 Sometimes students who are enrolled in my course on critical media studies will look at the syllabus I look at the schedule and look ahead and say wow, we're talking about erotic analysis This really is a college course a college class for adults, right? We're talking about erotic things and you know, and that brings to mind a certain type of Media of course, but the truth is we're not gonna be talking about that kind of erotic material necessarily Although it is erotic, you know in a different sense We're not gonna be talking about adult type pornography and things like that as part of this video or you know In my class, that's not really where we focus our discussion. However, we do have Section on erotic analysis and that's what this video is going to describe and discuss how we Incorporate erotic analysis as a framework for critical media studies. So let's start by just examining What is erotic analysis? So erotic analysis examines artifacts in relationship to the sensuous transgressive and productive pleasure Exhibited by the audience. So, you know erotic really just means pleasure And we've we has taken on a connotative meaning of you know, it's closer to pornography or something like that But really erotic just means Something that gives us pleasure in any sense. So we're gonna take a look at those aspects of erotic analysis How that relates to our examination of critical media studies? Okay, now we know what erotic analysis is. Let's take a look at some of the major premises here that are involved in In erotic analysis and some things that form it So first our first major premise or concession is that people engage with media that brings them pleasure There's a reason that people engage with media and it's because it brings us joy brings us pleasure It's the things that we enjoy, right? So People are going to engage with things that they like often times There are things that we like that that all of us like right there immensely popular that everybody gets behind sometimes takes a little more time but but but there are shows that and Artifacts and and things that people just really enjoy that we all get behind Other times and so and then we try and copy those, right? There's a reason that there are 45 different versions of NCIS and and that they all kind of work the same just in different locations It's because people know them people like them. They're popular So we want to repeat it and just try and you know a kind of copy it and in a similar way So that people will enjoy that one as well So but because we know people follow what they enjoy that people are going to watch and and take in Media that they enjoy sometimes we kind of go against that with what we call transgressive pleasure Right and this is pleasure that that derives its pleasure from Breaking with convention from doing something that's different when we enjoy things that are different. So again people enjoy Norman Rockwell paintings It's very familiar. It's very popular. It's very, you know kids at the soda shop here is very It's very relatable and so people enjoy that and it's it's widely popular it's intended for a mass audience, right? But we also get pleasure from things that are very very different. So at the time This was kind of the standard. This was you know the norm But then you see somebody come along like Andy Warhol with pop art and this is just so different It's it's so unique and different that that's what we that's what brings us pleasure from it Though is that it's so different. We like that it breaks with convention, you know or Jackson Pollock here He wasn't trying to appeal to a mass audience. He's saying I don't want to be Norman Rockwell This is different. I want to express something Different than what is expected than what is popular at the time. So So you have the transgressive pleasure in that way We see transgressive pleasure in in modern media as well One example that I would give you is the show Seinfeld It's a little hard to imagine because it is immensely popular now But when it especially when it first started Seinfeld Really struggled to get off the ground I mean there was no that the first couple seasons were really short because NBC didn't want to order a lot of episodes They didn't have a lot of faith in it really So they didn't think it was gonna make it and so they only ordered a few handful episodes and because it was so different It's just so so different. I mean, it's literally a show about nothing. That was their tagline It's a show about nothing. It doesn't have these heartwarming moments It doesn't have a some sort of purpose or meaning in it It's just it just is what it is. It's just these people in these situations and and here's how it went down, right? I mean, they did an entire half hour episode in the lobby of a Chinese restaurant You know just waiting to get seated. What what is that about? There was no purpose there I mean, I can it's relatable to me. I hate waiting in those areas But still it was different for the time when every every show had to have a you know Special episode where were people were learning lessons or people this show said now We don't want to teach anybody anything or really, you know, try and make a statement about anything We just want to tell these stories that happened to us and and that we think are funny And that was really different and we we derived pleasure from it because it was so different and it really changed the whole Genre you could say the same thing and more recently about the office again. It's immensely popular now I mean it's been viewed so much around the world that it's hard to imagine that this was ever not the norm that I Broke with convention but it can very early on this show was always in jeopardy being canceled They had really short seasons because once again NBC nobody there very few people were behind it Didn't think it was gonna be successful Which again hard to imagine now, but this was so different the mockumentary format and just the different You know kind of anti-hero with with Michael Scott, especially in the first season or two not being incredibly likeable It's kind of a kind of a jerk at times kind of a doofus, but So it was really just so so different But that was I tell you is an early fan of the office very exciting for me as well to to be able to say that I was a fan of Something that is so different and it felt kind of like the secret that was just ours, right? And that was really exciting So we we derived pleasure from things that are normal But we also derive pleasure sometimes from things that break with convention that are sometimes enjoy things even more Because they break with convention because they're different another significant avenue of pleasure for us is productive pleasure where we gain pleasure from creation the process of creation again We talked in a different video on ecological analysis about how we are we live in a presumptive Society now right where we are not just consuming Media but we are also producing it each of us really is producing it in some way and that's always been the case It hasn't always been available on a mass format like it is today Everybody now can really release it to the masses and and find I find an audience there, but you know, I love Being productive. I love creating things. I play guitar and awful at it But I love doing it because it's creative and and I love writing and I loved you know doing these things I Get a great deal of pleasure and I do these things because of that But I get a great deal of pleasure from creating these things Now it's not everything I don't get a great deal of pleasure from painting or writing poetry or things like that those aren't really my thing, but But I you know, I so I pursue those creative activities though that bring me pleasure And so we have this kind of productive pleasure that we can find you see it very commonly in Things like fanfiction. So when you have people writing a you know story about well What if Spock and Kirk had a baby and what if Harry Potter and his crew were in the Star Wars universe and we're Jedi's as well But so you people get these creative itches and they they find pleasure in these things enjoy them So they pursue them right even if they're never going to find a wide audience Which does happen on time from time to time as well though the most famous example may be 50 shades of gray and that whole universe really started as fanfiction surrounding that the Twilight series El James was a was a you know really big fan of twilight And so she started writing fanfiction about those characters and about that world and once they started getting popular Then she kind of transitioned away from oh She changed the characters names and things so it's not set in that world anymore It wouldn't be in conflict in terms of copyright, but it really started as fanfiction around the twilight series so So you see some of these that they do take off But all of us really we do things because we find pleasure in them We engage with a media that brings us pleasure whether that's because it's it's mainstream or because it's different or because we're finding pleasure in Creating and producing within that media We can also look at what we call transgressive texts transgressive texts within Erotic analysis and looking at pleasure so we There are two kinds of transgressive texts really the first are what we call readerly texts and these are kind of the captain obvious of of transgressive text because The the meaning of them is very surface level whatever that artifact is Whatever that person is trying to say or accomplish is right there on the surface. There's not a lot of you know hidden depth behind it I mean for the most part you can assign some These things but but you know Jaws one of my favorite movies Jaws is really just about a shark and about scaring people and about You know having that thriller sense and leaving you on the edge of your seat, which it still does I mean, there's not you know, is there a deeper meaning there? I don't I don't know I've never seen it. It just is what it is, but I love it. I love it That's a very readerly text to me though the meaning of it is Be ready to be scared and this is about a big shark and so You know, I'm thankful that I live in Indiana and we don't have sharks here because I'm Irrationally afraid of sharks because of that movie and that's the whole purpose, right? I mean that's that's what is it's not intended to scare us, but it's it isn't intended to scare us but not make us Holy fearful of these anyway, so that's a readerly text something that they know the reading them the meaning is obvious We also have what we call writerly texts writerly texts are a little more subtle They have some subtext there the meaning of it It may not be right there on the surface and the and the author or where the creator Slips in some little clues about what it's really about and and it's trying to send a message or trying to make a statement Trying to accomplish something with that. That's what we call writerly text that has no those different layers and a little more depth To it than a readerly text. So just to compare and contrast from my world Again to give you an example. I love the show 9-1-1. I love it And have for years and and I love it for just what it is You know there there's some you know plot lines and things that go a little deeper But really it's a show about there's an emergency and for me the wilder the better But there's an emergency and these people have to try and figure out how to help the person out of it It's about you know trying to save people trying to keep people from getting harmed and and how how they operate and how they Do this I just I just love it I don't know that there's a lot of subtext there though. It just it is kind of what it is I mean, it's right there in the panel 9-1-1. What are you going to see when you call this, you know And it's it's going to be crazy. See you kind of know what you're getting into that to me is a very readerly text It is what it is and it's very good brings me a lot of pleasure But it's not to me. There's not a lot of depth to it. In fact, I kind of enjoy it for that reason It's fun just to watch and kind of unplug and not have to think about it in great depth or detail on The flip side my wife and I also greatly enjoy the handmaid's tale And so if you have no spoiler alerts, I promise there's no spoilers. I promise but This is a really complex show, right? It's a really complex show with a lot of subtlety and a lot of hidden things like Especially in the beginning why are the handmaids all wearing? Red and the wives of these powerful guys are all wearing green What's the meaning behind those things? Why is it when it's all color-coded? What does that mean? And is this a message to us here in the United States? Is this a thing, you know This is supposed to be a forewarning about if we don't fix things. This is where we're gonna end up So what so it's kind of what there's kind of a political Angle to it there or well as well or at least a cultural or societal Warning for some some change maybe But there's that so you don't go into the handmaid's tale just thinking I'm just gonna unplug and just let this wash over me And not really have to think about anything right now It's really complex. You got to look for these little things and really try and understand what's happening And what's the message that is a writerly text so I read early texts are right there on the surface Writerly texts have more depth more layers and require more from us Which is good at times as well. So it's a good good for us to have some of both of those maybe but so So we have to be aware of those different types of texts and those different types of Intention behind the media as well So what are some common questions that we ask as part of erotic analysis first in what ways does the artifact represent? Transgression in its historical context. So again, we think about Seinfeld we need to understand that I mean when we look at it doesn't seem very transgressive, right? It's immensely popular lots of shows out there have tried to copy it and do what it does So it's not really that different anymore. It's it's kind of mainstream same at the office. It's it's you know They tried to copy they've tried to the other shows have tried to do what they did And so it's become very mainstream so it's not transgressive now But in their original context and we placed that in in the appropriate time and place those were both as I Mention a very transgressive they were and they were transgressive pleasures, but So in what ways does this artifact represent transgression in its historical context? That's that's the key there in its historical context So was it transgressive at that time or was it mainstream at that time? You know kind of who was the first in essence and those shows were both the first to do kind of what they did Is this artifact more readerly or writerly and why I think You know Ken Seinfeld is pretty readerly. I mean they've been pretty clear about that. They didn't have any real Goals behind it. They weren't trying to change the world They weren't trying to send a message about anything. They were just trying to tell some funny stories You know and what is is you know the office kind of the same thing was is it more readerly or writerly? I would say it's it's it's definitely more writerly than Seinfeld Whether or not it's entirely writerly a lot of it is right there just on the surface, too But there are some you know some subtle things in there. I think some layering in there So it's more writerly than Seinfeld, but it's certainly not as writerly as like a handmaid's tale or something like that So but we can examine is this more readerly or more writerly and why? How does this artifact invite productive interaction with the audience? So does this does this artifact really has it has it created and as it does lend itself to that kind of Productive interaction where people you know in the 50 shades of gray thing where twilight inspired a bunch of people to do fan fiction One of them just happened to take off and and become 50 shades of gray, but does this artifact? I mean are people getting behind it creatively another one of my favorite shows is Firefly love that show and you people got passionate about it people wrote storylines about it people wrote You know fanfiction and really got engaged and wondered what happened You see it's a lot with with a lot of science fiction Maybe because the fans are just creatively minded in general But how much fan fiction is out there about Star Wars and Star Trek and all these science fiction things, right? But so how does it how does the artifact invite that kind of thing? You know the Seinfeld really invite a lot of productive interaction I don't know it may have inspired people to do something because they found they could do something different But I don't really with that there and you know is anybody else who can do really what Seinfeld and Larry David did with that show and subsequently so Does it invite that or does it not does it lend itself to that or not? What evidence exists of transgressive and productive engagement on the part of the audience? So how much do you see that how much do you see people getting behind this because it's different? How much do you see people being productive around that actually taking place on the part of the audience? What evidence is there that that those types of things are happening in that they're there? so it's just some of the common questions that we might ask as part of erotic analysis and as we look at how pleasure interacts and is involved with our viewing of that So hopefully this gives you a little clearer understanding of what we mean by erotic analysis I'm sorry if it was disappointing to some of you because it didn't get into where you thought it was going But it just simply has to do with Pleasure, how do we find pleasure in these artifacts and in this media? How do we find pleasure in it? And does it produce pleasure and we are as a result that we produce pleasure? is it is it subtle or is it kind of surface level stuff and just Where's the pleasure coming from and how does it? How does it? Show up as a result of that If you have questions about erotic analysis or any other type of critical media studies Please let me know. I'd love to hear from you via email and we can chat about it there But in the meantime, I hope this does give you a new sense of what it means to really Engage with media Because of the pleasure that it brings and how we can look at different artifacts In the way that that that they bring pleasure or that they elicit pleasure on the part of the audience