Projecting Politics

Projecting Politics
Author: Elizabeth Haas
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 422
Release: 2015-04-10
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1317520033

The new edition of this influential work updates and expands the scope of the original, including more sustained analyses of individual films, from The Birth of a Nation to The Wolf of Wall Street. An interdisciplinary exploration of the relationship between American politics and popular films of all kinds—including comedy, science fiction, melodrama, and action-adventure—Projecting Politics offers original approaches to determining the political contours of films, and to connecting cinematic language to political messaging. A new chapter covering 2000 to 2013 updates the decade-by-decade look at the Washington-Hollywood nexus, with special areas of focus including the post-9/11 increase in political films, the rise of political war films, and films about the 2008 economic recession. The new edition also considers recent developments such as the Citizens United Supreme Court decision, the controversy sparked by the film Zero Dark Thirty, newer generation actor-activists, and the effects of shifting industrial financing structures on political content. A new chapter addresses the resurgence of the disaster-apocalyptic film genre with particular attention paid to its themes of political nostalgia and the turn to global settings and audiences. Updated and expanded chapters on nonfiction film and advocacy documentaries, the politics of race and African-American film, and women and gender in political films round out this expansive, timely new work. A companion website offers two additional appendices and further materials for those using the book in class.

American Politics in Hollywood Film

American Politics in Hollywood Film
Author: Ian Scott
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2011-05-06
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 0748646280

How is the American political landscape represented in cinema? What is the relationship between Hollywood and Washington? From Arnold Schwarzenegger's rise to the Governorship of California through to the drama of the celebrity-fuelled 2008 Presidential election, Hollywood and politics have never been more intimate.This thoroughly updated and revised new edition continues to analyse the theoretical and conceptual relationship of Hollywood to national politics and the way film content and criticism has aligned itself to political culture and debate.Chronicling the evolution of American political cinema from the 1930s, this book explores the genre's symbiotic relationship with the American political culture and history. Through textual analysis of a range of films and television series, Scott provides a critique of current and past developments across several sub-genres, including the bio-pic, the election film and documentary.New for this edition* Analysis of the post-9/11 and Bush era's effect on the American politics and cinema* In-depth discussion of political documentaries, such as Fahrenheit 9/11 and The Fog of War, as well as films from the 2000s, such as Man of the Year and State of Play* Expanded coverage of television series from The West Wing, through to 24 and John Adams

American Film and Politics from Reagan to Bush Jr.

American Film and Politics from Reagan to Bush Jr.
Author: Philip John Davies
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2002-10-11
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780719058653

Focusing on the two decades leading to the beginning of the 21st century, this collection examines central issues in American politics and society through the films of the period. Using everything from Oliver Stone to Disney, Clint Eastwood to John Sayles, Jurassic Park to Dumb and Dumber, the international array of authors explore a number of themes. These include: the cinematic views of political institutions; of politically significant places; of the projection of major issues such as gender, family, and race; and the cultural politics of the film makers themselves in America at the start of a new century.

Politics and Politicians in American Film

Politics and Politicians in American Film
Author: Phillip L. Gianos
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 228
Release: 1998-01-26
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0313025347

Films have been a part of U.S. society for a century—a source of great enjoyment for the audience and of great profit to filmmakers. How does a mass entertainment medium deal with some of the great sources of dramatic real-life political and economic conflict—the Great Depression, the Cold War—in a way that attracts an audience without making it angry? How does an industry, which has from its beginnings been the subject of attacks from social, political and religious groups deal with political issues and conflicts? This book is an attempt to examine these questions; it is also an examination of some of the greatest and most interesting American films ever made—westerns, gangster films, comedies, war films, satires, and film biographies—to see what American films say about politics and politicians, and what these films, in turn, say about the audience for which they were produced.

Here's Looking at You

Here's Looking at You
Author: Ernest D. Giglio
Publisher: Peter Lang
Total Pages: 356
Release: 2005
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9780820470993

Here's Looking at You: Hollywood, Film & Politics examines the tangled relationship between politics and Hollywood, which manifests itself in celebrity involvement in political campaigns and elections, and in the overt and covert political messages conveyed by Hollywood films. The book's findings contradict the film industry's assertion that it is simply in the entertainment business, and examines how, while the majority of Hollywood films are strictly commercial ventures, hundreds of movies - ranging from Birth of a Nation to Fahrenheit 9/11 - do indeed contain political messages. Here's Looking at You serves as a basic text for political film courses and as a supplement in American government and film studies courses, and will also appeal to film buffs and people in the film industry.

Politics and Film

Politics and Film
Author: Daniel P. Franklin
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 252
Release: 2006
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 9780742538092

Films examined include: Master and commander - the far side of the world, The Coneheads, X2, The postman, Taxi driver, Working girl, Mr. Smith goes to Washington, Robocop, Showgirls, The passion of the Christ, Last tango in Paris, Pulp fiction, Kill Bill: Vol. 2.

Politics, Hollywood Style

Politics, Hollywood Style
Author: John Heyrman
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 187
Release: 2017-12-20
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1498551939

This book analyzes major films about the American political process from the 1930's through the 2010's. Films are grouped historically and analyzed for their portrayal of American politicians and the political system, uncovering patterns and trends regarding the ways that American politics is portrayed. It also explores how politics are reflected in and affected by these films. For example, compromise is often portrayed as a mistake, and heroes generally seek to redeem a corrupt political system. This book categorizes films by how politics are depicted in them (e.g., cynically, idealistically, etc.). This book also considers the depiction of race and gender in films, as well as the ideological slant of the stories told.

Seeing through the Screen

Seeing through the Screen
Author: Bruce E. Altschuler
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 195
Release: 2017-11-22
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 149855749X

Although films affect and reflect the way Americans look at politics, they have received far less attention than television or newspapers. This is changing, particularly on college campuses, where courses on politics and film are growing in popularity. This book consists of short essays on approximately fifty American political films. It is distinctive in two ways. Firstly, it defines politics broadly enough to include a range of films, not only on obviously political topics such as the presidency, congress, and elections, but also on the media, law and courts, war and peace, and a variety of policy issues. Secondly, it goes beyond plot and dialogue to discuss the language of film, including visual aspects, sound, mise-en-scène, and other ways that films communicate their messages to audiences. Each chapter begins with a brief introduction to the films included. The essays also explain the political context of each film and, when films are based on historical events, discuss the accuracy of their depictions. References to additional sources are included at the end of each essay. This book explores the extent to which films take on the political issues of the day and their influence on public perceptions of politics. Do films support the status quo or do they challenge it?

Hollywood

Hollywood
Author: Mark Wheeler
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 372
Release: 2019-07-25
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1838716157

At the beginning of the 21st century, the US film industry had overtaken aeronautics and car industries to become one of the highest exporters of American products. Mark Wheeler's important new book provides both a political history of Hollywood and a reflection on the relationship between cinema and politics in America, from 1900 to the present day. Wheeler considers the interplay between the movies studios, state and national government and cultural policy and legislation, with case studies of the censorship that followed in the wake of the Hays Code 1930 and the investigations of the House Committee of Un-American Activities (HUAC) in the 1950s that led to the notorious blacklisting of alleged or known Communist sympathisers. His history of political constituencies within Hollywood ranges from the conservative right to the liberal and the communist left, from trades unionists to movie moguls. The book concludes with a look at the politics of show business, addressing links between Hollywood and political activism, films such as 'The Candidate' and 'Bulworth' that have themselves engaged with the political process, and considering the irony that despite the fact that Hollywood is perceived as a bastion of liberalism the two most famous actors-turned-politicians have been Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger.