Episode 2: Idiot Box History

Zombies, and Kaijus, and Gingerbread houses, oh my. Frank heads back to Geppi’s to look at what we watch, and read in a whole different way…a historical way.

Frank's Thoughts

Years and years ago, when I was a bright-eyed freshmen in college, I took a class that changed how I looked at entertainment forever. It was a class that focused on how you can look at entertainment as a way of tracking cultural history.

We looked at horror novels from the past, as well as horror films from the present, to see that we, as a culture, put our fears into the creative work we make. From that class on, I always look at our television shows, our movies, as a way of tracking history.

This was only reenforced when I stepped into Geppi’s. I got to see entertainment dating back a century or more. I was able to look at these artifacts and discern what was the hopes and fears of the time period. I looked at entertainment…movies, television, comics…in a whole new light.

It’s kind of amazing that sometimes something that is considered an idiot box might be smarter than originally considered…something that might be history.

Related links

• Geppi's Entertainment Museum web site
• Wikipedia article on Geppi's Entertainment Museum
• Geppi's Entertainment Museum on Yelp
• Wikipedia article on "Godzilla"
• Wikipedia article on "Dawn of the Dead"
• Wikipedia article on "Grimms' Fairy Tales"
• "Zombiemania: 80 Movies to Die for" by Arnold Blumberg and Andrew Hershberger
• Wikipedia: "George A. Romero"
• Wikipedia: "Lucio Fulci"
• What Culture: "Lucio Fulci: His 10 Best Films"
• Complete interview with Andy Hershberger