9. College Comedies as a Discourse and Implications for Gender and Race

• In Event: Scholar to Scholar Presents: Popular Culture Extravaganza
  In Paper Session: Scholar to Scholar Presents: Where the 'Popular' Kids Are: Popular Culture Research and Theory

Abstract

This paper analyzes the construction of discursive formations in college comedy films. The contemporary Hollywood films Legally Blonde, The House Bunny, National Lampoon’s Van Wilder, and How High are analyzed using psychoanalytic and Foucaudian frameworks revealing implications of power, gender and race. Focusing on the filmic portrayals of female and African American college students, this paper finds that teenagers and young adults form inaccurate perceptions of college socialization through the viewing of these films.

Author

• Brittany Lee Wattner, Texas State University, San Marcos