Interview with Editor of MST3K Essay Collection

mummifiedstalin
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Interview with Editor of MST3K Essay Collection Apr 26, 2011 12:53:20 GMT -5

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Post by mummifiedstalin on Apr 26, 2011 12:53:20 GMT -5

I've been in contact with Rob Weiner, one of the editors of a recent collection of academic essays on MST3K, In the Peanut Gallery with MST3K. (It also has a new interview with Joel and Trace, a forward by Kevin, and an afterward by Mary Jo.) We thought it would be fun to do a little e-interview with him, especially since a large section of the book is devoted to the online communities that popped up around the show.

We've already had a couple of threads about the book here and here. There's also a sample essay online, although it may not be representative of the rest of the book.

Rob is an interesting guy, and I know that his other work would probably also be interesting to folk on here. He's a librarian at Texas Tech University who has written about how libraries can and should start collecting comics and graphic novels, as well as a collection of essays on Captain America. He's edited books on horror movies, the Grateful Dead, and James Bond.

I've got some questions I'd like to ask him, but I also wanted to see if anyone else might have something to ask. Whether you've read his book or not, feel free to post a question. (And if you haven't read the book, you can find out a lot about it by following the links above.) I'm sure he'd also be willing to talk about what it's like to study pop culture from an academic perspective in general, and I know that's something a lot of people here have at least a passing interest about.

So go ahead and post anything you'd like to ask. I'll collect the questions, and we'll do a little email interview. I'm also going to review his book, and anyone else (CHUCK!?) who's read it would be welcome to do so as well.

Edit: Here's the TOC of the book so that you can see what kinds of things the essays are about:

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xi
Foreword: Riffing and You (and Riffing ) by Kevin Murphy 1
Foreword by Robert Moses Peaslee 3
Introduction by Robert G. Weiner and Shelley E. Barba 7

PART ONE: DIRECTORS
1. There’s Been an Accident at the Studio: How We Made Hobgoblins! 18
RICK SLOANE
2. “Remember: Only you can prevent Roger Corman”: The King of the Bs Under Siege 29
CYNTHIA J. MILLER

PART TWO: SPECIFIC FILMS
3. Communists and Cosmonauts in Mystery Science Theater 3000: De-Camping East Germany’s First Spaceship on Venus/Silent Star 40
SEBASTIAN HEIDUSCHKE
4. The Semiotics of Spaceflight on the Satellite of Love 46
MATTHEW H. HERSCH
5. Resurrecting the Dead: Revival of Forgotten Films through Appropriation 55
CHERYL HICKS

PART THREE: FANDOM
6. Becoming “The Right People”: Fan-Generated Knowledge Building 66
KRIS M. MARKMAN and JOHN OVERHOLT
7. Converging Fan Cultures and the Labors of Fandom 76
MEGAN CONDIS
8. “Consume excrement and thus expire”: Conflict Resolution, “Fantagonism,” and alt.tv.mst3k 88
JEREMY GROSKOPF
9. Cinemasochism: Bad Movies and the People Who Love Them 101
DAVID RAY CARTER

PART FOUR: MEDIA TEXTS, AUDIENCES, AND THE CULTURE OF RIFFING
10. Double Poaching and the Subversive Operations of Riffing: “You kids with your hoola hoops and your Rosenbergs and your Communist agendas” 110
ORA MCWILLIAMS and JOSHUA RICHARDSON
11. Frame Work, Resistance and Co-optation: How Mystery Science Theater 3000 Positions Us Both In and Against Hegemonic Culture 120
MICHAEL DEAN
12. “Not too different from you or me”: The Paradox of Fiction, Joint Attention, and Longevity 127
MICHAEL DAVID ELAM
13. Mystery Science Theater 3000: A Media-Centered Exploration 135
ZACHARY GRIMM
14. Authorship and Text Remediation in Mystery Science Theater 3000 140
KALEB HAVENS

PART FIVE: MENTAL HYGIENE: THE MST3K SHORTS
15. “People were whiter back then”: Film Placement and In-Theater Commentary as Sociopolitical Dialogue 146
ERIN GIANNINI
16. The Endearing Educational Shorts 155
AMANDA R. KEELER
17. Writing History with Riffs: The Historiography of the “Shorts” 164
MIRANDA TEDHOLM

PART SIX: SATIRE AND GENDER
18. Robot Roll Call: Gypsy! (Hi Girls!) 172
MICHELE BRITTANY
19. What’s the Difference? Satire and Separation in That “Little Puppet Show” 178
ALANA HATLEY

PART SEVEN: TECHNOLOGY AND EPISODE COLLECTING
20. The Design and Speculative Technology of MST3K: Joel Hodgson and Trace Beaulieu at MIT 184
JASON BEGY and GENEROSO FIERRO
21. “Cambot Eye”: The Synthesis of Man, Machine and Spectatorship 197
DANIELLE REAY
22. MSTies and Mastery: Circulating the Tapes in a Digital Age 209
JOSEPH S. WALKER

PART EIGHT: HISTORY AND PRE-HISTORY
23. “Hamlet will return in Thunderball”: Historical Precedents of Riffing 220
MARK MCDERMOTT
24. From Techno-Isolation to Social Reconciliation 231
E. MITCHELL
25. Fishing with Cheese on a Blood Hook: MST3K’s Unlikely Origins on a Lake in the Woods of Wisconsin 242
ROBERT G. WEINER

Afterword by Mary Jo Pehl 253
About the Contributors 255
Index 259

Last Edit: Apr 28, 2011 11:08:33 GMT -5 by mummifiedstalin

"Why: 'Cuz mummi says so." -- Change B. Goode
"5. Butter a midget" -- Ratso's Amazon recommendation
More Ratso: post you ass ag bags!
Mitchell: I also just used "mount" correctly in a sentence.

TheNewMads JOIKE Singled Out for JOIKE Persecution Posts: 2,487	Interview with Editor of MST3K Essay Collection Apr 26, 2011 13:15:57 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by TheNewMads on Apr 26, 2011 13:15:57 GMT -5 cool! this'll light a fire for me to order it. i'll do so today and read it and put together a question or two. course i've already got that big gender rant i did. don't start without me!
	and now we know: www.imdb.com/name/nm0832047/ WORK ... THE LUMPS! www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jFIh1jCiG4 ___ www.youtube.com/user/MisterRiffley

mrsphyllistorgo
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Interview with Editor of MST3K Essay Collection Apr 26, 2011 13:31:49 GMT -5

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Post by mrsphyllistorgo on Apr 26, 2011 13:31:49 GMT -5

Me too! I recently read The Dark Side Of Reality TV for an online book group and it's great to have a chance to read about TV that's a good thing as opposed to the harbinger of the downfall of civilization.

There's only one rule, babies: Goddamnit, you've got to be kind.

I beg to differ. For you see, the other raptors and I have constructed a crude suspension bridge to Venezuela. Once there, I shall lay low and assume odd jobs under the name of Mr. Pilkington. But perhaps I've said too much.

Reno: Come visit Optimism's grave!

mummifiedstalin The Mads (Admin) Cigaro the Tepid Mummi Precious! Posts: 18,622	Interview with Editor of MST3K Essay Collection Apr 26, 2011 15:28:32 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by mummifiedstalin on Apr 26, 2011 15:28:32 GMT -5 P.S. I just noticed that there's a Kindle edition for $10 in case the standard price of academic paperbacks ($30-$40) is too steep.
	"Why: 'Cuz mummi says so." -- Change B. Goode "5. Butter a midget" -- Ratso's Amazon recommendation More Ratso: post you ass ag bags! Mitchell: I also just used "mount" correctly in a sentence.

mummifiedstalin
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Cigaro the Tepid

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Interview with Editor of MST3K Essay Collection Apr 28, 2011 11:07:08 GMT -5

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Post by mummifiedstalin on Apr 28, 2011 11:07:08 GMT -5

Here's a quick initial set of questions. I also found the table of contents online and added them to the first post, if you're interested.

First draft of questions:

How long have you been a fan of MST3K?
How did the idea for the book come about?
Why does MST3K seem worthy of this kind of scholarship?
Kevin and Mary Jo wrote a forward and afterward for your book. How did the Brains react when they found out they were the subject of “academic criticism”?
How did you get Rick Sloane’s piece? Did you contact him directly?
A large number of the essays focus on the community of MST3K, both in terms of the audience experience and in the various types of “fandom” that has grown up around it. Why do you think MST3K inspires these kinds of relationships?
Some people on our board have said that “thinking too much” about their entertainment kills it for them. I gather you don’t agree, but how do you respond to that idea?
Were there other interesting essay ideas that didn’t make the cut?
Were you surprised by anything in the essay submissions? Crazy essay ideas or people taking it far too seriously, etc.?
How does this book relate to your other work on pop culture?
How has your other work been received? Are there different reactions inside academia from general readers?

I'll have a few more later, but anything to add? Anything to change?

Last Edit: Apr 28, 2011 11:09:16 GMT -5 by mummifiedstalin

"Why: 'Cuz mummi says so." -- Change B. Goode
"5. Butter a midget" -- Ratso's Amazon recommendation
More Ratso: post you ass ag bags!
Mitchell: I also just used "mount" correctly in a sentence.

mrsphyllistorgo Lobo Love should be musky and whiskery and bad! Posts: 3,362	Interview with Editor of MST3K Essay Collection Apr 28, 2011 12:49:41 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by mrsphyllistorgo on Apr 28, 2011 12:49:41 GMT -5 I'm extremely interested to know how the subjects of race and feminism were dealt with, if at all. Did he reject, edit, or specifically request any essays on those subjects?
	There's only one rule, babies: Goddamnit, you've got to be kind. I beg to differ. For you see, the other raptors and I have constructed a crude suspension bridge to Venezuela. Once there, I shall lay low and assume odd jobs under the name of Mr. Pilkington. But perhaps I've said too much. Reno: Come visit Optimism's grave!

mummifiedstalin The Mads (Admin) Cigaro the Tepid Mummi Precious! Posts: 18,622	Interview with Editor of MST3K Essay Collection Apr 28, 2011 16:16:21 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by mummifiedstalin on Apr 28, 2011 16:16:21 GMT -5 I'll add it. And it looks like it certainly came up. Chapters 15, 18, and 19, for example. 18 and 19 even have their own section, "Satire and Gender."
	"Why: 'Cuz mummi says so." -- Change B. Goode "5. Butter a midget" -- Ratso's Amazon recommendation More Ratso: post you ass ag bags! Mitchell: I also just used "mount" correctly in a sentence.

Skyroniter The Mads (Admin) Not that omnipotent. I am glad to offer MST DVDs or Blu-rays to board members. Please message me if interested. Posts: 9,465	Interview with Editor of MST3K Essay Collection Apr 29, 2011 6:59:29 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by Skyroniter on Apr 29, 2011 6:59:29 GMT -5 The Rick Sloane piece is really good. That's as far as I've been able to read so far.
	Former purveyor at mst3kvideos.com

mummifiedstalin
The Mads (Admin)

Cigaro the Tepid

Mummi Precious!

Posts: 18,622

Interview with Editor of MST3K Essay Collection May 1, 2011 21:54:05 GMT -5

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Post by mummifiedstalin on May 1, 2011 21:54:05 GMT -5

A few more.

Which essay do you think most MSTies will find particularly surprising or perhaps even disagreeable?
You mention that your favorite short is "What to Do on a Date," and that you've shown it to every "significant other" in your life. How did that pan out?
A running theme of many of the essays is that there's something subversive or even political about watching MST3K, even if it's just the notion that the show represents not being a passive consumer. And yet, even with the worst movies the fans seem to develop a genuine love for the films instead of treating them like an evil pop culture that has to be resisted or fought against. So is MST3K full-on knowing satire, or is it tempered with something else? [There's probably a better way to get at what I'm trying to say.]

"Why: 'Cuz mummi says so." -- Change B. Goode
"5. Butter a midget" -- Ratso's Amazon recommendation
More Ratso: post you ass ag bags!
Mitchell: I also just used "mount" correctly in a sentence.

TheNewMads
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Singled Out for JOIKE Persecution

Posts: 2,487

Interview with Editor of MST3K Essay Collection May 7, 2011 6:53:42 GMT -5

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Post by TheNewMads on May 7, 2011 6:53:42 GMT -5

so the book has a good article talking about the shorts and how they can be used to extract a kind of history and cultural study of the times the shorts were made. i wonder if the writers had ever thought of doing a study of the movies themselves and how they can illuminate the times they were made in?

for instance, notice how a lot of the movies are ripoffs of more famous movies with existing scholarship that could be used to illuminate the mistied movies too. like alien from LA, which is among other things a pretty obvious ripoff of raiders of the lost ark. now, though i've always loved raiders, i've always found it to be almost amusingly racist and culturally insensitive, what with its expropriation of arab labor, racial stereotypes, the fact that the colonialist anthropology indiana jones practices is a glorified form of grave-robbing. he desecrates tombs for a living, for pete's sake! and there is, i imagine, existing scholarship on this and on how raiders came at a time when the american brand was tarnished (by vietnam, watergate, the recession of 79-80, though that last might be anachronistic, i'm not sure) and raiders very plainly is partly an attempt to resuscitate an older, more stable american identity of the swashbuckling, verile american hero of the 30s serials. so, that said, isn't it kinda interesting how in alien from LA, when wanda goes underground, unlike indy -- who finds moribund tombs -- she finds a vast, hidden, orwellian society? could that be used to make an argument that by the late 80s (alien from LA came out in the last year of reagan's term), the american brand had largely been resuscitated and was now ready to be challenged again, with a kind of counterestablishment warning about insipient authoritarianism? warrior of the lost world, notice, does something similar to the mad max franchise, where a lawless post-apocalypse is substituted with a totalitarian one. and i'd be curious to see similar investigations of the transformation that merlin's mystical wonders does to poltergeist, devilfish does to jaws, etc., etc. although i haven't read the whole book yet, so some treatment of this may be in there.

in general, too, i'd be interested in seeing a study of this process by which mainstream films become b-movies, some talk of the kinds of changes that are typical when a low-budget movie rips off a high-budget one. (and, even more interestingly, when a low-budget movie actually precedes a high-budget one with a similar premise, which also happens sometimes.) and of course, the riffs in the mst3k versions of these movies a lot of times show awareness of that, making fun of the movies for not hiding their reliance on the original movies well enough, etc.

and now we know: www.imdb.com/name/nm0832047/

WORK ... THE LUMPS!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jFIh1jCiG4

___

www.youtube.com/user/MisterRiffley

TheNewMads JOIKE Singled Out for JOIKE Persecution Posts: 2,487	Interview with Editor of MST3K Essay Collection May 7, 2011 6:55:48 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by TheNewMads on May 7, 2011 6:55:48 GMT -5 sorry, mum, i'm late.
	and now we know: www.imdb.com/name/nm0832047/ WORK ... THE LUMPS! www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jFIh1jCiG4 ___ www.youtube.com/user/MisterRiffley

BJ
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Interview with Editor of MST3K Essay Collection May 7, 2011 13:59:58 GMT -5

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Post by BJ on May 7, 2011 13:59:58 GMT -5

^An analysis of film ripoffs would definitely be interesting, especially when the imitation is better than the original (Clonus immediately comes to mind).

Also, I think you just analyzed Raiders more than Spielberg and Lucas ever have. They always say that it's just a throwback to the old pulp comics, which were racist, sexist, jingoistic, etc. And while he occasionally does real archaeology, Indy's a tomb raider. He doesn't even try to hide it.

Fortune and Glory kid

Don't be mean; we don't have to be mean, cuz, remember, no matter where you go, there you are.

My Custom MST3K DVD Covers

TheNewMads
JOIKE

Singled Out for JOIKE Persecution

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Interview with Editor of MST3K Essay Collection May 7, 2011 16:28:07 GMT -5

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Post by TheNewMads on May 7, 2011 16:28:07 GMT -5

May 7, 2011 13:59:58 GMT -5 BJ said:

^An analysis of film ripoffs would definitely be interesting, especially when the imitation is better than the original (Clonus immediately comes to mind).

Also, I think you just analyzed Raiders more than Spielberg and Lucas ever have. They always say that it's just a throwback to the old pulp comics, which were racist, sexist, jingoistic, etc. And while he occasionally does real archaeology, Indy's a tomb raider. He doesn't even try to hide it.

Fortune and Glory kid

well, yeah, they say that, but i think they're being a bit cagey. lucas is on record as having taken joseph campbell as an inspiration for the star wars series, and that's pretty heady stuff. anyway, i don't really believe in authorial intent as bounding interpretation. there's lots of stuff that's subconscious, that's noisy, that has to do with the fact that film is collaborative, not just that the director had a transparent vision and it just goes on screen, the way he sees it in his head. but it behooves them to SAY it's just a simple action movie, because they want it to be received that way.

a little bit of how the sausage got made on raiders. i thought this was pretty interesting stuff.

mysterymanonfilm.blogspot.com/2009/03/raiders-story-conference.html

and now we know: www.imdb.com/name/nm0832047/

WORK ... THE LUMPS!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jFIh1jCiG4

___

www.youtube.com/user/MisterRiffley

davidbeegah
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Interview with Editor of MST3K Essay Collection May 13, 2011 23:52:57 GMT -5

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Post by davidbeegah on May 13, 2011 23:52:57 GMT -5

Here's another interview that I found on line by the Seattle PI

I haven't purchased it myself yet either $36-$40 is a bit too pricey and I would like to read/hear more reviews so I can make a decision..

blog.seattlepi.com/filmhound/2011/05/13/in-the-peanut-gallery-with-mst3k-3000-editor-interview/

"If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you oughtta go back home and crawl under your bed. It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross; but it's not for the timid." -- Q

mrmeadows
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Interview with Editor of MST3K Essay Collection May 18, 2011 18:31:25 GMT -5

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Post by mrmeadows on May 18, 2011 18:31:25 GMT -5

I've been the sole bidder on a copy of this book on ebay for the past week (I bid $31). The auction ended today. I was outbid by some jerkface with 3 seconds left to go in the auction.

Weak. Sauce.

Interview with Editor of MST3K Essay Collection

Post by mummifiedstalin on Apr 26, 2011 12:53:20 GMT -5

Post by TheNewMads on Apr 26, 2011 13:15:57 GMT -5

Post by mrsphyllistorgo on Apr 26, 2011 13:31:49 GMT -5

Post by mummifiedstalin on Apr 26, 2011 15:28:32 GMT -5

Post by mummifiedstalin on Apr 28, 2011 11:07:08 GMT -5

Post by mrsphyllistorgo on Apr 28, 2011 12:49:41 GMT -5

Post by mummifiedstalin on Apr 28, 2011 16:16:21 GMT -5

Post by Skyroniter on Apr 29, 2011 6:59:29 GMT -5

Post by mummifiedstalin on May 1, 2011 21:54:05 GMT -5

Post by TheNewMads on May 7, 2011 6:53:42 GMT -5

Post by TheNewMads on May 7, 2011 6:55:48 GMT -5

Post by BJ on May 7, 2011 13:59:58 GMT -5

Post by TheNewMads on May 7, 2011 16:28:07 GMT -5

Post by davidbeegah on May 13, 2011 23:52:57 GMT -5

Post by mrmeadows on May 18, 2011 18:31:25 GMT -5