Below are abstracts from unpublished papers by Erika Lobati. Access to full papers can be requested by contacting elobati@gmail.com
"I Don’t Know if I Should Laugh: Traces of Ethnoracial Attitudes via Cringe Comedy in The Mindy Project and Insecure"
Erika Lobati
Temple University
Film and Media Arts
6 April 2024
“I don’t know if I should laugh” observes the cringe comedic jokes, bits, and punchlines in the works of triple threat icons Mindy Kaling and Issa Rae to understand how the representational frameworks of writers' room seep into the final screen. Mindy Kaling and Isa Rae’s paralleling backgrounds, career trajectories, and cringe comedy writing styles allow a fascinating contrast and comparison of their hit television programs The Mindy Project and Insecure. Both are successful writers, actors, producers, and comedians having grown up children of immigrants and pursuing prestigious college educations. Mindy Kaling and Issa Rae also both jumpstarted their careers by completing successful rigorous passion projects after college which paved their way to write, produce, and act in their network series The Mindy Project and Insecure. Using Caleb Warren and Peter McGraw’s Benign-Violation Theory as an analytical framework, this article recognizes their final ethnoracial jokes on screen as the residual byproduct of a group of writers' conversations, debates, and discourses behind the scenes. The cringeworthy comedic moments in Kaling and Rae’s work that implicate their characters’ race, ethnicity, and gender serve different narrative functions, begging the question of the intentions and beliefs held by the writers' room. Moreover, this article explores how the writers' room structure can advance representational goals and questions how these goals can be diluted or circumscribed by economic interests, network politics, and workplace banter.
Keywords: Cringe comedy, social violations, writers’ room, network politics, triple threat icons, representation, color-conscious worldbuilding, color-blind casting
"Sonic Form: Formalist principles of montage and sound in The Big Short"
Erika Lobati
Temple University
Film and Media Arts
11 October 2023
Sergei Eisenstein’s chapter “Dickens, Griffith, and the Film Today” introduces explicit formal principles of Soviet montage and their greater philosophical foundations. Eisenstein derives these principles from his observations, comparisons, and contrasts to American montage in literature and film. He lays out the translation of Charles Dicken’s parallel montage and literary expression of the aural to D.W. Griffith’s montage. However, he esteems the Soviet method of montage by distinguishing it from Griffith’s “school of tempo” and highlighting the Soviet’s “affective rhythm”. Eisenstein acknowledges Soviet montage’s abandonment of logical language in preference of an emotional, affective language. The advent of sound cinema invited further scholarship on the role of auditory elements in montage and editing. Soviet filmmakers, including Eisenstein, expressed strong opinions on effective methodology of sound editing. Meanwhile, in response to radio broadcast studio, German theorist Rudolf Arnheim developed his own theories about the influence of sound, technical qualities of sound, and methods of using it for audience engagement. This paper will summarize the core principles behind Eisenstein’s conceptions of “montage” and explore further how ideologies about sound develop montage. I will then extract two scenes from Adam McKay’s The Big Short as objects of study to explore ideas of intellectual montage, rhythm, and integrations of sound.
"The Bulky Years: An analysis of fat representation in television in the 21st century"
Erika Lobati
Professor Wilson
FMS 585
2 May 2022
One of the powers of media is its ability to emulate reality. Even amongst fantastical or seemingly unrealistic genres, part of what makes a film resonate with an audience is the ability of the audience to relate to the experiences and emotions presented on screen. For these reasons, film and television should include characters of all genders, sexualities, races, ethnicities, and sizes. One particular sector of representation has been a hot topic of discussion amid the body positivity movement across the country. Plus-sized, obese, thick, curvy, and fat bodies have started to stake their claim in the film industry and on-screen in the past few decades (Weinberg). 21st-century fat representation has improved over the decades in creating dimensional plus-sized characters but still leaves much for improvement. As exemplified by Ugly Betty, My Mad Fat Diary, and Euphoria, fat characterization in media has progressed over the decades by developing more well-rounded and complex overweight figures. However, these narratives have yet to address key experiences of fat citizens and neglect systemic issues.
"Tar Pit: A practical exploration of Yoko Ono and Shirley Clarke"
Erika Lobati and Allison Uhlenhop
Professor Jamieson
FMS 593
18 November 2021
Our Vision
In our practical creative research experience Tar Pit, we intend to implement four key artistic mechanisms inspired by two influential filmmakers. As exemplified by Yoko Ono and Shirely Clarke, we operate with participatory audience, social commentary, structuralist avantgarde, and cinema verite to discuss the persistent issue of sexism in the college environment. Additional materials, including a Padlet interactive space and informational website, supplement the film to engage viewers and grant them agency to impart their own reflections.
Yoko Ono
Our first influence Yoko Ono is a performative/visual artist, musician, filmmaker and outspoken pacifist. Ono grew up in Tokyo, Japan and later moved to New York City where her passion for art started to flourish. She married three times, the third time to John Lennon, singer and songwriter for The Beatles (Zoladz). Majority of Yoko’s works was commentary on the social atmosphere of the time and sought to involve some performative aspect, which either included some form of audience participation or involved her own physical actions. She was a well-known member of the Fluxus art scene, a movement that focused more on the process of the artist rather than the finished product. Works that came out of the Fluxus “events” were anti-elite and experimental.
Shirley Clarke
Our second influence Shirley Clarke is an experimental filmmaker who has even been known to collaborate with Yoko Ono and other New York artists (Brody). Clarke was born and raised in New York to a well off Jewish family. She first took interest in dancing and choreography at a young age, becoming highly esteemed and accomplished. It wasn’t until she started recording dance performances from her peers that Clarke realized her fascination in film. As an ametuer filmmaker, Clarke was inspired by Maya Deren’s avant garde works and used her ideas to guide her development in the craft. Clarke’s early works were focused on structuralism and imagination, but later she shifted gears by utilizing experimental documentary as a means for social commentary.
“Tactile Imaginations: How varying levels of audiovisual context influence the development and clarity of situation models among different dimensions.”
Erika Lobati
McNair Scholars Program, University of Kansas
Summer Research Internship
28 June 2021
Abstract
Situation models are critical to our cognitive function in everyday life. However, many studies primarily explore the representations of written texts. Therefore, it's important to ask whether these types of situation models are formed similarly when engaging with audiovisual texts. Our society is gravitating to increased forms of audiovisual entertainment and education. This new digital age begs into question: what are the best textual methods to yield discourse comprehension in humans? Do audiovisual texts alter the content and clarity of situation models in a manner that contrasts that of written texts?
This research proposal aims to explore how different modes of media influence the clarity and content of situation models in young adults. I studied 100 young adults ages 18-30 to see how their comprehension and mental models were affected by different textual presentations of the abstract and concrete narratives. In each condition, participants experienced four trials of narrative consumption: text, audio, visual, and audiovisual. After consuming each variant of the text, participants answered questions about the clarity of their mental representations as well as the temporal, spatial, causal, entities, and motivational dimensions of these situation models.
Results of this study found that there was no significant relationship between narrative content (abstract or concrete concepts) and situation model clarity (symbolic or sensorimotor). Results indicated that all modes of media yielded situations models that were fairly sensorimotor, falling between the 5 to 6 range on a clarity scale of 1 to 7. Final calculations also indicated that text media emphasizes the presence of the entities and causal dimensions, audio media emphasizes the presence of the entities dimension, visual media emphasizes the presence of the spatial and entities dimension, and audiovisual media emphasizes the causal and spatial dimension.
"Indigenous Illustrations: Hollywood representation of Latinamerican aboriginal populations"
Erika Lobati
Ranales
SPAN 346
6 May 2021
In a highly digitalized society, consumers understand the power of media. Film, television, social media, advertisements, and technology all have the ability to inform, to encourage, to advocate, and to prompt positive change. However, in the same way, media can distract, misconstrue, and assert a false reality. This paper specifically aims to analyze the global hegemony of United States cinema and further evaluate the depictions of Latinamerican indigneous populations. When considering indigenous representation, it's important to recognize that the American film industry is a crucial market with global influence. Film and television in the United States has the ability to not only inform its own citizens, but also those in Latinamerican countries. One study published in the Revista de Comunicación de La SEECI even found that while surveying a population of consumers in the Andes of Ecuador, Hollywood had a significant influence on viewer’s conceptions of real life as well as their preferences in audiovisual media ( Jimenez-Sanchez et al. 61 ). This calls further attention to the cruciality of appropriate and accurate representation in media. When compared to other countries like Guatemala, Hollywood cinema has variable representations of Latinamerican indigenous cultures complicated by the construction of films through either the studio system or independent production companies. Despite the presence of both problematic and more accurate depictions of these communities, it is evident that the film industry in the United States has room to improve indigenous representation through more collaborative, advocacy-based initiatives and filmmaking processes.
"13 Reasons Why: Social advocacy vs economic gain"
Erika Lobati
Professor Falicov
FMS 100
7 December 2018
Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why, based on Jay Asher’s original 2007 novel, intertwines various social issues within a larger narrative of suicide. The series centers around the life of a high school girl named Hannah Baker, through the eyes of her coworker and classmate Clay Jensen. After receiving a mysterious box, Clay discovers Hannah’s cassette tapes that identify the thirteen individuals that contributed to her decision to take her own life. Each episode features a tape that focuses on a specific person and details not only their connection with Hannah, but also their own personal battles following her death including bullying, sexual assault, and self-identity. This paper will analyze the creative elements and the controversy surrounding the show’s first season and will briefly discuss similar patterns of the second season. Through its sensationalist depiction of social issues, targeting of a younger audience, and persistent carelessness following the reactions of the public, 13 Reasons Why sidesteps social advocacy in pursuit of monetary gain.