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In the 1990s, American civil society got upended and reordered as
many social, cultural, political, and economic institutions were
changed forever. Pretty People examines a wide range of Hollywood
icons who reflect how stardom in that decade was transformed as the
nation itself was signaling significant changes to familiar ideas
about gender, race, ethnicity, age, class, sexuality, and
nationality. Banderas became bona fide movie stars who carried
major films to amazing box-office success. Five of the decade's top
ten films were opened by three women-Julia Roberts, Jodie Foster,
and Whoopi Goldberg. "Chick flick" entered the lexicon as Leonardo
DiCaprio became the "King of the World," ushering in the cult of
the mega celebrity. Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise defined screen
masculinity as stark contrasts between "the regular guy" and "the
intense guy" while the roles of Michael Douglas exemplified the
endangered "Average White Male." A fascinating composite portrait
of 1990s Hollywood and its stars, this collection marks the changes
to stardom and society at century's end.
From cold war hysteria and rampant anticommunist witch hunts to
the lure of suburbia, television, and the new consumerism, the
1950s was a decade of sensational commercial possibility coupled
with dark nuclear fears and conformist politics. Amid this
amalgamation of social, political, and cultural conditions,
Hollywood was under siege: from the Justice Department, which
pressed for big film companies to divest themselves of their
theater holdings; from the middleclass, whose retreat to family
entertainment inside the home drastically decreased the filmgoing
audience; and from the House Un-American Activities Committee,
which was attempting to purge the country of dissenting political
views. In this difficult context, however, some of the most
talented filmmakers of all time, including John Ford, Alfred
Hitchcock, Vincente Minnelli, Nicholas Ray, and Billy Wilder
produced some of their most remarkable work.
Bringing together original essays by ten respected scholars in
the field, American Cinema of the 1950s explores the impact of the
cultural environment of this decade on film, and the impact of film
on the American cultural milieu. Contributors examine the signature
films of the decade, including "From Here to Eternity," "Sunset
Blvd.", "Singin' in the Rain," "Shane," " Rear Window," and" Rebel
Without a Cause," as well as lesser-known but equally compelling
films, such as "Dial 1119," "Mystery Street," "Suddenly," Summer
Stock, "The Last Hunt," and many others.
Provocative, engaging, and accessible to general readers as well
as scholars, this volume provides a unique lens through which to
view the links between film and the prevailing social and
historical events of the decade.
In less than a century, the flickering blue-gray light of the
television screen has become a cultural icon. What do the images
transmitted by that screen tell us about power, authority, gender
stereotypes, and ideology in the United States? "Television,
History, and American Culture "addresses this question by
illuminating how television both reflects and influences American
culture and identity.
The essays collected here focus on women in front of, behind, and
on the TV screen, as producers, viewers, and characters. Using
feminist and historical criticism, the contributors investigate how
television has shaped our understanding of gender, power, race,
ethnicity, and sexuality from the 1950s to the present. The topics
range from the role that women broadcasters played in radio and
early television to the attempts of Desilu Productions to present
acceptable images of Hispanic identity, from the impact of TV talk
shows on public discourse and the politics of offering viewers
positive images of fat women to the negotiation of civil rights,
feminism, and abortion rights on news programs and shows such as "I
Spy" and "Peyton Place."
Innovative and accessible, this book will appeal to those
interested in women's studies, American studies, and popular
culture and the critical study of television.
"Contributors." Julie D'Acci, Mary Desjardins, Jane Feuer, Mary
Beth Haralovich, Michele Hilmes, Moya Luckett, Lauren Rabinovitz,
Jane M. Shattuc, Mark Williams
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