Comm. professor presents findings

What do movies like “Kill Bill’ and “The Parent Trap” have in common? A study by Janice Haynes, assistant professor in the social and communication arts department, reminds us that these movies, among others, all carry a similar trend.

Trends were found through a study she conducted over a period of five years on movies and television shows featuring single-mother households between 1994 and 2004.

The study focused around this time period because of the existence of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996, which caused major welfare reform.

Her study found three major themes over a total of 25 movies and 23 television programs featuring single mothers. These themes were the child’s desire to create a nuclear family, the transformation of the single mom to get to the nuclear family, and the destruction of the classic nuclear family.

Her study also found a number of different themes that were not directly referenced in the presentation, but discussed after during the question and answer period.

Through questions from the crowd it was found that these movies have little representation of those who are on welfare and those of another race.

The final lecture of the Graves Lecture Series ended  Tuesday night with a short overview of Haynes’ study. She shared the results of her study with nearly 20 people in the basement of the Reta King Library, Room 111.