“You know Her Life Was Saved by Rock & Roll”: Myth-making and the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame

by Mindy Clegg The Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame recently announced this year’s inductees; the Doobie Brothers, T. Rex, Nine Inch Nails, the Notorious B.I.G, Depeche Mode, and Whitney Houston, with the Ahmet Ertegun Award (for members of the industry who are not the talent) going to Jon Landau and Irving Azoff. Not too long after,…

To Boldly Go with the Force: Popular Culture as Political Discourse

by Mindy Clegg In recent years, social and political conflicts over fandom emerged into general public consciousness. Both Captain Marvel and the upcoming film Joker illustrate the point. Both films stirred contentious debates around gender this past year.1 But many who are either new to fandom or count themselves as casual fans might miss that these…

“You are More Than the Sum of What you Consume”: Generation X and Consumer Society

by Mindy Clegg Public discussions of generations lately most often only focus on two generations–the boomers (1946-1965?) and millennials (1985-2000?). Yet many in our culture do not identify with either. One such group, Gen X, represents a midpoint between the two. And it’s a cohort that exerts more cultural influence than is generally understood.1 Once dubbed…