This paper will continue my exploration of how white privilege is performed and glorified in reality paranormal television. The focus will be more on how performers such as Josh Gates and the cast of Ghost Hunters perform the expected role of privileged white males, and therefore paranormal skeptics, with some contrast with shows that feature gendered and racial minorities more prominently as cast members. I will consider production aspects that allow Josh Gates to behave badly when experiencing other cultures — particularly by mocking those cultures — for the sake of the entertainment of his base audience and Jason Hawes’s stoic investigatory techniques as functions of white privilege.
About the presenterAntares Russell Leask
Antares Russell Leask is an English Ph.D. candidate at the University of Texas at Arlington. She holds a BA in English from the University of Georgia and Master’s Degrees in Secondary Education and Gifted Education, both from the University of North Texas. She lives in Virginia with her husband, two children, two dogs, one cat, and a carnivorous plant.