|
Showing 1 - 2 of
2 matches in All Departments
In the 1960s, psychiatrists and other mental health professionals
intervened in and influenced cinema culture in unprecedented ways,
changing how films were conceived, produced, censored, exhibited
and received by audiences. Drawing upon extensive archival
research, Demons of the Mind provides the first interdisciplinary
account of the complex contestations and cross-pollinations of the
'psy' sciences (psychiatry, psychoanalysis, psychology) and cinema
in Britain and America during the defining 'long 1960s' period of
the late-1950s to early-1970s. This interdisciplinary book
incorporates expertise from film studies, history of science and
medicine, and science communication. The originality of this book
is not solely its interdisciplinarity and exploration beyond the
narrow study of representational practices - typically the primary
focus of other books on cinema and the psy professions. In large
part, this book's originality rests on its investigation of
situated practices and interplay between ideas, expertise and
professionals that constitute the fields of mental health and
media.
Defying industry logic and gender expectations, women started
flocking to see horror films in the early 1940s. The departure of
the young male audience and the surprise success of the film "Cat
People" convinced studios that there was an untapped female
audience for horror movies, and they adjusted their production and
marketing strategies accordingly.
"Phantom Ladies" reveals the untold story of how the Hollywood
horror film changed dramatically in the early 1940s, including both
female heroines and female monsters while incorporating elements of
"women's genres" like the gothic mystery. Drawing from a wealth of
newly unearthed archival material, from production records to
audience surveys, Tim Snelson challenges long-held assumptions
about gender and horror film viewership.
Examining a wide range of classic horror movies, Snelson offers us
a new appreciation of how dynamic this genre could be, as it
underwent seismic shifts in a matter of months. "Phantom Ladies,"
therefore, not only includes horror films made in the early 1940s,
but also those produced immediately after the war ended, films in
which the female monster was replaced by neurotic, psychotic, or
hysterical women who could be cured and domesticated. "Phantom
Ladies" is a spine-tingling, eye-opening read about gender and
horror, and the complex relationship between industry and audiences
in the classical Hollywood era.
|
|