Session D: 3:30PM – 5PM
Humanities and Arts. Session D – Oral Presentations, Room 312, Union
SESSION D (3:30PM – 5PM)
Location: Room 312 A. Ray Olpin University Union
The Effect of Gender and Age of the Leading Actor on Film Revenue
Kira Swann, Southern Utah University
Faculty Mentor Joshua Price, Southern Utah University
SESSION D 3:30-3:45PM
Room 312, Union
Arts
Film is one of more widely consumed forms of media, with many knowing and loving actors from the industry. This study is going to analyze and determine whether or not the gender and age of these leading actors have an effect on box office revenues. The results from this will be able to tell us who is more likely to help the films perform better in the box office: younger or older, men or women. Also, the information learned from this can help newer production studios and filmmakers know what they need to do to get their foot in the door in the entertainment industry.
More than a fan: BTS Army going beyond the stereotypical stan behavior
Tatiana Meaole, Utah Valley University
Faculty Mentor John Dulin, Utah Valley University
SESSION D 3:50-4:05PM
Room 312, Union
Humanities
Screaming, obsessive teenage girls-that is the connotation society has associated with boyband fans. That stereotype hangs well over the heads of South Korean boy group BTS (Bangtan Sonyeondan)’s fans-Army (or BTS Army). Since Bangtan’s debut in 2013, they have captured the attention of people across the globe, granting them the largest fan base in the world today. The influence BTS has on their fans will be observed through this project as I engage in the unorthodox dynamic of Army. There is a lifestyle adopted by the community that stems from observing and being impacted by the BTS members. Following that, the behavior and culture of Army has surpassed traditional fans and has developed more characteristic mannerisms that resembles a religious movement. This particular movement carries its own mythology which observes the band members as exemplary moral figures (to which fans model their lifestyles and philosophies), demonstrates organized routine practices that provoke ecstatic experiences resembling those of charismatic religious involvement, and establishes a global community sharing set values. Those within the Army community have developed a ritual cycle focused on birthdays, accomplishments, and milestones of the band members. Even the emotions the members share with the fans are received and reciprocated to a similar or greater extent-whether it be sadness, happiness, anger. Understanding what causes an individual to move beyond the line of “fan” to a devoted follower is simple, but when an entire group of people surpass that line it raises some questions. Through observing the Army community, my ethnographic research will highlight the relationship, conflict, and development of stan (an overzealous fan) behavior in connection to religious affiliation. This study also seeks to encourage anthropology students and researchers to apply theory outside of their normal investigative routes.
Urban Futures in Hao Jingfang’s “Folding Beijing”
Brady Turpin, Brigham Young University
Faculty Mentor Steven Riep, Brigham Young University
SESSION D 4:10-4:25PM
Room 312, Union
Humanities
In the Chinese dystopian science-fiction novella “Folding Beijing”, author Hao Jingfang depicts a future Beijing, separated into three distinct “Spaces” that fold into one another in order to accommodate the overwhelming population. In this paper, I analyze how author Hao Jingjang utilizes physical space and urban constructs to reflect and more deeply explore the stark inequality between each city level, and how these same disparities and challenges are manifested in contemporary China. I do this through a review of China’s current pattern of domestic migration and its relationship to the growing hyper-urbanization in many Chinese cities. Then, I explore how Hao Jingfang’s future projection of these phenomena lead to the severely classist society portrayed in “Folding Beijing”, and how this work of fiction reflects reality.
The Byronic Hero and Turgenev’s Fathers and Sons
Preston Waddoups, Utah State University
Faculty Mentor Alan Blackstock, Utah State University
SESSION D 4:30-4:45PM
Room 312, Union
Humanities
Throughout Russian literature’s rapid development following the reign of Peter the Great, literature from western European nations was highly influential. Ivan Turgenev, as a reader, admirer, and translator of Lord Byron’s works, serves as one example of this fact. Turgenev’s 1862 novel Fathers and Sons, which takes a close look at generational differences, the waning influence of Romanticism, and social unrest in Russia leading up to the emancipation of the serfs, bears obvious signs of Lord Byron’s influence. One of the novel’s main characters, Yevgeny Bazarov, resembles a stereotypical Byronic hero in many respects. However, Bazarov is not simply a clone of Byron’s heroes; he diverges from them in his weak sense of guilt and justice and his lack of determination. Through a comparative analysis of Bazarov’s ideas and character with those of the eponymous heroes of Byron’s dramas Manfred and Cain, I will illustrate how Bazarov’s ambiguous status as a Byronic hero exemplifies a partial rejection and partial embodiment of Romanticism that reflects the atmosphere of social change and unrest in 19th-century Russia. In doing so, I intend to offer an analysis of Turgenev’s novel that sheds light on the broader social and ideological conflicts of 19th-century Europe, conflicts that are still relevant today.
