CRITICAL WORKS

Essays:

The Most Important Letter of Our Life
Published in The Full Spectrum: A New Generation of Writing About Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning and Other Identities, Random House/Knopf May, 2006.

Papers:

Lies, Damn Lies and The Daily Prophet: A Look at Journalism and Ethics in the Harry Potter Series

Like many fictional sleazy reporters, scandal-monger Rita Skeeter bears as much resemblance to her ethical real-life counterparts as her stories do to the truth. Still, her role in the Harry Potter series provides important clues about the status of journalism in wizarding Britain . This paper will look at how politics, paparazzi-style sensationalism, and a few grains of truth combine to make wizarding journalism a problematic entity. Be prepared for a no-holds-barred look at J.K. Rowling's critique of reporting and what happens when the fourth estate falls down on the job in Harry's world and ours. No Quick-Quotes Quills allowed.

Presented at Lumos: A Harry Potter Symposium July 27-30, 2006 Las Vegas, Nevada

Of Dementors, Dark Lords, and Depression: A Study of Mental Illness in Harry Potter (with Kimberly DeCina)

Depression, anxiety, and personality disorders: these mental illnesses affect Muggles of every race, class, and nationality. But what of wizards and witches? This paper examines the portrayal of mental illness in the Harry Potter novels in characters such as Harry Potter, Severus Snape, and the Dark Lord Voldemort. It will look at the wizarding world's apparent lack of understanding or concern about such illnesses and the social and political consequences of this ignorance, as well as demonstrate how J.K. Rowling's books can be used to encourage discussion about mental illness in education and public discourse.

Presented at Lumos: A Harry Potter Symposium July 27-30, Las Vegas, Nevada

"Ready For The Action Now, Dangerboy?": A look at the Gender, Politics and Sexuality of Peter Chung's Aeon Flux

This paper will examine Peter Chung's revolutionary 1990s animated series Aeon Flux and the inventive ways it addresses gender identity, heterosexuality and so-called male and female "complementariness" as a response to action films, BDSM culture and the male gaze.

Presented at Wiscon 30, May 26-30 Madison, Wisconsin.

Reviews:

My book reviews regularly appear in The Pedestal Magazine and Star*Line, and I am in the process of reviewing books for several other publications. Check back here for updates.

Slow to Burn by Collin Kelley

The No-Net World by Larissa Shmailo

Seven Minutes Before the Bombs Drop by Jared Smith

Strange Wisdoms of the Dead and Petting the Time Shark by Mike Allen

In Progress:

Polygamy Versus Pop Culture: A Study of Big Love, Utah Culture and Mormon Fundamentalism

The HBO television series Big Love, which focuses on the trials, tribulations and triumphs of a member of a fundamentalist off-shoot of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, his three wives and their several children has proven to be a controversial program for many viewers, particularly in the state of Utah where the drama is set. Weeks before the series premiered in April, 2006, it was the subject of criticism from Utah polygamists who said, among other things, that it misrepresented the spiritual idea of plural marriage by overemphasizing sex. Anti-polygamists, on the other hand, argued that the series has not done an adequate job of portraying the sexual and psychological abuse inherent in many Fundamentalist LDS communities. Additionally, leaders of the LDS (Mormon) Church castigated the show's writers for once again erroneously linking the practice of plural marriage with church doctrine and with the state of Utah. The LDS Church dispensed with the practice of polygamy in 1890, and members engaging in the practice today are excommunicated.

The research will examine Big Love's accuracies and inaccuracies in its treatment of contemporary polygamy, as practiced by members of various fundamentalist LDS groups and polygamists not affiliated with these churches. It will examine the impact of the show on Mormon and non-Mormon Utahn's perception of their culture, and national and international perceptions of Utah's culture, which has often been misperceived as exclusively Mormon and universally accepting of polygamy, particularly in light of the addition of FLDS leader Warren Jeffs to the FBI's top ten most wanted list.

For essay collections Vanderhooft is currently editing, please see the call for submissions page.