A JLU-based Essay

[I-Am That Is]

I'm currently taking a class on Mass Media, and have been assigned an essay on a favorite TV show, due on Monday. Naturally, I have chosen Justice League Unlimited.

Please note that I've recieived permission to ask you guys for help.

In the essay, I am supposed to describe the show, then analyze it for patterns, then interpret those patterns, and then evaluate it as high, middle, or low culture.

Since many of you guys know more about the show than I, I was wondering if you would mind looking over & critiquing the essay & my conclusions:


One of my favorite television shows is Justice League Unlimited, or JLU for short, an animated action series on Cartoon Network. It is a spin-off from a show called Justice League, abbreviated JL, and is part of a group of programs sometimes referred to as the DC Animated Universe, commonly called the DCAU. JL was roughly based on the DC comic book of the same name, and featured the adventures of the titular superhero team, consisting of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl, Green Lantern, the Flash, and J’onn J’onnz AKA the Martian Manhunter. In the 3-part, hour-and-half series finale, “Starcrossed”, it was revealed that Hawkgirl, an alien from the planet Thanagar, was a spy for a Thanagarian invasion force. By the end of the episode, Hawkgirl had turned on her people and then gone into hiding, the League had disbanded, and the Watchtower, their space station headquarters had been destroyed.

JLU picks up a year or three later, with a reformed Justice League operating out of a new Watchtower. The new League was composed of not just the core members (sans Hawkgirl) from the previous series, but a large assortment of other DC heroes, ranging from Atlantean king Aquaman, to shrinking scientist the Atom, to left-wing archer Green Arrow, and much more. Like most shows in the DCAU, JLU features top-quality animation, interesting and engrossing storylines, and excellent character interaction and dialog.

Each episode of JLU is half an hour long. They begin with a short teaser that sets up the episode’s plot and/or introduces the episode’s featured guest star. It then cuts to the opening theme, which shows a few scenes from the episodes interspersed with the standard opening. Episodes generally follow this pattern: a problem occurs somewhere on Earth, and a group of Leaguers generally between 3-5 is dispatched to deal with it. For example: in the premier episode, “Initiations”, Green Lantern, Captain Atom, and Supergirl, and a (sort of) hitchhiking Green Arrow, got to the Asian country of Chong-Mi to investigate what seems to be a nuclear accident that is somehow mobile. Almost always, this assignment turns out to have unexpected complications or mysteries involved. For example, in “Initiations”, the “nuclear accident” turns out to be a nuclear-powered giant robot, built by the government of Chong-Mi for defensive purposes, which had gone rogue. At the end of the episodes, the featured heroes manage to discover a solution to the problem, which is usually particularly suited for one or more of the featured heroes. In “Initiations”, for example, expert archer Green Arrow shuts the robot down by shooting a carbon rod tied to an arrow at an opening in its chest, following which, Supergirl pounds it into scrap. Many episodes also have references to previous DCAU shows or to DC Comics characters. In “Initiations”, there is a part at the beginning where Superman gives a speech to the expanded League, and a pan around the room reveals a wide variety of DC characters. Also, later in the episode, an injured and delirious Green Lantern calls for “Shayera”, referring to Hawkgirl’s real name, Shayera Hol.

There are several reasons for this pattern. JLU is primarily a show for children and tweens. However, it also appeals to fans of DC Comics and of previous DCAU shows. Furthermore, as a DCAU show, it will be held up to a certain standard. Thus, the plotlines have to be interesting, but also easily understandable for kids. And in order to hold on to fans of DC & the DCAU, references to those are thrown in regularly. In terms of culture, JLU can be classed as being in the upper section of “Middle Culture”, due to its high quality and status as cartoon for children.

[Johnny Cakes]

I think the way you have written this might be confusing for people who are not familiar with the show. You need a better explanation of the show in general and the DCAU. Sometimes it is easy to forget that many people, particularly the adults who grade your assignments don't watch cartoons. Also, you have failed to show support for any of the patterns since you only refer to one episode. To support your ideas you need to refer to more than one. Although I like your choice of shows it might be better to focus on JL instead of JLU, since JL has more material to work with. Also, you could probably make a convincing argument for JL being "high culture".

[DerekPowers]

interesting. honestly, though, i find JLU to be the poorest dcau show to date (timm's dcau that is). so a lot of what youre saying theorectically should apply to jlu, but judging from what has aired so far, i'd say its a stretch. jlu isnt what its predecessors were, and everything you say about strong characterizations, strong dialogue, intriguing plot, etc, really, when it comes right down to it, and this is just me being honest, jlu sort of falls short. you mention it has a standard to live up to, based on what has come before it. well, imo, jlu has some-what lowered the bar. now, i dont want to jump to conclusions (look how nicely jl season 2 was improved over season 1. jlu could follow suit), but honestly, i'd find it VERY hard pressed to write an essay on JLU's quality, if i didnt really make the case of giving it the benefit of the doubt and cutting it slack given we know the creators and what theyre cabable of. you maybe should put it more into that context, the context of the whole dcau. if anything, my thesis or theme of the essay would be JLU's potential energy, because as of yet, nothing JLU has dished out has impressed me, infact, it has dissapointed me and lowered the dcau's bar, imo. and its strange, but the eps i think were the best, so far, are ones most fans hate, like 'hawk and dove' i think was the best jlu ep so far, probably followed by 'the greatest story never told'. anyway, peace.

[sKorpia]

I'm actually not so sure you need to define the DCAU at all. The prompt asks for a focus on one show. You don't need to give its historical context since that would lead you to describing not only STAS but also comics history. It takes up time and space away from your actual topic.

What is the actual argument? Are you supposed to argue for degree of culture? Do you have standarized definitions or criteria that you're using in your class for low, medium, and high culture (complexity of story, character development levels, etc)? If you do, then you'll want to use those as your guidelines for evaluating the show. The essay, as it is now, does not convince me that JLU is upper-middle culture. In fact, I'd be tempted to class it as low culture because the formula of the show appears cookie-cutter according to your treatment of the patterns.

It'd probably be a good idea to have each pattern that you want to discuss as a separate paragraph. That way, you feel like you have enough space to have a topic sentence, followed by a bit of evidence which is then analyzed, followed by another bit of evidence which is then analyzed, etc. That's the other thing which is lacking in this essay: analysis and interpretation. What do these patterns mean for the show? What do they demonstrate and why are they particularly significant in terms of success or failure of the show? It's not enough just to throw out bits of evidence from the episodes and expect the reader to draw the conclusions you want them to draw.

Btw, how long is this essay supposed to be?

[I-Am That Is]

Johnny Cakes: The assignment calls for a show that is on currently, so I couldn't do JL, and the DCAU as a whole is way too complicated to discuss in this essay. I was considering using Megas XLR or Teen Titans, but I'd previously done an essay describing the DCAU as my favorite show, & I find Teen Titans to be to schizophrenic to classify properly.

DerekPowers: This is a good point. Personally, I feel that these problems are only in comparison to the rest of the DCAU. Considered by itself, it's quite excellent.

sKorpia: We're using the Skyscraper of Culture model. That is things like Hamlet & Beethoven are High Culture, Things like Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and the New York Times are upper Middle Culture, things like Star Wars & Harry Potter are lower Middle Culture, things like Friends & the Super Bowl are upper Low Culture, & things like Howard Stern & Pro Wrestling are lower Low Culture. Thus, as a kid's cartoon, JLU CANNOT be considered High Culture. The essay has no specific lenght requirements, but based on past & future assignments, it really shouldn't exceed 5 pages double-spaced. At present, it's 2 & a quarter.

[Johnny Cakes]

Then I would just give examples from more episodes and follow sKorpia's advice.
By the way is your name a Red Wall reference?

[Gillespee]

Your introduction . . . well . . . it doesn't grab me. You jump strait into the information. Over my college career (which will finally be ending next month!) I've learned that many professors just eat up a good introduction. They don't look forward to reading these mountains of papers, so any little thing you can do to make yours stand out and be interesting is a huge plus in your favor (granted, this professor was smart enough to choose a topic people can actually write about, so maybe he/she is different.) I had a military history class where all I had to do was write a good into, put at least some work into the paper, and I got an A every time. So make the intro more exciting. Give it some pizazz.

Directly answering the question is rarely a good way to start out a paper. Simplifying what is now your first paragraph (perhaps removing the oblique references to the DCAU at large) and I think you will have yourself a great paragraph that gets to the meat of the assignment. My recommendation would be to start out with a more emotional paragraph to begin, ending with your thesis (I prefer to mask my theses somewhat, once again making your paper stand out as a fun to read, not simply following the same say what you're going to say, say it, say it again format that is very popular.)

You've already admitted JLU isn't high culture, don't be afraid to start out at least a little bit of why you like it so much. Maybe start out with how 99% of Americans recognize Batman and Superman and how their stories are so well know, leading into their current adventures.

Wow. You really have me going here. Please post the final, or any more questions. I'm anxious to see what you come up with. Good luck!

[I-Am That Is]

OK, this is the final iteration of my essay. In case anyone was interested, I got an "A".



One of my favorite television shows is Justice League Unlimited, or JLU for short, an animated action series on Cartoon Network. It is a spin-off from a show called Justice League, abbreviated JL, and is part of a group of programs sometimes referred to as the DC Animated Universe, commonly called the DCAU. The DCAU is widely considered to include some of the best animated series ever, with excellent character interaction and plots. JL was roughly based on the DC comic book of the same name, and featured the adventures of the titular superhero team, consisting of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl, Green Lantern, the Flash, and J’onn J’onnz AKA the Martian Manhunter. In the 3-part, hour-and-half series finale, “Starcrossed”, it was revealed that Hawkgirl, an alien from the planet Thanagar, was a spy for a Thanagarian invasion force. By the end of the episode, Hawkgirl had turned on her people and then gone into hiding, the League had disbanded, and the Watchtower, their space station headquarters had been destroyed.

JLU picks up a year or three later, with a reformed Justice League operating out of a new Watchtower. The new League was composed of not just the core members (sans Hawkgirl) from the previous series, but a large assortment of other DC heroes, ranging from Atlantean king Aquaman, to shrinking scientist the Atom, to left-wing archer Green Arrow, and much more. Like all of the DCAU shows, JLU features top-quality animation. Unfortunately, it does not have the same level of interesting storylines and excellent character interaction as many other DCAU shows. However, in terms of quality, it is still head and shoulders above most other animated shows, and in fact most shows in general.

Each episode of JLU is half an hour long. They begin with a short teaser that sets up the episode’s plot and/or introduces the episode’s featured guest star. It then cuts to the opening theme, which shows a few scenes from the episodes interspersed with the standard opening. Episodes generally follow this pattern: a problem occurs somewhere on Earth, and a group of Leaguers generally between 3-5 is dispatched to deal with it. For example: in the premier episode, “Initiations”, Green Lantern, Captain Atom, and Supergirl, and a (sort of) hitchhiking Green Arrow, got to the Asian country of Chong-Mi to investigate what seems to be a nuclear accident that is somehow mobile. Almost always, this assignment turns out to have unexpected complications or mysteries involved. For example, in “Initiations”, the “nuclear accident” turns out to be a nuclear-powered giant robot, built by the government of Chong-Mi for defensive purposes, which had gone rogue. At the end of the episodes, the featured heroes manage to discover a solution to the problem, which is usually particularly suited for one or more of the featured heroes. In “Initiations”, for example, expert archer Green Arrow shuts the robot down by shooting a carbon rod tied to an arrow at an opening in its chest, following which, Supergirl pounds it into scrap. Many episodes also have references to previous DCAU shows or to DC Comics characters. In “Initiations”, there is a part at the beginning where Superman gives a speech to the expanded League, and a pan around the room reveals a wide variety of DC characters. Also, later in the episode, an injured and delirious Green Lantern calls for “Shayera”, referring to Hawkgirl’s real name, Shayera Hol.

There are several reasons for this pattern. JLU is primarily a show for children and tweens. However, it also appeals to fans of DC Comics and of previous DCAU shows. Furthermore, as a DCAU show, it will be held up to a certain standard. Thus, the plotlines have to be interesting, but also easily understandable for kids. And in order to hold on to fans of DC & the DCAU, references to those are thrown in regularly. Of course, this tends to produce plots that are somewhat formulaic, but they are handled in such a way as to still be very good, if not up to the standard of previous DCAU shows. In terms of culture, JLU can be classed as being in the middle section of “Middle Culture”, due to its high quality and status as cartoon for children

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