Jason Mittell

@jmittell.bsky.social

6.6K followers 1.2K following 2K posts

Media studies professor at Middlebury College; video essayist & author of videographic book on Breaking Bad; author of written books on TV, narrative theory, etc.; journal manager of @intransition.bsky.social . [he/him] https://linktr.ee/jmittell .. more

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Jason Mittell is a professor of American studies and film and media culture at Middlebury College whose research interests include the history of television, media, culture, new media, and digital humanities. He is author of four books, Genre and Television (2004), Television and American Culture (2009), Complex TV: The Poetics of Contemporary Television Storytelling, and Narrative Theory and Adaptation. He also co-edited How To Watch Television and co-authored The Videographic Essay: Practice and Pedagogy. His digital-humanities activities focus primarily on videographic media criticism and, in 2015, he co-founded the first "Scholarship in Sound & Image" workshop, supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Moreover, he is journal manager and co-editor of [in]Transition: Journal of Videographic Film & Moving Studies, published by the Open Library of Humanities and supported by the Society for Cinema and Media Studies. .. more

Communication & Media Studies 39%

Art 14%

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Jason Mittell @jmittell.bsky.social · Nov 10

There wasn't a good list of accounts related to video essays - so I made this starter pack! Who did I miss? Who do you know who should join Bluesky to share & talk about video essays?
go.bsky.app/PtthhCc

Jason Mittell @jmittell.bsky.social · 4h

For my Television & American Culture course, I like to bring in a couple of Super Bowl ads to analyze as a class. Looking through them, I found them mostly bland & uninteresting, with not much to say about them.

Then I watched the extended cut of the Instacart bananas ad...

For Papa! | Instacart Big Game Commercial with Ben Stiller and Benson Boone directed by Spike Jonze

YouTube video by Instacart

www.youtube.com

Jason Mittell @jmittell.bsky.social · 17h

We visited the Scotland parliament last year, and they had a big display advocating for LBGTQ+ rights and celebrating some of their laws, so I presume they've done things beyond the UK

Jason Mittell @jmittell.bsky.social · 19h

Are they worse than the US? Scotland is much better than England on this

Jason Mittell @jmittell.bsky.social · 20h

Just reading your comment means that the "Save more money at Menards" jingle will be on mental repeat for a week. Thanks?

Jason Mittell @jmittell.bsky.social · 22h

Because he delivers sufficient optimism to drive stock prices up. That's all that matters to folks in that orbit.

Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 2d

A desperate plea sent to me by a Minneapolis resident who's been on the front lines since the beginning of the ICE occupation:

Just a quick update from the Twin Cities. (Please forgive the unsolicited message). THINGS ARE NOT BETTER IN MINNEAPOLIS. The media is mostly moving on, Trump is focused on other stuff, BUT NOTHING HAS CHANGED ON THE GROUND. More than 2,000 DHS thugs continue to roam the streets, abducting people 24/7, assaulting legal observers with impunity, and routinely denying 1st, 4th, and 5th amendment rights. Drones and helicopters are overhead every day. Hundreds and hundreds of terrified families have not left their homes since mid-December ... relying on the community to bring them food and help with rent and other necessities. (Those people are NOT violent drug cartel sex offending murderers, as DHS would tell you. Most are legal residents or citizens.) If anything, things have just become more stressful and intractable (think trench warfare as a suitable metaphor): The resistance is better organized and numerous, but DHS has become more clever and better at disguise... and the county sheriff's office is increasingly supporting them . Do not let anyone tell you that Homans (the new person in charge of the occupation) is making anything better. Do not let anyone tell you that 700 ICE agents leaving the city has made much of a difference; the remaining force (again, ~2,000) is still larger than the entire city's police force (which is legally unable to do anything). Please call your congressional reps ... especially if there is any chance the administration might listen to them.

Reposted by Jason Mittell

Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 2d

“There is no one figurehead that’s going to save us from authoritarianism. What I’m seeing every day here is thousands of people finding the way to plug in and do what they can.”

Six vital lessons from Minnesota’s general strike

Minneapolis organizers weigh in on how to make the movement go national.

www.motherjones.com

Jason Mittell @jmittell.bsky.social · 2d

It does seem to mostly cluster in certain fields that have more public-facing or industrial opportunities. Or at least I was fortunate that the superstars in my grad department were actually engaged in teaching and mentorship.

Reposted by Jason Mittell, Melanie C. Green, Caroline T. Schroeder , and 2 more Jason Mittell, Melanie C. Green, Caroline T. Schroeder, Jelena Subotić, David Darmofal

Scoutprime @scoutprime.bsky.social · 3d

LOL.... i wanted to hear JD getting booed at the Olympics and when i searched for it on YouTube i got this

Reposted by Jason Mittell, Steve Peers, Melanie C. Green , and 4 more Jason Mittell, Steve Peers, Melanie C. Green, Kathleen Kennedy, Geneviève Gore, David Drexler, Peter Jacobs

Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 3d

GM: Charisma check.

Mamdani: [rolls natural 20]

GM: that’s a d6 how did you

Mamdani: [direct to camera] Did you know you can check out board games at your local public library? 😊

Jason Mittell @jmittell.bsky.social · 7d

Essential reading from @tressiemcphd.bsky.social (as always). An additional layer of doom she didn't mention is that DOGE's true mission was to gather data from every agency and put it in the private hands of Musk & Thiel. That mission was accomplished before Elon bailed... so we're already fucked.

Victor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · 7d

“You need only know this: Whatever is happening with your data, it is important enough to the most egregiously lawless administration in American history that it be collected and consolidated.” Always read @tressiemcphd.bsky.social (gift link)

Opinion | Democracy Dies by Database

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Jason Mittell, Mark Rice , and 2 more Anna O. Law, Jason Mittell, Mark Rice, Nicole Guenther Discenza, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Victor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · 7d

Opinion | Democracy Dies by Database

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Jason Mittell, Rosemary A. Joyce

Meat And Ferments Hat @kenwhite.bsky.social · 7d

I spent all that time satirizing it and Bari Weiss just says it

Reposted by Jason Mittell, Mark Petticrew, Alexander Wuttke , and 7 more Jason Mittell, Mark Petticrew, Alexander Wuttke, Janet Murray, Brooke Harrington, John H. Knox, Tobias Singelnstein, Maksym Polyakov, François Guesnet, Peter Jacobs

Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 7d

Peter Thiel has been open about this for a long time. Trump is a way to break the republic, which can then be replaced by “free economic zones” with oligarchs as dictators and tech as a taskmaster for helpless humans without any rights. (1/2)

Tim Onion @bencollins.bsky.social · 7d

Definitely seems like they destroyed the country on purpose.

Jeffrey Epstein emailing Peter Thiel: Finding things on their way to collapse was much easier than finding the next bargain. ... Return to tribalism. Counter to globalization. Amazing new alliances.

Reposted by Jason Mittell

Jared Yates Sexton @jysexton.bsky.social · 7d

Getting serious and disturbing deja vu from Trump telling everyone who will listen he plans on rigging elections and all the people paid handsomely by corporate media tripping over themselves assuring readers and followers he couldn’t possibly do it.

Jason Mittell @jmittell.bsky.social · 8d

The only way that I find joy in his existence is my fan theory that Stephen Merchant wrote David Brent as a direct backhand critique of Gervais, who was too arrogant to see the links and just played him as a character without any self-awareness

Reposted by Jason Mittell, Rosemary A. Joyce, Timothy Burke , and 1 more Jason Mittell, Rosemary A. Joyce, Timothy Burke, Richard M. Carpiano

Tyler King @tyleraking.com · 8d

Chotiner shot that man right in the face with his own gun and he never heard the *click*.

There have been some critiques of the movie. People have said that it was essentially a payoff from Amazon to the White House, and that you're doing propaganda for an authoritarian President. I know you said you don't want to get into politics, but what do you think of that critique?
Well, you know, I felt like I was a reporter.
I see.
You see what I mean?
Sure.

It's, like, would you do an interview with Melania or President Trump yourself?
Probably yes. It doesn't mean that you think the same way or that you approve of him doing what he's doing.
You and I are two journalists talking, essentially.
Yeah. So, I mean, to me, the experience was about, yes, being a reporter-being a cinematographer in a documentary, and doing my best to make Melania look visually beautiful with the lighting.
One thing reporters try to do is to spotlight ideas or news stories, and what you're trying to do is spotlight her face and its beauty. I do see a real similarity there.

Jason Mittell @jmittell.bsky.social · 8d

Well done - but you should sign it with the names from the Harpers letter who also appeared in the Epstein files

Jason Mittell @jmittell.bsky.social · 8d

But the money spent vs. box office is irrelevant to this political "investment" for Bezos. I think the most impactful outcome of this film's performance is whether any other studio is willing to hire Ratner again, or if his exile is sustained.

Reposted by Jason Mittell, James Goodwin, Erol Akçay , and 3 more Jason Mittell, James Goodwin, Erol Akçay, Anne Norton, Manisha Sinha, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 9d

"Under penalty of perjury, a witness told the FBI back in 2016 that they had “personally witnessed” President Donald Trump threaten to “disappear” a girl and have her entire family killed, according to a document released by the Justice Department on Friday."

www.rawstory.com/trump-epstei...

Witness told FBI Trump threatened to ‘disappear’ girl and have her ‘whole family killed’

Under penalty of perjury, a witness told the FBI back in 2016 that they had “personally witnessed” President Donald Trump threaten to “disappear” a girl and have her entire family killed, according to...

www.rawstory.com

Reposted by Jason Mittell, Michael D. McDonald, Mark Rice , and 1 more Jason Mittell, Michael D. McDonald, Mark Rice, Manisha Sinha

Jonathon M. Floyd @jfloyd314.bsky.social · 9d

A noteworthy takeaway from tonight's Texas result is that the Republicans spent a metric truckload of money on this race. They spent millions more than the Democrats. The loss itself aside, this is a gigantic, flashing warning sign for the GOP's finances.

A screenshot of a Twitter post from Amanda Litman showing that Taylor Rehmet spent almost 2.2 million dollars less than Leigh Wambsganss in their Texas Senate race

Jason Mittell @jmittell.bsky.social · 9d

Not to mention Bari's wife...

Jason Mittell @jmittell.bsky.social · 9d

Sure - if a senior at a film school doesn't seem able to watch a movie, then that would require an intervention. But in my liberal arts program, I love inspiring econ majors by helping them learn how to watch & appreciate a movie on a new level. Very difference contexts.

Jason Mittell @jmittell.bsky.social · 9d

This is simultaneously a brilliantly-constructed ad - and one that could sadly backlash, as associating her with negative emotions & images will override the irony of the narration for many viewers. Alas, emotions like fear & disgust tend to override comprehension.

Kat Abughazaleh @katmabu.bsky.social · 10d

I'm Kat Abughazaleh and I approve this message.

Reposted by Jason Mittell, Dorothy Bishop, Steve Peers , and 1 more Jason Mittell, Dorothy Bishop, Steve Peers, Glenn Lyons

Kat Abughazaleh @katmabu.bsky.social · 10d

I'm Kat Abughazaleh and I approve this message.

Jason Mittell @jmittell.bsky.social · 10d

Looking forward to @lessig.bsky.social commenting on this!

[He sued NYT for an article Bowles wrote incorrectly implying he was defending taking Epstein's money - meanwhile Bowles was "hanging" w Epstein two years earlier...]

Justin Baragona @justinbaragona.bsky.social · 10d

Bari Weiss' spouse Nellie Bowles, who was a New York Times reporter at the time, was apparently friends with Epstein's publicist Masha Drokova -- who arranged for a friendly meeting between the two in 2018.

Bowles and Epstein also engaged in chummy email correspondence during that time.

LOWρUFO 🇺🇦🇵🇸🇬🇱 @lowrhoufo.bsky.social · 10d

If I have the right Nellie Bowles, the partner in question is Bari Weiss

Reposted by Jason Mittell, Manisha Sinha

WomenRiseUp2026 @womenriseup2026.bsky.social · 10d

This explains why Virginia Giuffre was so reluctant to name #Trump

#Epstein

#EpsteinFiles

Jason Mittell @jmittell.bsky.social · 10d

My goal in teaching a class is not to punish students who don't do the work. My goal is to help them learn - punitive measures rarely help, and typically just inspire cheating (and yes, I've gotten GenAI summaries of films they didn't watch). It's not "handwringing" - it's the job of teaching.

Reposted by Jason Mittell, Anders Nilsson, David Darmofal

Justin Baragona @justinbaragona.bsky.social · 10d

LOWρUFO 🇺🇦🇵🇸🇬🇱 @lowrhoufo.bsky.social · 10d

If I have the right Nellie Bowles, the partner in question is Bari Weiss

Jason Mittell @jmittell.bsky.social · 10d

I can't imagine assigning something like Jeanne Dielman without a ton of context (beyond "voted #1 movie of all-time!"), as it would just create hostility & resentment toward the professor! Students need to know why they're watching and then can hopefully buy into the experience.

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