America's often-unspoken morality codes make many topics taboo in "the land of the free." This book analyzes hundreds of popular culture examples to expose how the media both avoids and alludes to how we derive pleasure from our bodies. Flatulence ... male nudity ... abortion ... masturbation: these are just a few of the taboo topics in the United States. What do culturally enforced silences about certain subjects say about our society-and our latent fears? This work provides a broad yet detailed overview of popular culture's most avoided topics to explain why they remain off-limits and examines how they are presented in contemporary media-or, in many cases, delicately explored using euphemism and innuendo. The author offers fascinating, in-depth analysis of the meaning behind these portrayals of a variety of both mundane and provocative taboos, and identifies how new television programs, films, and advertising campaigns intentionally violate longstanding cultural taboos to gain an edge in the marketplace. Analyzes an enormous range of popular culture examples in a lively and highly readable writing style Identifies and examines 12 separate taboos of the media Provides interdisciplinary coverage that intersects with a wide variety of subject areas, including cultural studies, philosophy, feminism, and queer culture Offers not only in-depth descriptions of cultural taboos but also clear explanations of why they exist Supplies fascinating and useful information for general audiences as well as students and scholars of popular culture, political science, sexuality and gender studies, and sociology

Bridal magazines have become increasingly popular in Western society, proliferating the idea of a 'princess bride' on her 'big day'. Yet little has been written on how the ever-expanding wedding media and the popular wedding culture constructs gender and affects the ways women live and experience their weddings. Offering a critique of contemporary wedding discourse, this book marries together analyses of media texts and their reception to propose a new approach to media discourse. The analysis richly illustrates how women are invited to embrace not only the stereotypical idea of bridal femininity but also a consumptive way of experiencing it. Through examination of brides' accounts of their 'big days', the book observes the imprints of the popular gender imagery on their self-portraits and self-narratives, and describes the women's diverse approaches to them. Based on insights from gender and critical discourse studies, sociology and audience research, this exploration illuminates the ongoing debate on 'media and gender' and its methodological approaches.

Theatre has often found itself at the centre of recent debates over censorship and the arts, as a result of coverage of events such as the protests against the play "Behzti" and the controversy over "Jerry Springer: The Opera." This book offers the first sustained study of censorship of the British stage from 1968 into the twenty-first century.

Starring Tom Cruise examines how Tom Cruise's star image moves across genres and forms as a type of commercial product that offers viewers certain pleasures and expectations. Cruise reads as an action hero and romantic lead yet finds himself in homoerotic and homosocial relationships that unsettle and undermine these heterosexual scripts. In this volume, editor Sean Redmond shows how important star studies is not just to understanding the ideological, commercial, and cultural significance of one star but to seeing how masculinity, ethnicity, sexuality, and commodity relations function in contemporary society. The volume is divided into three parts. Part 1 explores the ways that Cruise's star image and performances are built on a desiring gaze, nearly always complicated by perverse narrative arcs and liminal character relationships. This section also explores the complex and contradictory ways he embodies masculinity and heterosexuality. Part 2 places Cruise within the codes and conventions of genre filmmaking and the way they intersect with the star vehicle. Cruise becomes monomythical, heroic, authentic, and romantic, and at the same time, he struggles to hold these formulas and ideologies together. Part 3 views Cruise as both an ageless totemic figure of masculinity who does his own stunts, as well as an aging star-his body both the conduit for eternally youthful masculinity and a signifier of that which must ultimately fail. These readings are connected to wider discursive issues concerning his private and public life, including the familial/patriarchal roles he takes on.Scholars writing for this collection approach the Cruise star image through various vectors and frames, which are revelatory in nature. As such, they not only demonstrate the very best traditions of close ""star"" textual analysis but also move the approach to the star forward. Students, scholars, and readers of film, media, and celebrity studies will enjoy this deep dive into a complex Hollywood figure.

"Re-reading Popular Culture" is an entertaining investigation of the meanings and value of popular culture today. It explores the theme of cultural citizenship by combining textual analysis and media reception theory to analyze popular culture.
Includes such contemporary issues as the rewriting of masculinity after the success of feminism, and the layers of meaning in semi-public and private talk of multiculturalism and ethnicity
Traces its topics across a variety of media forms and texts, including sports; detective fiction and police series; and children's television and games
Clearly and accessibly written for the student, scholar, and general reader.

THE BACHELORS GUIDE TO THE GALAXY - THIS IS THE RETRO AND MODERN DAY GUIDE TO THE NEW MILLENNIUM RENAISSANCE MAN AND BACHELOR OF TODAY Authored by LARRY 'VON LARS' WEHUNT 'The Bachelor's Guide To The Galaxy' is not your typical self-deprecating cheesy and kind of funny at times bachelor cookbook, bachelor how to decorate or grill-out guide, how to start a campfire, how to make a killer martini, or laser-focused college dormitory party guide, but instead it is rather a comprehensive and insightful mind-blowing journey into the all-encompassing jet-setting lifestyle of the free modern day American and western bachelor including all aspects of life. Whether you are a taxicab driver or bartender, a professional corporate desk-jockey or manager in business, a stockbroker or lawyer, a tech-savvy dot com guy, a plumber or rancher or truck driver, or just the regular guy who lives next door going to college or trade school, this book was written EXCLUSIVELY FOR YOU Experience the ultimate bachelor lifestyle whether you are a fat cat in business, a middle class cubicle dude on the so called corporate fast track like in the movie Office Space or on a tight fraternity or high school budget still able to party your ass off every night of the week. It is time to tell your girlfriend a good storyline and get out of town to be the fearless weekend warrior and domestic and international traveler who indulges his desires in hedonistic verve for life and for more lustful passion This book is the Big Leagues, the Adult Disneyland and the Great Pyramid of combined ancient and modern male wisdom and knowledge which I have accumulated for you in these written pages while smoking my trademark pipe and wearing my robe and slippers. I know you will LOVE IT This is the first book manuscript project from author Larry 'Von Lars' Wehunt which he hopes will go to press and create quite a stir and become a national and international underground cult classic and bestseller. He is also a writer and a blogger in cyberspace. He details how he worked the American dating scene as a former nightclub prowler turned "International Man of Mystery" 007 Style. He admits he has dated and bedded an "embarrassingly large number of women" over the years and shares his expert dynamic insights, wit, male wisdom and advice. Visionary, saint, huckster, rebel, snake-oil salesman, wise-guy, modern day charlatan and man-about-town, corporate desk jockey, jack of all trades, a roman foot soldier and brave heart in the corporate cubicle trench warfare of today and bachelor extraordinaire and Hugh Hefner wannabe, 'Von Lars' pulls no punches like a raging bull boxer in the ring of life. He tells it the way it really is like an arrow in flight, shoots his intellectual wit and insight with both barrels loaded and takes no prisoners for his first written international "bachelor manifesto" and man's man debut to the entire world This book will challenge conventional wisdom and shake up the status quo and show you how to TAKE CONTROL of your manly life. The smart bachelor knows that to change your life that you must first change your thinking Learn to plan for a life of success and to be one of the lucky ones. As our manly credo echoes in time immortal and as we gallop and race in our roman chariots we boldly proclaim to all: "ONWARDS TO THE EMPIRE AND MAY GOD SAVE THE BACHELOR KING "

One of Fortune's 'Best Books of 2021' When Ralph Waldo Emerson published his seminal essay on self-reliance in 1841, the United States was still reeling from the effects of a calamitous financial collapse four years earlier. His positive vision for the power of individualism and personal responsibility was issued in a climate of panic and uncertainty, at a time when the values of society and humanity were shifting. Emerson's text is widely available to read online, but this new edition, produced with Design Observer, elevates his wisdom through the printed word. The global pandemic of 2020 has reshaped our world as well as our thinking, but Emerson's call to independence remains as relevant and energizing as ever. Written as the first waves of the virus surged, Jessica Helfand's twelve accompanying essays address various aspects of artistic engagement - writing, drawing, thinking, making - expanding on the spirit of Emerson's essay to reimagine the process and practice of what it means to be truly creative. Presented in a covetable pocket-book format intended to be read, carried, consulted and to inspire throughout our new daily lives, and featuring two marker ribbons for easy reference, this is a timeless book for all places and all seasons.

'The ultimate Camp statement: it's good because it's awful.' These two classic essays were the first works of criticism to break down the boundaries between 'high' and 'low' culture, and made Susan Sontag a literary sensation. Penguin Modern: fifty new books celebrating the pioneering spirit of the iconic Penguin Modern Classics series, with each one offering a concentrated hit of its contemporary, international flavour. Here are authors ranging from Kathy Acker to James Baldwin, Truman Capote to Stanislaw Lem and George Orwell to Shirley Jackson; essays radical and inspiring; poems moving and disturbing; stories surreal and fabulous; taking us from the deep South to modern Japan, New York's underground scene to the farthest reaches of outer space.

During his lifetime, Henry F. Gilbert was regarded as one of the foremost composers of the day and a trailblazer in America's rich musical heritage. Often called the Mark Twain of American Music, Gilbert was one of American music's nonconformists. He was a maverick who became a true prophet of American music as a composer, writer, editor, and lecturer. This volume contains a short biography of Gilbert, a listing of his compositions, including the different versions of the works and the holding libraries. A discography is included, which puts emphasis on the inclusion of excerpts from contemporary performances. This book captures much of the new material on Gilbert that has surfaced since the Henry F. Gilbert Papers were presented to Yale.

The volume is divided into six sections. The first is the biography, which includes a sketch of Gilbert's life, and his importance in establishing an American school of composition. The Works and Performances section provides the name of the work, publisher, and date and revisions of the work. Scoring for the compositions is also given along with cross-references to Gilbert's program notes and reviews. An annotated Bibliography of writings by Gilbert summarizes his philosophy of American music, and illuminates his own compositional style. A discography, general bibliography, and a bibliography of works and performances are also concluded. This bio-bibliography will appeal to musicians and American enthusiasts alike.

With more than 100 inventive lists, charts, and timelines, The Big Bang Theory Book of Lists offers fans a creative way of looking at and celebrating the iconic and beloved early 2000s sitcom. Revisit some of your favorite moments, pairings, cameos, and geeky references (or test your super-fan knowledge) with these fun groupings exploring the variables of life in apartment 4A. Lists include: - Timelines of all the characters, their romantic partnerships, vows, and weddings - Analysis of Sheldon's Public Restroom Kit - All of Penny's Relationship Advice - Pictorial Records for Sheldon, Leonard, Penny, Howard, Raj, Amy, and Bernadette - Record of all of the guests (cameos) in the apartment - Diagram of The Universe of All Women - Everything that's in Bernadette's Grab Bag - A break-down of all of Sheldon's geeky shirts and their references And more! Illustrated with full-color photographs and visuals from the show throughout, The Big Bang Theory Book of Lists is an officially licensed, must-have collector's item for the ultimate fan. THE BIG BANG THEORY and all related characters and elements (c) & (TM) Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (s22)

Post-war America was an exciting time. It was an age characterized by backyard barbecues and beach parties, mai-tai cocktails and Ford Mustangs, high school hops, Hawaiian shirts and Hugh Hefner's Playboy empire. This book charts middle-class America's move towards an ethos of conspicuous consumption and sexual license during the fifties and sixties. Focusing on two of the period'smost visible icons -- the swinging bachelor and the vibrant teenager -- this book looks at the interconnected changes that took place for American youth culture and masculinity as consumption and leisure established themselves as the dominant features of middle-class life. The author draws on a wide variety of popular examples--men's magazines, fashion and style, books, film and music--to argue that the bachelor and the teenager were complementary and interrelated stereotypes that shaped America's youth. Magazines such as Esquire and Playboy, and bands like the Beach Boys, framed and shaped a new meaning of the young American male that contrasted sharply with previous values of sobriety and moderation. This book discusses the images and icons that shaped masculinity in particular. By focusing on the changes both in masculine identity and in the form and representation of youth culture, American life is looked at from a fresh and innovative perspective.

This collection explores the representation and performance of queer youth in media cultures, primarily examining TV, film and online new media. Specific themes of investigation include the context of queer youth suicide and educational strategies to avert this within online new media, and the significance of coming out videos produced online.

This book provides an engaging historical survey of the vampire in American popular culture over 100 years, ranging from Bram Stoker's classic novel Dracula to HBO's television series True Blood. Vampires in the New World surveys vampire films and literature from both national and historical perspectives since the publication of Bram Stoker's Dracula, providing an overview of the changing figure of the vampire in America. It focuses on such essential popular culture topics as pulp fiction, classic horror films, film noir, science fiction, horror fiction, blaxploitation, and the recent Twilight and True Blood series in order to demonstrate how cultural, scientific, and ideological trends are reflected and refracted through the figure of the vampire. The book will fascinate anyone with an interest in vampires as they are found in literature, film, television, and popular culture, as well as readers who appreciate horror and supernatural fiction, crime fiction, science fiction, and the gothic. It will also appeal to those who are interested in the interplay between society and film, television, and popular culture, and to readers who want to understand why the figure of the vampire has remained compelling to us across different eras and generations.

This fascinating new study is about cultural change and continuities. At the core of the book are discrete literary studies of Scotland and Shakespeare, Walter Scott, R.L. Stevenson, Arthur Conan Doyle, the modern Scottish Renaissance of the 1920s and more recent cultural and literary phenomena. The central theme of literature and popular 'representation' recontextualises literary analysis in a broader, multi-faceted picture involving all the arts and the changing sense of what 'the popular' might be in a modern nation. New technologies alter forms of cultural production and the book charts a way through these forms, from oral poetry and song to the novel, and includes studies of paintings, classical music, socialist drama, TV, film and comic books. The international context for mass media cultural production is examined as the story of the intrinsic curiosity of the imagination and the intensely local aspect of Scotland's cultural self-representation unfolds.

The astounding commercial success of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, not just with adolescent girls (as originally intended), but with a large and diverse audience, makes interpreting their underlying themes vital for understanding the ways that we perceive and interact with each other in contemporary society. Literary critics have interpreted vampires from Stoker's Dracula to Rice's Lestat in numerous ways-as symbols of deviant sexuality; as transgressive figures of sexual empowerment; as xenophobic representations of foreigners; as pop culture figures that reveal the attitudes of the masses better than any scholarly writing-and the Twilight saga is no exception. The essays in this collection use these interpretative lens and others to interrogate the meanings of Meyer's books, making a compelling case for the cultural relevance of Twilight and providing insights on how we can "read" popular culture to our best advantage. The volume will be of interest to academic and lay readers alike: undergraduates, graduate students, and instructors of children's and young adult literature, contemporary U.S. literature, gothic literature, and popular culture, as well as the myriad Twilight fans who seek to explore and re-explore the novels from a variety of angles.

This wide-ranging exploration of the apocalypse in Western culture seeks to understand how we have come to be so preoccupied with spectacular visions of our own annihilation-offering abundant examples of the changing nature of our imagined destruction, and predisposing readers to discover many more all around them. The Apocalypse Is Everywhere: A Popular History of America's Favorite Nightmare explores why apocalyptic thinking exists, how it has been manifested in Western culture through the ages, and how it has woven itself so thoroughly into our popular culture today. Beginning with contemporary apocalyptic expressions, the book demonstrates how surprisingly widespread they are. It then discusses how we inherited them and where they arose. Author Annie Rehill surveys the ancient belief systems from which Christianity evolved, including ancient Judaism and other faiths. She explores the vision outlined in the Book of Revelation and traces the apocalyptic thread through the Middle Ages, across the Reformation and Enlightenment, and to the Americas. Finally, to prove that the Apocalypse is indeed everywhere, Rehill returns to the present to consider the idea of apocalypse as it occurs in movies, books, comics and graphic novels, games, music, and art, as well asin televangelism and even presidential speeches. Her fascinating scholarship will surely have readers looking about them with new eyes. Illustrations showcase the widespread belief in apocalypse, including medieval drawings as well as contemporary photographs and movie stills A wide-ranging bibliography points the way to significant materials from the fields of history, literature, popular culture, theology, and more

Through nine seasons the TV show Supernatural has delved into social, philosophical, literary, and theological themes that not only add depth to the show, but reflect our era's intellectual concerns. This book contextualizes Supernatural within the renaissance of the fantastic in pop culture and traces its roots in folklore and Biblical narrative.

Young People, Popular Culture and Education explores the inter-relationship between the three fields and considers how these relationships have informed teaching practice, especially in the school context. Reflective exercises, interviews, chapter summaries and useful websites will encourage and support student learning and the application of new concepts. Recent debates and developments are considered, including: Culture and youth; New youth research; 'Race' and representation; Children and television; Young adult fictions; Popular music, youth and education; and, Youth, politics, citizenship. "Young People, Popular Culture and Education" is essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students on education studies and related courses. This series presents an authoritative, coherent and focused collection of texts to introduce the contemporary issues that are covered in Education Studies, and related programmes. Each book develops a key theme in contemporary education, such as: Multiculturalism; The social construction of childhood; Urban education; eLearning and multimedia; and, Language and literacy. A key feature of this series is the critical exploration of education in times of rapid change, with links made between such developments in wider social, cultural, political and economic contexts. Further, contextualised extracts from important primary texts, such as Bourdieu, Piaget and Vygotsky, will ensure students' exposure to dominant contemporary theories in the field of education. Grounded in a strong conceptual, theoretical framework and presented in an accessible way with the use of features such as case studies, activities and visual devices to encourage and support student learning and the application of new concepts, this series will serve well as collection of core texts for the Education Studies student and lecturer.

Alternate Reality Games (ARGs) challenge what players understand as "real." Alternate Reality Games and the Cusp of Digital Gameplay is the first collection to explore and define the possibilities of ARGs. Though prominent examples have existed for more than two decades, only recently have ARGs come to the prominence as a unique and highly visible digital game genre. Adopting many of the same strategies as online video games, ARGs blur the distinction between real and fictional. With ARGs continuing to be an important and blurred space between digital and physical gameplay, this volume offers clear analysis of game design, implementation, and ramifications for game studies. Divided into three distinct sections, the contributions include first hand accounts by leading ARG creators, scholarly analysis of the meaning behind ARGs, and explorations of how ARGs are extending digital tools for analysis. By balancing the voices of designers, players, and researchers, this collection highlights how the Alternate Reality Game genre is transforming the ways we play and interact today.

This book applies insights from the spheres of academic scholarship and clinical experience to demonstrate the usefulness of psychoanalysis for developing nuanced and innovative approaches to media and cultural analysis.

This work is translated by John Flower. There are no good and bad movies, only good and bad directors. Francois Truffaut's famous statement defined a new way of seeing cinema as an art form and its directors as artists or auteurs. The Hollywood Interviews brings together five of the greatest of contemporary auteur directors - Francis Ford Coppola, Brian de Palma, Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood and Tim Burton - and the directorial team of the Coen brothers. Together, they represent some of the leading directors of the last twenty years of cinema. All are auteurs, directors with vision whose movies reflect their particular obsessions and ways of seeing the world. The interviews were all commissioned for the legendary film collective, Cahiers du Cinema, the first group of critics to treat films, particularly Hollywood films, as a serious art form. Conducted in the tradition of Cahiers' famously in-depth, critical and engaged style, these interviews catch each director at a crucial juncture in their development."

Next time you're up to your neck in nagging requests, emails, and meeting invites, give your coworkers a (not-so-subtle) hint: Take a Number! * SPECIFICATIONS: Includes a mini butcher counter-style "take a number" system with 100 paper tickets, plus a digital number board to display the number currently being served * INCLUDES MINI BOOK: Enjoy an illustrated mini book outlining how to tackle common office distractions, like Carol from accounting asking if you saw last night's episode of Dancing with the Stars * PERFECT OFFICE GIFT: Whether it's for your boss, the office White Elephant party, or your busy coworker's birthday, this is a hilarious novelty item that's sure to delight! * REALLY WORKS! As functional as it is funny and adorable, this tiny ticket dispenser might actually help you keep requests at bay