Embrace: Using Autoethnography in Animation to Strengthen the Asexual Community

Summary

The creation of this short film and the larger study from which it was produced focuses largely on the effectiveness of using a fictional narrative based on the subjective truths of autobiographical and experiential research, as opposed to relying solely on statistics and hard facts to convey a message.

Graduate Researcher – MFA Thesis Project

Latesha Merkel

Project Description

By focusing on portraying a common experience of the asexual community and how animation as a medium can uniquely depict the emotions and understanding of that experience, the study proposes that the use of narrative fiction and animation as storytelling devices can more dramatically impact viewers, both by empowering and encouraging those depicted as well as expanding the perspective and understanding of those outside of the asexual community. Through this, it is argued that the unique capabilities of animation and narrative can spark great social change in both mindset and behavior.