL – 03/31/11
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| Mar 29 |
Terra Haute, IN – 03/29/11 |
| Feb 28 |
Storrs, CT – 02/28/11
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| Dec 14 |
Jezebel on me, TLC, and Tea Party intimidation: “Sarah Palin’s Alaska Is Afraid Of Its Own Viewers”Yesterday, a Jezebel headline about my weekend brouhaha with Sarah Palin’s Alaska summed up what I promised TLC I wouldn’t discuss on record: “Sarah Palin’s Alaska is scared of their own viewers.”
Jezebel’s Anna North’s post brings into stark relief how certain segments on the right are using fear and intimidation to create a chilling effect over media content. As North summarizes, I was booked to discuss Sarah Palin’s Alaska on the official TLC podcast after Sunday night’s latest episode of the show. Then, I was abruptly uninvited from podcast because, as its host and social media strategist said, “Sarah Palin’s Alaska is not a political show” and my presence would have made the conversation — about a series-long unpaid political advertisement for the former GOP vice presidential nominee and potential future POTUS candidate — “inadvertently political.” (Yep, I know. I deconstructed that fun little bit of irony yesterday, as did Media Matters.) But, as North writes, that official explanation wasn’t the whole story. In fact, “organizers were worried about what Palin supporters might do if they got too riled up.” Jezebel asks if my segment’s cancelation was “because the organizers of the show can’t handle anybody even mildly badmouthing Palin? Well, not exactly.”: |
| Dec 01 |
Princeton, NJ – 12/01/10
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| Nov 17 |
Los Angeles, CA – 11/17/10 |
| Nov 10 |
FINAL VIDEO: Reality Rehab Webisode 7: The Gangster Guy (and series conclusion)Today, at last, I present the thrilling conclusion to the Reality Rehab with Dr. Jenn web series, Webisode 7: The Gangsta Guy! If you’ve been reading the blog recently (or media outlets from The Vancouver Sun to Jezebel to The Frisky), you know I launched a satirical book trailer and webisode series last week, Reality Rehab with Dr. Jenn, which spoofs — and then liberates — reality TV’s stock characters through media literacy therapy. In the final webisode of the series, The Gangsta Guy (actor Brian Moreland)–one of seven Reality Rehab cast members–starts out embodying all the racial stereotypes about men of color in reality TV (“I’ll pimp out every ho in this room! Of course I’ve been arrested. I’m from the hood!”). Yet during the course of media literacy therapy, we learn that he is only pretending to be a “G” because, as an urban planner, if he wins MTV’s “From Gs to Gents” he and his architect wife will be able to use the prize money to build community centers for troubled youth.
Like The Gangsta Guy? Blog him, tweet him, post him to Tumblr, share him on your Facebook wall — let’s make him go viral! |
| Nov 01 |
VIDEO LAUNCH: Reality Rehab with Dr. JennToday, in conjunction with the official release of Reality Bites Back, I’m excited to debut a satirical book trailer and webisode series, “Reality Rehab with Dr. Jenn“– where all your favorite reality TV stock characters come to get deprogrammed: In addition to the trailer, I’ll be rolling out seven webisodes, one for each character. The first webisode follows The Desperate Bachelorette (modeled after shows such as The Bachelor, Tough Love, Married By America, Joe Millionaire and more). When we first meet her, she embodies reality TV’s stereotype about single women as weepy, pathetic losers who can never possibly be happy or successful without husbands, mouthing lines pulled directly from actual quotes from some of these shows, such as “I don’t want to die alone!” and “I would be a servant to him!” By the end of the webisode, her media literacy therapy has helped her realize that, in fact, she has a full life, a great career and a lot going for her, and she can wait for a truly fulfilling relationship, rather than grasping for romance with any randy dude who’ll snog her for fifteen minutes on national TV. |
