I grappled with which Youtube video I wanted to upload here. I was torn between three videos: a video from William Derediewicz who focuses on the “disadvantages of an elite education;” a spoken word piece from Suli Breaks titled “Why I Hate College But Love Education;” and the selected video you see below. Regardless, I wanted to draw attention to how each critiques the educational system in America. So, I hope you enjoy the most comical critique of the three!
So, what did you think? Are you wondering how a prank, albeit amusing and relatable, points out hegemony in education and critiques the ideologies bred by it? Well, here’s what I think. I analyze this under Goldman’s assumption that “throughout history one of the primary goals of comedy has been to illuminate the ways in which we live in the world politically and to critique our legislature and laws.” This allows the video to function as an examination of classroom rhetoric and socially-constructed power dynamics in a classroom. Though clearly distinguished by the setting -a grand, populous lecture hall at what we could assume is a public university- wouldn’t we all fall for the same prank on the first day with a professor we have no prior knowledge of? Especially if the false professor appeared how we expect a professor to look. Wouldn’t we act accordingly because of conventions surrounding classroom decorum? I’ll leave that to you to discuss in the comments.