"Punk-Ass Book Jockeys": Library Anxiety in the Television Programs Community and Parks and Recreation
2014; University of Idaho Library; Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1522-0222
Autores Tópico(s)Web and Library Services
ResumoWhat's really funny is we've been doing Q&A's about [Parks and Recreation], and people from local governments have said, You guys nailed it about the were just making it up as a joke on the show, but I guess everyone hates the library.Amy Poehler (Clare, 2011)Three students meet in their library's group room to prepare for their Spanish exam. It is early in their first semester, and the students are struggling to navigate their recent enrollment in a Colorado community college. SHHHHHH....people are trying to study is chalked in bold letters on the blackboard. A sign placed on easel reads Rules of Conduct. No... with a long list of inscrutable text below. One of the students, Abed Nadir, comments, Hey, this is kind of like Breakfast Club, huh? and his partner Britta Perry replies, We are in a Abed: Yeah, I'm sure each of us has issue balled up inside that would make us cry if we talked about it. Britta: Do you have something balled up inside of you? Abed: I've got a little doozy in the chamber if things get emotional. Abed later makes true on his word, reprising a poignant scene from John Hughes' The Breakfast Club (1985) that is set in a high school library. Within the first episode of the sitcom Community, the persistent theme of its characters' complex interactions with libraries is already established. Libraries have a long and well-documented history of appearances in film and television, manifestations that frequently are comprised of negative interactions or experiences. As with any given archetypal setting, the place of the library within these narratives both represents and influences the articulation of cultural values. Audiences recognize their own experiences vis-a-vis their active viewership, experiences which are in turn frequently affirmed and validated by the medium. The library has made recent resurgence as subject matter and setting in two acclaimed series, Community and Parks and Recreation, with elaborate portrayals in each. This paper investigates the ways in which depictions of anxiety towards libraries in Community and Parks and Recreation are enacted. Prior to in-depth discussion it is instructive to provide a brief description of each program and the concept of library anxiety.Parks and Recreation is a comedy series on NBC that debuted in 2009 and is currently in its sixth season. Set in the fictional location of Pawnee, Indiana, the series is led by Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler), a well-intentioned, perpetually cheery bureaucrat in the town's Parks Department. Parks and Recreation's ratings have been low compared to similar NBC comedy programs, in stark contrast to the critical acclaim and cult following the show enjoys. Similarly, Community, a series created by Dan Harmon that premiered in 2009 on NBC and has been renewed for a fifth season, benefits from extremely engaged fan base and critical praise but struggles with low ratings. Community follows a group of students enrolled at the fictional Greendale Community College. Preceding discussion of these shows' implicit library-anxious tendencies, a theoretical framework to illuminate the nature of library anxiety will be of use.The Anxious Library UserAnxiety as object of dates from the late Eighteenth century, though it has likely been in existence as a psychological condition long before. In its general state, anxiety is described as an emotional state with the subjectively experienced state of fear or a closely related emotion (Endler & Edwards, 1982, p. 39). The experience of anxiety is highly subjective and has resulted in sometimes-conflicting definitions. There does exist agreement on the three types of anxiety, which are behavioral, physiological, and phenomenological (Phillips, Martin & Meyers, 1972). As described by Raymond Cattell, general anxiety consists of two elements: trait anxiety and state anxiety. Trait anxiety is the intrinsic likelihood of individual to react to a given stressful situation with anxiety, whereas state anxiety is a person's temporary emotional state that is subject to variations over time. …
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