Rising commercial synergy correlates with rising reflexive self-commentary in media.

Evidence

What happens when the self-awareness rises in tandem with the commodification and synergy? What happens when the winking is constant and the nudging becomes a sharp elbow? Like Jay-Z and 30 Rock, brandscape blockbusters depict worlds that are utterly saturated with references, forming referential economies with ample transactional possibilities, which also allows them to build a reflexive, critical apparatus both complex and popular. — Andrew deWaard, Derivative Media, 407

Categorization

• QUESTION: This is precisely the causal-versus-correlational axis the reader is testing: deWaard frames a question (‘what happens when’) but is the answer a demonstrated mechanism or an asserted pairing?