Comments on: Top Extratextuals of the Decade

By: Jason Mittell

Jason Mittell — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 23:27:52 +0000

Nice list (aside from reminding me of the existence of the Disney Princesses!) – here are a few additional suggestions:

Any political extratexts warrant mentioning? I’m thinking of the Will.i.am Obama vid as a particularly impressive & influentual example. Jib Jab is another, although quite annoying IMO.

Colbert Nation needs some representation, as the way the meta-fandom matters in the text itself is quite revolutionary.

Maybe the Harry Potter Lexicon, and its associated lawsuit with Rowling? Quite important, both as fan-generated references and the court ruling on the limits of fair use.

And perhaps Wikipedia broadly as a meta-paratext on all things? Where can you find such detailed info about worlds both real and fictional side by side?

By: Jonathan Gray

Jonathan Gray — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 18:49:33 +0000

@Gladys Santiago
I’m not sure I call ads for products “extratextuals.” On one level, a product is of course a text, and so ads play a key extratextual role in creating them. So they could. But I didn’t count em for this list.

And I’m glad you mentioned The Simpsons. I did feel it warranted a spot, but realize that I have a rather overarching bias there. It also led to the fantastic videogame ads and parody too, so if we count it all as one entity, that certainly gets a spot on the list. Thanks, Gladys!

By: Gladys Santiago

Gladys Santiago — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 10:46:48 +0000

Apple’s advertising campaigns can probably be included because the simplicity of the ads (Mac vs. PC, hand navigating the iPhone, iTunes silhouettes, “There’s an app for that”) lend themselves to being parodied. YouTube is flooded with fan recreations of these culture and industry-changing ads.

Also, “The Simpsons Movie” campaign, which introduced The Simpsonizer website and the Kwik-E-Mart/7-Eleven reverse product placements.