On this month's episode of The Sociologist's Dojo, The Bruce Lee Trilogy with Dr. Ted Preston of Rio Hondo College concludes with a discussion of the differences between eastern and western fight choreography, before diving into the various sociologically relevant themes in Bruce Lee's filmography. Enjoy!

Don't forget to Listen to:

Part I

Part II

Production Notes:

Intro: (0:00-2:05)

• Previously on...
• In Media Res

Fight Choreography Rant (2:05-25:22)

• Differences between Eastern and Western Fight Choreography
• "In Camera" vs. "The edit"
• What is the fight's purpose?
• Action vs. Martial Arts films

Social Analysis (25:23-50:53)

• Laying out the themes
• Themes obfuscated by Genre Conventions
• The "Non Violence" Paradox
• Masculinity and the action film
• Structural Racism and Capitalism
• Indivisualism vs. Collectivism

Outtro (50:54-61:31)

• Favorite Moments from Bruce Lee's Films
• Ranking Bruce Lee's Films
• Plugs

All Clips used under Faire Use

Links

• The Matrix Essay where I discuss Fight Choreography
• Philosophy books by Dr. Preston
• John Little Books on Bruce Lee
• Bruce Lee: A Life by Michael Polly

On this month's episode of The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast, Dr. Ted Preston, Professor of Philosophy at Rio Hondo College and I continue our lengthy discussion about Bruce Lee. In Part II of this trilogy, we finish up our converstation on Lee's philisophical motivations and then spend much of the episode placing Lee in historical context through looking at his image, icon status and legacy Enjoy!

Check out Part I.

Look for Part III out in May

Production Notes

Intro: 0:00-2:20

• Previously on:
• In Media Res
• Prologue

Motivations and Consequences: 2:21-23:58

• A Masculinity Interlude
• Martial Arts and Teaching
• Trivia

Historical Context: 23:59-3513

• Our First Experiences with Lee
• Gems of History and Historical Events
• Marketing in the 1970's

Image and Icon Status: 35:14-60:40

• "A Cartoon"
• A Simplified Image
• Generational Change?
• Influence on MMA
• Legacy

The Film Industry: 60:41-74:34

• Risk Adverse
• Repeats what is profitable
• Frankensteining Game of Death and "Brucesploitation"
• The Romanticizing of Action Films
• Bruce Lee Deification

Outtro: 74:35-75:40

• Fight Choreography Rant Tease

Notes and Links

• All clips were used under Faire Use
• The Sociologist's Dojo Blog
• Bruce Lee's Greatest Hits at The Criterion Collection
• Indewire's Review of The Bruce lee: Greatest Hits collection

On this month's episode of The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast, Dr. Ted Preston, Professor of Philosophy at Rio Hondo College, joins me for the first of three episodes focusing on the life, work, and legacy of Bruce Lee. In this ititial episode of The Bruce Lee Trilogy, we first get to know our guest for this Oydessy before discussing Lee's Philisophical origins and how his teachings can apply to academia. This episode has A LOT of table setting for deeper discussions later in Part II (out in April) and Part III ( out in May).

Production Notes

• Preamble 0:00-1:15 - "The Episode is now released as a Trilogy"

Intro: 1:16-2:52

Basics of Dr. Preston 2:53-9:47

• Areas of Intrerest and Specialization in Philosophy
• Relationship to Pop Culture
• Relationship to The Martial Arts

Bruce Lee: The Philosopher. 9:48-30:03

• Martial arts Magic
• Bruce Lee...Fighter
• Dr. Preston's Chapter on Bruce Lee
• Lee's Philisophical Background

Systems and Legacy Building After Death: 30:03-55:54

• His ideas not conducive to Running a School (Capitalism)
• Knowing Your Strengths
• Combat Effectiveness vs What's Available
• Foundation then Exploration
• Lee's impact on Academia
• Motivations to participate in The Martial Arts
• Preview of the start of Part II

Part II coming at the end of April, Part III at the end of May

All Clips Used Under Fair Use

Links

• The Sociologist's Dojo Blog
• John Little books about Bruce Lee
• Bruce Lee: A Life by Michael Polly
• Be Water My Friend: The Teachings of Bruce Lee by Shannon Lee
• The Bruce Lee Podcast

On this Month's Episode of The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast, Dr. Ellen Meiser Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Hawaii at Hilo and Co-Host of The Social Breakdown Podcast  returns to talk about the 2001 Shock Comedy "Freddy Got Fingered." We talk about the Gen X laidened, Mtv fueled Aggrievedly entitled incel Masculinity that birthed this film and its foundational legancy to Tom Green's Cultural footprint. Enjoy!

Production Notes:

Intro: 0:00-1:15

Update from Dr. Meiser  1:16-4:28

• Podcast Hiatus
• New Publications ( Workplace abuse, The value of Scars, Gastronomica Article)

Basics of Freddy Got Fingered 4:29-19:10

• Opinion Disclaimer: We Hated this Film
• Theatrical Trailer 
• Production Team
• Trivia 

Historical Context 19:25-44:03

• Channel Drift/ Network Decay
• CNN, Don Lemon and Tucker Carlson 
• Mtv in 2001- Steering toward public attention
• The Tom Green Show 
• Green Vs. Cohen 

Social Analysis 44:18-70:06

• Aggrieved Entitlement and Arrested Development 
• Origin of the Film's Title 
• Conistant Father Failure Messaging 
• Satire as a Shield 
• The Social Media Influence 

Outtro 70:07-75:26

• Dr. Meiser's Next Episode 
• Plugs 
• Next Episode: The Bruce Lee Episode with Dr. Ted Preston 

Links:

• Dr. Meiser's Website 
• The Social Breakdown Podcast 
• The Sociologist's Dojo Blog 
• The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast 
• The Sociologist's Dojo on Twitter 

On this month's episode of The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast we are capping off the end of the year with a best of List. This episode is designed to be a companion piece to my Final essay for 2023 on the blog: The Films that Encapsulate 2023. This list is far more upbeat and interesting. As with the list on the blog, this episode's list is not a list of the films that are the most Sociologically relevent, but the films that I saw in 2023 that I gave 4 stars and above to on my Letterboxed page Because of the function of lists, I will not be including detailed production Notes that will inevitably spoil the films on this list. However, in the interest of self promotion, the following links can be considered list spoilers for two films of this 15 film list. Enjoy, everyone. Happy Holidays !

Coming up on the Blog: I dive into The Films of Ana Lily Amirpour 

On this month's episode of The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast, Together with return guest Dr. Jjenna Hup Andrews of Mott Community College, we are T.raveling A.nd R.elative D.imension I.n S.pace as companions of our favorite Time Lord: The Doctor; discussing the British Sci-Fi TV series Doctor Who. Come along with us as we talk about Dalek's, Cybermen, regenerations and a whole lot of running. Sound the cloister bell! Wooo Weeee OOOOOH! 

Production Notes:

Basics 

• An Update on Dr. Hup Andrews work 
• Basic Plot and origin of the Series
• Trivia 
• Who is our Doctor?

Historical Context 

• Micro Level: How we were first introduced to Dr.Who
• Doctors, companions and Storylines representing the Specific time period
• Fan base: Brindging the gap between Classic and "New Who"

Social Analysis

• The Social Justice of The Doctor ( Gender fluid, Anti-War, Evironmentalist)
• Dr. Who Antagonists representative of Social Problems 
• The Representation of The Doctor

Outtro 

• After the end of the Year essay on the blog we'll start on the films of Ana lilly Amirpour in January 
• There will be an upcoming Christmas Episode on A Muppet Christmas Carol featuring Dr. Liz Faber 
• In Jan we'll have a Bruce Lee Episode followed by an episode on Freddy Got Fingered 

Stick around for

One of the best Speeches ever to be uttered in Dr. Who    

On this month's episode of The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast ,in honor of Spooky Season, return guest Dr. Courtenay Stallings of Pepperdine University and I talk about the 2015 Hitchcockian Horror/Thriller The Invitation, directed by Karyn Kusama. Join us as we talk about Religion, Cults and their relationship to politics, Grief, Trauma, and a lot of Erving Goffman. This Podcast episode will have you pondering when DO you decide to break the social contract, and will that just save your life?  Happy Halloween from The Sociologist's Dojo!

Basics 

Dr. Stallings Previous Episodes 

• Episode 8: Mulholland Drive   
• Episode 15: The Exorcist 
• Episode 20: The Nic Cage Episode 

Update on Dr. Stallings Academic Work 

Basics of The Film: The Invitation (2015)

• Plot 
• Trivia 

Historical Context

• Micro Level:  Experiences with Kusama's work
• Kusama, and a gendered director jail
• The importance of 2015, Prophetic for the tension of 2016 Family Dinners (Cults and Politics) 
• The Feel and look of the film, seems timeless 

Social Analysis

• Religion and Cults  
• Erving Gofmman's Presentation of Self and The Social Contract of Parties 
• Terror in the mundane
• Subverting who "typically" survives a Horror Film.

Outtro 

• Follow Dr.Stallings @CourtenayCal
• Follow the blog and Podcast @TheSociologists
• The Invitation Essay on the blog