From magic bullets to shooting blanks: Reality, criticism, andBeverly Hills, 90210

The State of the Art in Feminist Scholarship in Communication

“…Researchers in this area generally work from the assumption that the communication of gender ideology is a central function of cultural messages, and they employ diverse analytical techniques to examine the variety of forms in which this ideology is manifested and through which its effects are produced. Studies have examined television and video entertainment (Acosta-Alzuru, 2003;Andsager & Roe, 1999;Botta, 1999;Cohen & Ribak, 2003;Cuklanz, 1998;Hanke, 1998;Harrison & Frederickson, 2003;Holbert, Shah, & Kwak, 2003;Ott & Aoki, 2001;Powell & Abels, 2002;Rockler, 1999;Striphas, 2003;Vavrus, 2000aVavrus, , 2002; film (Anderson & Accomando, 1999;Dalton & Fatzinger, 2003;Frentz & Rushing, 2002;Harris, 2000;Ono & Buescher, 2001;Picart, 1998;Rockler, 2001;Swan, 1999); advertising (Artz, Munger, & Purdy, 1999;Cassidy, 2001;Hawkins & Hane, 2001;Johnson & Young, 2002;Sullivan, 1998;White & Kinnick, 2000); magazines (Corbett, 2001;Garner, Sterk, & Adams, 1998;Mandziuk, 2001;Smith, 2000); news (Bing, 1999;Consalvo, 1998;Danner & Walsh, 1999;Dow, 1999;Halevi, 2003;Halkias, 1998;…”

“Teens Win”: Purveying Fantasies of Effortless Economic Mobility and Social Attainment on Rich Teen Soaps

“…There is also a significant amount of ironic viewing in both E. Graham McKinley (163–64) and, especially, Naomi Rockler's (83) focus group studies of Beverly Hills 90210 as respondents made fun of characters, plot developments, and what they regarded as the show's ham‐handed moralizing.…”

‘Am I supposed to say how shocked I was?’ Audience responses to Mad Men

“…In recent years, significant contributions include the study of viewers' response to Beverly Hills, 90210 (Rockler, 1999) -a combination of critical analysis of the teenage programme and interviews with female viewers -a survey on sex differences in pleasures among viewers of Ally MacBeal (Cohen and Ribak, 2003) or the extensive study conducted by AcostaAlzuru on a Venezuelan telenovela, research that interestingly enough combines a critical analysis of the show with interviews of three kinds: writers, actors and viewers (Acosta-Alzuru, 2003).…”