People can laugh at almost anything. What’s the deal with that? What makes something funny? This essay reviews some theories of what it is for something to be funny. Each theory offers insights into this question, but no single approach provides a comprehensive answer.

The long-term creative collaboration between Kira Muratova and Renata Litvinova began with the film “Uvlechen’ya” (“Pastimes”, 1994), in which Litvinova took part both as an actress and a screenwriter. Since then, Litvinova has become one of the most striking personifications of Muratova’s ornamental film style, which brings about a specific re…[Read more]

I argue that an indirect and imaginative route through subversive humor offers a means to
raise consciousness about covert oppression and the mechanisms underlying it, reveal the errors
of those with power who complacently sustain systematic oppression, and even open those people
up to changing their minds. Subversive humor confronts serious…[Read more]

Some of Dave Chappelle’s uses of storytelling about seemingly mundane events, like his experiences with his “white friend Chip” and the police, are examples of what W.E.B. Du Bois calls “Positive Propaganda.” This is in contrast to “Demagoguery,” the sort of propaganda described by Jason Stanley that obstructs empathic recognition of others, and u…[Read more]

India witnessed a revolution in the television communication landscape following the
shift in the economic policies in 1991. This analytical study looks into the changes and
additions in the functions performed by mass communication using television medium
before and after the implementation of liberalization policies in India. Tables…[Read more]

This study discussed the differences between Chinese youth film and American teen film through the
perspective on cultural foundation. The authors argue that Confucianism was an alternative that greatly
affects the depiction of young characters and the causal relationship of morality and fate of the
characters in films. The objective of such a…[Read more]

The current study examines the effect of emotional contents in television advertising on the rural
women and how they understand and react towards these advertisements. The study further leads
us to the issues of cognitive behaviour of rural women after the advertisement has influenced their
emotional corridor. For this study 167 women are…[Read more]

The role of advertising as an effective vehicle of communication has long been acknowledged. It has
become the important ‘part of the cultural and economic fabric of a society and continues to be a
primary tool for marketing communication’ (Lane et. al., 2005). The current study examines the
portrayal of women in contemporary Indian mag…[Read more]

The relationship between viewer personality and reality show watching has been a point
of discussion among media researchers but has been rarely tested. The authors in the
present study explore: (i) Reality Show Watching Motives (RSWM) of viewers, (ii) further
investigates the impact of viewer personality on RSWM in a developing nation context.…[Read more]

The increasing use of the internet has brought new challenges for the public service
television system all around the world. Despite the free access to information and the use
of digital technology, the Eastern European public service television is still in a shading
cone mostly because of the small scale of their broadcasting markets. This…[Read more]

People actively participating on social networks like Facebook, Twitter and blogs are
questioning the age old logic of boundaries and space. Virtual networks like twitter have
given space which not only explores individual self but also connects to a mass phenomenon
emerging through thought leaders, celebrities or ‘trend setters’. This stu…[Read more]

This study discusses the differences between Chinese youth film and American teen film through a perspective on cultural foundation. The author argue that Confucianism is an alternative that greatly affects the depiction of young characters and the causal relationship of morality and fate of the characters in Chinese films. In Confucian…[Read more]

Social Media is a binary platform on which all previous forms of media converge. Producers are disappointed that social media does not generate the revenues expected. Documentary filmmakers are challenged to understand, adapt and apply this new technology. This paper examines social media, its origins, applications and limitations by reviewing the…[Read more]

This paper aims to examine Raunch culture, a strand of post-feminism in the
recent Bollywood movies, The Dirty Picture and Grand Masti. Both these movies
critique the perception that the investment in raunch feminine sexuality empowers
female characters, but if observed profoundly, they celebrate the commodification
of women’s body. F…[Read more]

Mindanao is the Philippine’s second largest island in the south. Identifying
Mindanao-based documentaries that have development themes remain unknown
or unacknowledged. Using Phenomenology as theoretical framework and method,
as a result, the researcher found out that similar to other documentary films in
other parts of the country and the…[Read more]

It is trivially true that comedians make jokes and thus are not serious; they are “just playing.” But watching Louis CK, especially his performances in Chewed Up, Shameless, and Hilarious, it is evident that he has more in mind than simply getting his audience to frivolously guffaw. I will make the case that this is so given the content of som…[Read more]

In two very influential papers from 2008, Tamar Gendler introduced the concept of “alief” to describe the mental state one is in when acting in ways contrary to their consciously professed beliefs. For example, if asked to eat what they know is fudge, but shaped into the form of dog feces, they will hesitate, and behave in a manner that would be…[Read more]

The work presented here is an exploratory and descriptive study under a
qualitative approach. It purposes was to show the use of television series, as a
means of teaching and learning professional ethics in communication
undergraduate students. Among the results we found two direct areas of impact:
teaching and learning. In the case of…[Read more]

Most of the research on the uses and effects of media focused on individuals rather than family systems. This shift in the approach to the study of children television viewing and parental mediation is considered as a meaningful approach and such a study on an empirical ground becomes a need of the hour in a country like India. The objective of…[Read more]

This study critically examines television commercials advertising AXE, a male body spray. Using the framework of male gaze, originally coined by Laura Mulvey, which manipulates the viewer’s (and camera’s) perspective, this analysis uncovers the ubiquitous myth that exposes such instinctual voyeuristic pleasures. This psychoanalytic inv…[Read more]