Common Sense

This anthology examines the constructions of intelligence and intellectuality in popular television and the socio-cultural implications of those constructions. It considers the complexity of popular television images, the influences of these images as they both verify and vilify intelligence, and explores a range of representations of intelligence on television by looking at a variety of TV genres and through a variety of theoretical perspectives and methods. Topics range from broad explorations of patterned representations on television to examinations of particular genres, including science-fiction and reality programming, to in-depth analyses of specific programs such as The Simpsons, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Six Feet Under. This book is grounded in the assumption that knowledge and intelligence are currency in the economics of power and that, given that the proliferation of certain images and the relative absence of others in fictional, reality, and fact-based media play an important role in social-order maintenance, a critical examination of how intelligence is demonstrated, portrayed, and evaluated in the public sphere is crucial.