Performing Whiteness crosses the boundaries of film study to explore images of the white body in relation to recent theoretical perspectives on whiteness. Drawing on such diverse critical methodologies as postcolonial studies, feminist film criticism, anthropology, and phenomenology, Gwendolyn Audrey Foster examines a wide variety of films from early cinema to the present day in order to explore the ways in which American cinema imposes whiteness as a cultural norm, even as it exposes its inherent instability. In discussions that range from The Philadelphia Story to Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, Foster shows that, though American cinema is an all-white construct, there exists the possibility of a healthy resistance to cultural norms of race, gender, sexuality, and class.

This volume provides a comprehensive guide to the long tradition of American avant-garde cinema, from its origins in the 1920s to the work of contemporary film and video artists. The Reader addresses major movements and key figures of the avant-garde, including filmmakers such as Andy Warhol, Kenneth Anger, Isaac Julien and Julie Dash, investigates how underground films have explored issues of gender, sexuality and race, and foreground technical innovations such as the use of Super 8mm and video.

Disruptive Feminisms provides a revolutionary new approach to feminism as a disruptive force. By examining various films and filmmakers who are not so obviously read as feminist or Marxist, Gwendolyn Foster showcases their ability to disrupt and effectively challenge everything from class and racism, as well as sexism, ageism, and homophobia.

The culture of twenty-first century America largely revolves around narcissistic death, violence, and visions of doom. As people are bombarded with amoral metanarratives that display an almost complete lack of empathy for others on television, in films, and on the internet, their insatiable appetite for excessive pain and routine death reflects an embrace of an endlessly warring culture. Foster explores this culture of the apocalypse, from hoarding and gluttony to visions of the post-apocalyptic world.

With more than 250 images, new information on international cinema-especially Polish, Chinese, Russian, Canadian, and Iranian filmmakers-an expanded section on African-American filmmakers, updated discussions of new works by major American directors, and a new section on the rise of comic book movies and computer generated special effects, this is the most up to date resource for film history courses in the twenty-first century.

This volume provides a comprehensive guide to the long tradition of American avant-garde cinema, from its origins in the 1920s to the work of contemporary film and video artists. The Reader addresses major movements and key figures of the avant-garde, including filmmakers such as Andy Warhol, Kenneth Anger, Isaac Julien and Julie Dash, investigates how underground films have explored issues of gender, sexuality and race, and foreground technical innovations such as the use of Super 8mm and video.

They are shot on high-definition digital cameras--with computer-generated effects added in postproduction--and transmitted to theaters, websites, and video-on-demand networks worldwide. They are viewed on laptop, iPod, and cell phone screens. They are movies in the 21st century--the product of digital technologies that have revolutionized media production, content distribution, and the experience of moviegoing itself.

"21st-Century Hollywood "introduces readers to these global transformations and describes the decisive roles that Hollywood is playing in determining the digital future for world cinema. It offers clear, concise explanations of a major paradigm shift that continues to reshape our relationship to the moving image. Filled with numerous detailed examples, the book will both educate and entertain film students and movie fans alike.

With more than 250 images, new information on international cinema—especially Polish, Chinese, Russian, Canadian, and Iranian filmmakers—an expanded section on African-American filmmakers, updated discussions of new works by major American directors, and a new section on the rise of comic book movies and computer generated special effects, this is the most up to date resource for film history courses in the twenty-first century.  

Reassesses the rules of social standing in American popular culture. Oprah Winfrey, Donald Trump, Roseanne Barr, and Britney Spears typify class-passers - those who claim different socioeconomic classes as their own. Gwendolyn Audrey Foster asserts so in ""Class-Passing: Social Mobility in Film and Popular Culture"". According to new rules of social standing in American popular culture, class is no longer defined by wealth, birth, or education. Instead, today's notion of class reflects a socially constructed and regulated series of performed acts and gestures rooted in the cult of celebrity. In examining the quest for class mobility, Foster deftly traces class-passing through the landscape of popular films, reality television shows, advertisements, the Internet, and video games. She deconstructs the politics of celebrity, fashion, and conspicuous consumerism and analyzes class-passing as it relates to the American Dream, gender, and marriage. ""Class-Passing"" draws on dozens of examples from popular culture, from old movie classics and contemporary films to print ads and cyberspace, to illustrate how flagrant displays of wealth that were once unacceptable under the old rules of behavior are now flaunted by class-passing celebrities. From the construction worker in ""Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire?"" to the privileged socialities Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie of ""The Simple Life"", Foster explores the fantasy of contact between the classes. She also refers to television class-passers from ""The Apprentice"", ""Queer Eye for the Straight Guy"", and ""Survivor"" and notable class-passing achievers Bill Clinton, George W Bush, and Martha Stewart. ""Class-Passing"" is a notable examination of the historical, social, and ideological shifts in expressions of class. The first serious book of its kind, ""Class-Passing"" is fresh, innovative, and invaluable for students and scholars of film, television, and popular culture.