So, I am actually enjoying the textbook for my Intercultural Communication class. (C’est incroyable, I know!) My opinion of the book, though, is not a shocker to those who know how much I love the show Bones. After all, the book is called Cultural Anthropology. What’s not to love?! A pretty relevant question came up in the first couple of pages of the book, however:
“the popular impression of anthropology is based mainly on movies and television shows that depict anthropologists as adventurers and heroes . . . What are your impressions of anthropology? How did you acquire them?” (6-7)
Well…perhaps my viewing pleasures do tend toward geeky adventures such as Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, and Bones. I have not seen anything in my studies or the readings of the first couple of chapters to disagree with these shows, though. Sci-fi scores again!
First off, Daniel Jackson from
Stargate SG-1 is probably the coolest anthropologist ever. Period. In fact if you have not heard of him, you should probably go and read the
Wikipedia article about him. Who knows, it might erase a modicum of shame your ignorance has brought upon your familial name. Go on. I’ll wait… Great, you’re back! Because my readers are the brightest, most well read people still ambulatory, I naturally assume that you noticed Daniel Jackson is an archeologist
and a linguist. That’s right, folks. You get two anthropology fields crammed into one slightly geeky, ocular impaired individual! Right about now, I bet you’re asking yourself “whoa! So they were, like, teaching me stuff the whole time?” The answer, my friends, is yes. They have indeed practiced their dark, teacher-like chicaneries upon all of you. Fear not, though! Barbara Miller explains quite succinctly what sorts of vast intellect have been visited upon you: “archeology—the study of past human cultures through their material remains . . . linguistic anthropology—the study of human communication, including its origins, history, and contemporary variation and change.” In essence, when the cast of Stargate SG-1 pulled the Stargate out of the sands of Egypt, they were in fact practicing archeology. Later, when SG-1 traveled to distant planets, there was a reason they dragged along a civilian. The team needed Daniel to translate for them as they interacted with the peoples of the different worlds. You see, they all had a familiar lingual background, but the languages had morphed after hundreds of years of separation from the source language. Studying and interpreting those changes was the job of—you guessed it—the best linguistic anthropologist around town.
Later, the spin-off series
Stargate Atlantis continued the anthropological intrigues. This time, though, they moved from historical archeology—the time of the Egyptians to present—to prehistoric archeology—the time of the fictional ancients. It is prehistoric archeology because time being studied “concerns the human past before written records” (7). During their travels, the Atlantis team also indulges in a little “cultural anthropology—the study of living peoples and their cultures, including variation and change” (7). Because all humans were created by the ancients, they all come from a similar cultural background but have adapted over millennia of separation. The team meets up with several cultures at varying levels of our own development. For instance, the
Genii are a race of people in a developmental stage comparable to America’s own nuclear arms race. On the other extreme are the
Wraith. They too originally have human roots. However, human genes combined with the foreign iratus bug and produced a completely new species.
Bones, however, is not a science fiction show. It is, actually, a crime drama show. As it is set in a very close approximation of reality, facts must adhere closer to reality. In fact, Kathy Reichs—producer and writer of the book series—is a forensic anthropologist in reality whereas the main character Temperance “Bones” Brennan is a forensic anthropologist for the Smithsonian Institute in the show. As a forensic anthropologist, Bones is a student of “biological anthropology or physical anthropology—the study of humans as biological organisms, including evolution and contemporary variation” (6). Furthermore, Bones also specializes in “war zone anthropology or research conducted within zones of violent conflict,” often helping to identify genocide victims whose bodies were dumped into mass graves (45). The show displays some of the dangers that anthropology field work presents. Bones actually had a run in with a local gang while she was on a mission on a remote island where anthropologists believed bones could be found that would fill in the gap in the human evolutionary chain. The show also takes on some of the conflicts between government policies and anthropological principles. On several occasions, the FBI director wants cases swept under the rug for political reasons. Bones, however, searches for the truth, putting her subjects before all else.
So, don’t dismiss the educational (eeeh gads!) value of television out of hand. Shows such as Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, and Bones may look innocuously entertaining, but watch out! They are secretly full of facts and knowledge. They are like the rice in a crunch bar. You’re eating it for the chocolate, but the rice is cool too.
Now I’m hungry.
À bientôt!
Angela
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