Genius on Television: Essays on Small Screen Depictions of Big Minds

by Ashley Lynn Carlson (Editor)

Overview

Whether it's Sherlock Holmes solving crimes or Sheldon and Leonard geeking out over sci-fi, geniuses are central figures on many of television's most popular series. They are often enigmatic, displaying superhuman intellect while struggling with mundane aspects of daily life.

This collection of new essays explores why TV geniuses fascinate us and how they shape our perceptions of what it means to be highly intelligent. Examining series like Criminal Minds, The Big Bang Theory, Bones, Elementary, Fringe, House, The Mentalist, Monk, Sherlock, Leverage and others, scholars from a variety of disciplines discuss how television both reflects and informs our cultural understanding of genius.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786497737
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	07/23/2015
Pages:	228
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Ashley Lynn Carlson is an associate professor of English at the University of Montana Western in Dillon, Montana. She has published essays on a variety of topics ranging from nineteenth-century literature to contemporary popular culture.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments viii

Introduction Ashley Lynn Carlson 1

Part I Genius Types: Television Definitions of Genius

"Spectacularly ignorant": The Conflicted Representation of Genius David Sidore 12

Mediated Genius, Anti-Intellectualism and the Detachment(s) of Everyday Life Jz Long 32

The Human Hard Drive: Memory, Intelligence and the Internet Age Ashley Lynn Carlson 49

Gray Matter: The Malleability of Intelligence in Fringe Lisa K. Perdigao 59

Part II Gender and Genius

"Caring is not an advantage": The Triumph of Reason in Sherlock Jillian L. Canode 80

Geeksploitation: Gender and Genius in The Big Bang Theory Jeffrey A. Sartain 96

The Genius in the Attic: The Female Technologist in NCIS and Criminal Minds Marian R. Hjelmgren Ashley Lynn Carlson 113

Gladiators in Dresses: Scandal, Femininity and Emotional Genius Jennifer Kirby 124

"I'm not a girl, I'm a genius": The Creative Souls of Brenda Leigh Johnson and Cristina Yang Cecilia J. Pang 138

Part III Genius, Difference and Deviance

What's the Difference? Pathologizing Genius and Neurodiversity in Popular Television Series Carol-Ann Farkas 156

Temperance Brennan: A Case Study in Genius and Autism Spectrum Disorder Kristin Larson 175

True Detective or Smooth Criminal? The (Dys)functional Genius in Contemporary Detective Shows Laura-Marie Von Czaknowsky Annette Schimmelpfennig 185

"It's the age of the geek, baby": The Intelligent Con Artist, Corporate America and the Construction of the Family in Leverage Hannah Swamiooss 199

About the Contributors 215

Index 217