American film and politics from Reagan to Bush Jr

Edited by Philip John Davies, Paul Wells

Publication date:

27 June 2002

Length of book:

240 pages

Publisher

Manchester University Press

Dimensions:

216x138mm

ISBN-13: 9780719058653

BOOK DESCRIPTION
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Covers a crucial two decades in American history, when the links between Hollywood and Washington DC were at their strongest.. The period is 'book-ended' by the mighty political and cinematic figures of Reagan and Clinton.. Covers a period in which movies have become targets of political rhetoric of 'family values'.. Essays examine cinematic views of key American political institutions - the presidency and electoral process, politically significant places such as New York City and the American South, the promotion of major issues like gender, family and race. This is a subject which has gained new significance in the wake of recent terrorist attacks in New York and Washington DC, which have changed both the political climate, and the priorities of the movie industry.

Introduction - Philip John Davies & Paul Wells
1. American cinema, political criticism and pragmatism: A therapeutic reading of Fight Club and Magnolia - Paul Watson
2. 'Ask not what America can do for you…': Views from the White House: Hollywood in elections and elections in Hollywood - Philip John Davies
3. Oliver Stone's presidential films - Albert Auster
4. '…in order to form a more perfect union': some manifest destinies: Gender and family values in the Clinton presidency and 1990s Hollywood film - Carol R. Smith
5. '…and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea': crossing boundaries: New York City in American film - Leonard Quart
6. Dixie's land: Cinema of the American South - Ralph Willett
7. '…into the crucible with you all, God is making the American…': melting pots and pans: Independent Cinema and modern Hollywood: pluralism in American cultural politics - Brian Neve
8. 'I wanna be like you-oo-oo': Disnified politics and identity from 'The Little Mermaid' to' Mulan' - Paul Wells
9. 'Oh! Say, does the star-spangled banner yet wave, o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?' : contemporary conflict and contradiction: Ambiguity and Anger : Representations of African Americans in contemporary Hollywood film - Mary Ellison
10. The Adversarial Imagination - Phil Melling