Heroes, Antiheroes and Dolts

by Trice, Ashton D.; Holland, Samuel A.

• ISBN13: 9780786410972
• ISBN10: 0786410973
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-08-01
• Publisher: McFarland Publishing

Summary

This book is a discussion of 75 of the most popular films in America from 1921 through 1999 and the changes that have taken place in how masculinity is portrayed in the movies over that period of time. Traditionally in popular films, men have met challenging tasks, but what they accomplish and how successful they are have been drastically changed since the early 1920s. Prior to World War II, men were most often presented within the context of a family. After the war, men were presented as concerned with issues beyond their immediate families, and after 1970, they were portrayed as being overwhelmed by their situations. Recently, popular films have tended to focus on the relationships between men. This work documents these changes over eight decades, using the movies as vehicles to illustrate the major transformations.

Author Biography

Ashton D. Trice is an associate professor of psychology at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Introduction	1	(6)
Part I --- In the Beginning	7	(34)
Valentino, the First Star?	9	(10)
1939	19	(22)
Part II --- Heroes	41	(34)
Musicals of World War II	43	(11)
Men as Objects: Men in the Weepies	54	(10)
Casablanca	64	(11)
Part III --- Antiheroes	75	(90)
Revisioning the War	77	(19)
Saints and Sinners: Masculinity in the Biblical Epics of the 1950s and 1960s	96	(17)
The Good'50s Family: Shane	113	(13)
Love Is Having to Say You're Sorry: Dysfunctional Families of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s	126	(18)
Bond: Stirred, Not Shaken	144	(21)
Part IV --- Superheroes and Dolts	165	(50)
Star Wars	167	(11)
Disney's Men and Boys	178	(14)
Gump and Gumper: Men as Idiots	192	(12)
Post-Feminist Heroes: Jack and Shakespeare	204	(11)
Chapter Notes	215	(10)
Bibliograhy	225	(4)
Index	229