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The Psychological And Sociological Functions Of The Tv Series True Blood

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Joelie Fetterman Soc 232 December 8, 2014 Content and Theoretical Analyses Joseph Campbell teaches that mythology serves many important functions in society. The psychological and sociological functions of myth serve to inform, validate, and guide individuals in society through life through a shared mythos (Campbell 6). In the mythological TV series True Blood, HBO producers introduce fantastical characters and scenarios, which is compelled through the sociological principles that have been discussed in the course so far. True Blood teaches the importance of emotional management for modern society through Vampires, Humans, and how the balance of species depends on each’s ability to coexist despite the lifetime of shadowy relations. By analyzing the show through the sociological theory of emotional management, surprisingly important trends in collective behavior can be analyzed which may help guide humanities coexistence with its own collective shadow. Hochschild’s managed heart study explains that people manipulate their appearance, manner, and expressive features in order to present a particular self-consistent with situational cues (Pfaffendor). Emotions are seen as either organismic and arising out of instinctual urges that are only modified by sociological factors to fit an acceptable mold, or interactive in which people have control over their emotions by having cognizance of the psychological forces at work in a given situation (Pfaffendor). A person who is

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