Another possible thesis topic: Differences in artistic protest during the Vietnam War and the Iraq War in the US. I hypothesize that during the Vietnam War, mainstream artistic protest dominated music, film, and theatre, while during the Iraq War, primarily underground outlets have created protest art, filling the void left by reluctant mainstream corporations. I would investigate the changes in media technology and deregulation that might have led to this change, such as the increasingly low cost of video cameras and the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (which should be familiar by now).

Vietnam War documentaries such as the 1974 Academy Award winner “Hearts and Minds” were both controversial and popular, and as a result antiwar art proved an intelligent marketing decision for media distributors. As Evan Medow, CEO of Windswept Pacific music publishing company, says, "At the time [of Vietnam], it was a moneymaking proposition to be involved with countercultural artists…Antiwar music was more the order of the day." Today, he continues, "The music business is under attack on every conceivable level, with downloading and new technologies like streaming video and broadband…Record companies want to get control of their product. They're not going to take risks just for the sake of making a political statement. With things the way they are, you're not going to get the adventuresome thinking necessary to put out political music" (Rudman).

Warning: This is another of those blogs you don't want to read. It's just me going on about possible thesis topics...

Man oh man. Senior year is tough, huh. I've been barely sleeping and still I'm running ridiculously behind on everything, most notably a decision on a thesis topic. The one professor who knocked my socks off in my two semesters at Pomona is on sabbatical, so the search for readers hasn't been so hot either. But hey, how bout I outline my various ideas for ya and maybe everything will come together. By the by, my major is Social Activism through Media & the Arts (MS/Politics/Theatre), so my thesis is gonna be leaning in that direction: