The Great American Makeover Television, History, Nation

by Heller, Dana

• ISBN13: 9781403974846
• ISBN10: 1403974845
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-11-28
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

The Great American Makeoverexplores two basic questions: How do myths of self-reinvention shape America's past, and how do contemporary television makeover programs continue and question this long-standing tendency to celebrate the fundamental powers of American transformation? This collection demonstrates that the makeover mythos is a crucial link between earlier and emergent forms and processes of engagement with the national imaginary. It demonstrates the tenacity of the American fantasy of recreation and its enduring ability to speak to our shifting national desires and anxieties. At the same time, the volume speaks to American popular television's own enduring ability to reinvent itself.

Author Biography

Dana Heller is Professor of English and Director of the Humanities Institute at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. She is the author of The Femininization of Quest Romance: Radical Departures, Family Plots: The De-Oedipalization of Popular Culure, and the editor of Cross Purpose: Lesbians, Feminists, and the Limits of Alliance, The Selling of 9/11: How a National Tragedy Became a Commodity (Palgrave Macmillan), and Makeover Television: Realities Remodeled.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Things Just Keep Getting Better--Dana Heller * Part One: The Makeover Mythos, Past to Present * A Theatrical Manager: John Brown and the Radical Politics of the American Makeover Mythos--Zoe Trodd * Race, Myths and Violations: Joel Chandler Harris's Plantation Makeover--Claire Pamplin * Making Over the New Adam--Melissa Crawley * What Paris Reveals: The Sartorial and Sensual Transformation of American Girls--Alisia Chase * Making Over Body and Soul: In His Steps and the Roots of Evangelical Popular Culture--Clay Motley * Metrosexuality: See the Bright Light of Commodification Shine! Watch Yanqui Masculinity Made Over--Toby Miller * Part Two: Makeover Television Formats, 1950 - Today * The Cinderella Makeover: Glamour Girl, Television Misery Shows and 1950s Femininity--Marsha F. Cassidy * Queen for a Day: Remaking Consumer Culture, One Woman at a Time--Amber Watts * Interior Design: Commodifying Self and Place in Extreme Makeover, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and The Swan--June Deery * “Help Is On the Way!” Supernanny, Nanny 911 and the Neoliberal Politics of the Family--Ron Becker * Extreme Makeover: Home(land Security) Edition--Jennifer Gillan * Changing Properties: The Makeover Show Crosses the Atlantic--Misha Kavka * Conclusion: The Reveal--Lynn Spigel

Introduction: Things Just Keep Getting Better--Dana Heller * Part One: The Makeover Mythos, Past to Present * A Theatrical Manager: John Brown and the Radical Politics of the American Makeover Mythos--Zoe Trodd * Race, Myths and Violations: Joel Chandler Harris's Plantation Makeover--Claire Pamplin * Making Over the New Adam--Melissa Crawley * What Paris Reveals: The Sartorial and Sensual Transformation of American Girls--Alisia Chase * Making Over Body and Soul: In His Steps and the Roots of Evangelical Popular Culture--Clay Motley * Metrosexuality: See the Bright Light of Commodification Shine! Watch Yanqui Masculinity Made Over--Toby Miller * Part Two: Makeover Television Formats, 1950 - Today * The Cinderella Makeover: Glamour Girl, Television Misery Shows and 1950s Femininity--Marsha F. Cassidy * Queen for a Day: Remaking Consumer Culture, One Woman at a Time--Amber Watts * Interior Design: Commodifying Self and Place in Extreme Makeover, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and The Swan--June Deery * “Help Is On the Way!” Supernanny, Nanny 911 and the Neoliberal Politics of the Family--Ron Becker * Extreme Makeover: Home(land Security) Edition--Jennifer Gillan * Changing Properties: The Makeover Show Crosses the Atlantic--Misha Kavka * Conclusion: The Reveal--Lynn Spigel