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Controversial Cinema The Films That Outraged America

Kendall R. Phillips

Book Code: C9464

ISBN: 0-275-99464-3

ISBN-13: 978-0-275-99464-8

DOI:

232 pages, photos

Praeger Publishers

Publication: 6/30/2008

List Price: $44.95 (UK Sterling Price: £25.95)

Availability: In Stock

Media Type: Hardcover

Also Available: Ebook

Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4

Subjects:

Reviews:

[A] concise, highly readable, and fascinating interpretation of cinematic controversies: how they emerge, how they are resolved, and what they may reveal about the larger cultural contexts surrounding the issues. This volume works well as a companion to Dawn Sova's more encyclopedic Forbidden Films: Censorship Histories of 125 Motion Pictures....it could also serve as a text for a course on film history, censorship, and US culture....Recommended.
—Choice December 2008

Description: Since the widespread banning of DW Griffith's The Birth of a Nation, the American film industry has found itself embroiled in one political controversy after another. These controversies have centered on everything from the portrayal of the past, as in Griffith's film, to depictions of sex and sexuality, to the use of graphic violence, and issues of race, religion, and politics. In turn, segments of the American public have been driven to boycott, picket, and even censor those films they felt challenged their sense of decency. At the heart of this history of controversial films is a strange paradox: while films, especially popular and mainstream films, are often portrayed as meaningless products of popular culture, popular films involved in public controversies become the focal point of enormous cultural energy and political attention. The ongoing culture wars thus continue to shape the American political landscape, and controversial films continue to be a major point of conflict. In the course of this wide-ranging work, Kendall Phillips offers insights into the kinds of films that spark controversies, and the ways that Americans typically react to them. Organized around broad controversial themes and with particular attention to mainstream films since the dissolution of the Motion Picture Production Code in the mid-1960s, Controversial Cinema explores why films spark broad cultural controversies, how these controversies play out, and the long-term results. The four broad areas of controversy examined in the work are: Sex and Sexuality, Violence, Race, and Religion. Each chapter offers a broad overview of the history of these topics in controversial American films as well as more in-depth examinations of recent examples, including The Silence of the Lambs, Natural Born Killers, Do the Right Thing, and The Passion of the Christ. A final section of the book considers the broader issues of cultural politics in light of the long history of controversial cinema.

Table of Contents:

Introduction
Chapter One Censorship, Culture and Controversy
Chapter Two Sex, Gender and Sexuality: Jonathan Demmes The Silence of the Lambs
Chapter Three Violence and Crime: Oliver Stones Natural Born Killers
Chapter Four Race and Ethnicity: Spike Lees Do the Right Thing
Chapter Five Religion: Mel Gibsons The Passion of the Christ
Conclusion

LC Card Number: 2007045056

LCC Class: PN1995

Dewey Class: 791

PDF Catalogs:
Academic Library Fall 2008.pdf	Praeger Public Library Spring 2008.pdf
Pop Culture Spring 2008.pdf


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