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Subscribe to iCalendarMay 3, 2006 
Video Collection
Category 2: Sampling popular culture to portray societal conditions
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Behind the Screens (0:29)
Matt Soar and Susan Ericsson’s Behind the Screens argues that product placement in films affects the production process and even the design of films. The filmmakers claimed fair use for all quotes from popular films, because they were examples of the phenomenon being examined, even though they are not specific objects of critique.
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Why America Hates the Press (1:02)
In a Frontline documentary “Why America Hates the Press,” Steve Talbot quoted several Sunday morning talk shows to describe a particular style of media. He invoked fair use because his limited excerpts were chosen specifically to illustrate a critique of the role these talk shows play in informing the public.
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Refrigerator Mothers (1:07)
In Refrigerator Mothers, about an era when mothers were blamed for their children’s autism, J.J. Hanley and David Simpson quoted popular films of the era. They claimed fair use because the film clips, by demonstrating social attitudes of the time, reflected popular culture of the era.
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Merchants of Cool (0:56)
In the Frontline documentary “Merchants of Cool,” director Barak Goodman quoted a teen horror movie, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, in a report on the marketing of popular culture to teens. He invoked fair use because this horror film is used as a point of reference for a discussion on the effect of media, sex and violence on teens.
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Game Over (0:15)
In Game Over, a documentary about the social effects of video games, Nina Huntemann quoted several video games to make the point that they have become even more realistic. The Media Education Foundation employed fair use, because these quotes provide a context for the filmmaker’s critical analysis of this kind of media.
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Cracking the Code of Life (1:14)
The Nova documentary “Cracking the Code of Life,” about the search for the human genome sequence, quoted the film Gattaca. The clip was included under fair use because the film illustrated popular attitudes toward the application of this scientific knowledge.
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Who Owns the Past? (0:29)
When Jed Riffe examined an archeological controversy in Who Owns the Past?, he quoted magazines and a 60 Minutes program in reference to the historical moment of discovery of ancient remains. He employed fair use because these quotes illustrated the reaction of the press at that historical moment.
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Money for Nothing (0:37)
In Money for Nothing, Kembrew McLeod argued that popular music stars were being chosen for their ability to cross-promote their work. McLeod claimed fair use for advertisements, album covers and television programming because he was making a critique of the media products themselves, as examples of a cultural trend.