Media and Cinema Studies Professor Kent Ono takes on colonialism and media in his new book
What is the effect of Star Trek on our perceptions of race and post-colonialism in America? Does a magazine cover depicting a powerful, black athlete LeBron James cradling a willowy, blond model Gisele Buendchen harken back to a time when African Americans were seen as less than human?
These are some of the cultural "flash points" Professor Kent Ono of the Department of Media and Cinema Studies in the College of Media examines in his latest book, "Contemporary Media Culture and the Remnants of a Colonial Past" (Peter Lang, 2009).
Ono, who completed his Ph.D at the University of Iowa in 1992 has worked extensively in the area where media and cultural intermingle. He has authored or edited five previous books and has been published in numerous journals. His new book seeks to answer questions that have yet to be asked about "colonial America."
"We've looked at racism in America, but we haven't looked as closely at colonialism," Professor Ono said.
And indeed, aside from a relatively recent critical examination of the policies toward the American Indian in America's early history, there hasn't been as close a look at the different cultural groups that are now living in what is still, essentially a colonial society, Ono claimed.
"Colonialism is interwoven into the way in which race and culture function in America," Ono said, "those are questions that haven't really been answered yet."
The book pulls one essay from an earlier work of his, "Enterprise Zones: Critical Positions On Star Trek," which looked at the racial and colonial undertones highlighted by the crew of the Starship Enterprise. For example, the character Worf struggles throughout the show with his bi-racial history.
Another of Ono's case studies features the controversial photo by Annie Leibovitz for Vogue depicting professional basketball player LeBron James and supermodel Gisele Buendchen. The picture is similarly construed to an earlier problematic photo from 1917 showing an ape holding a nude woman.
Although the picture emphasizes the agency and expertise of both subjects in their respective fields, James is barring his teeth, a behavioral trait often attributed to apes.
Ono has incorporated his latest work in his undergraduate class on Asian-American media and film in the newly formed Department of Media and Cinema Studies. Ono is also teaching a graduate seminar called Moving Memories, which looks at the role of history in media studies.
Along with the recent publication of his book, Ono closely monitors the media discourse on a referendum in California that proposes to cease welfare aid to children of undocumented immigrants. Part of his research also looks more broadly at media's interpretation of immigration in general.
Ono, who directed the Asian American Studies Program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 2002-2007, came to Illinois from the University of California-Davis where he directed the Cultural Studies Program there from 1999-2002.
Related Links:
- Kent Ono's Faculty Profile
- More information about “Contemporary Media Culture and the Remnants of a Colonial Past” (Peter Lang, 2009)
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