Becoming Jack Nicholson : the masculine persona from Easy rider to The shining / Shaun R. Karli.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Karli, Shaun R., 1979-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Nicholson, Jack--Criticism and interpretation.

Nicholson, Jack.

Criticism and interpretation.

Physical Description:

viii, 195 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Lanham, Md. : Scarecrow Press, 2012.

Summary:

One of the most celebrated figures in the world of cinema, Jack Nicholson has appeared in more than fifty films, stamping each with his larger-than-life presence. Because Nicholson brought a set of traits and attitudes with him to his roles, audiences associate certain characteristics with his screen identity. At times his rebelliousness was celebrated as an act of self-expression against an oppressive system (Five Easy Pieces, The Passenger, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), and at others it was revealed as an absurd masculine fantasy (The Last Detail, Chinatown, The Shining). In each, Nicholson embodies an inherent tension between the desire to make authentic choices and the pressure to conform to societal expectations of manly behavior.

Becoming Jack Nicholson: The Masculine Persona from Easy Rider to The Shining examines the actor's on-screen presence in eight key films between 1969 and 1980. Shaun R. Karli explores how, in each of these films, the actor and the filmmakers played on audience expectations of "Jack Nicholson" to challenge prevailing attitudes about masculinity and power. Focusing on the actor's image in a string of counterculture films that spanned the 1970s, Karli argues that audiences created a composite "understanding" of the Nicholson persona in these movies.

Examining both the actor and the on-screen version of the Nicholson character, this book offers a fascinating look at one of the major screen figures of the past forty years. Becoming Jack Nicholson will appeal to scholars of cinema and those interested in gender studies, American studies, and sociology. Book jacket.

Contents:

Introduction

Easy rider and challenges to white male hegemony

Forever in search: the rejection of traditional male roles in Five easy pieces and The passenger

The hyper-masculine challenge: Carnal knowledge and The last detail

"Forget it Jack": the futility of individual action in Chinatown

"At least I tried": rocking the boat in One flew over the cuckoo's nest

Carrying the burden over the edge: The shining

Conclusion.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references, filmography (pages 181-185), and index.

ISBN:

9780810885981

0810885980

9780810885998

0810885999

OCLC:

798263914