Projecting Politics: Political Messages in American Films

by Christensen,Terry

• ISBN13: 9780765614445
• ISBN10: 0765614448
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2005-05-31
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Examines the relationship between American politics and films of all types in a decade-by-decade survey that covers films from "Birth of a Nation" to "The Day After Tomorrow."

Author Biography

Peter J. Haas is a professor in the Department of Political Science at San Jose State University and also serves as the education director for the Mineta Transportation Institute there.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Acknowledgments	xiii
I. Studying Political Films
1. Setting the Scene: A Theory of Film and Politics	3	(16)
2. The Making of a Message: Film Production and Techniques and Political Messages	19	(22)
3. Causes and Special Effects: The Political Environment of Film	41	(20)
II. Political Films by Decade
4. Politics in the Silent Movies	61	(12)
5. The 1930's: Political Movies and the Great Depression	73	(18)
6. The 1940's: Hollywood Goes to War	91	(18)
7. The 1950's: Anti-Communism and Conformity	109	(16)
8. The 1960's: From Mainstream to Counterculture	125	(18)
9. The 1970's: Cynicism, Paranoia, War and Anticapitalism	143	(28)
10. The 1980's: New Patriotism, Old Reds, and a Return to Vietnam in the Age of Reagan	171	(28)
11. The 1990's and Beyond 9/11	199	(28)
III. Political Films by Topic
12. True Lies? The Rise of Political Documentaries	227	(10)
13. Film and the Politics of Race: The Minority Report	237	(12)
14. Women, Politics, and Film: All About Eve?
Elizabeth Ann Haas, PhD	249	(28)
15. Afterword	277	(14)
Appendixes
1. An Outtake: A Guide for the Political Analysis of Movies	291	(10)
2. The Net: A Brief Guide to Web-Based Film Resources	301	(6)
3. Closing Credits: A Political Filmography	307	(18)
4. The Bottom Line: Domestic Gross Receipts by Decade	325	(8)
Notes	333	(10)
Index	343	(22)
About the Authors	365