Dr. Jurkiewicz Analysis

On Wednesday, November 9th, I interviewed Dr. Kenneth Jurkiewicz and we discussed what he is currently studying and my topic for my plan b essay. Dr. Jurkiewicz, better known as Dr. J, studies various genre theories that over time have either reflected or reinforced a change in cultural attitudes and values. He was interested in this subject of study because since he was a little kid he was curious on how something would become popular over another. He began film studies his Senior year at Detroit University. Originally he wanted to be a movie critic but decided to become a teacher about book and film studies. He wrote a 500 page dissertation about Norman Mailer, known to be the first independent filmmaker. Dr. J read Mailer’s novels (a couple …show more content…
J explained, there are different combinations to analyze culture, history and why certain genres are favored more than others. The theme we talked about was the horror genre because he is currently teaching a class on that subject. Also, he mentioned that like most genres, just like the horror genre, fades in and out over time. The horror genre was coined in the 1930’s, it faded out, then faded back in during the 1950’s, out again, then back in during the 1970’s, fades out again and finally back again today. Also, he pointed out that the horror genre becomes popular around dark times in the economy. The Great Depression happen in the 1930’s and was followed by WWII. After the war, the genre became popular again and in the 1970’s during the Vietnam war. Today, the number one TV show is The Walking Dead and the theme is survival. At any moment a loved one can be taken away. Dr. J told me that the metaphor for The Walking Dead is about our economic collapse. In addition, remakes of classic Universal horror films are in production now and will be releasing them in the next couple years. It is clear that there is a repeated loop. Whenever the economy is at a low point horror films become the popular