The white savior film : content, critics, and consumption / Matthew W. Hughey.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hughey, Matthew W. (Matthew Windust), author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

White people in motion pictures.

Race in motion pictures.

Motion pictures--Social aspects--United States.

Motion pictures.

Motion pictures--Social aspects.

United States.

Physical Description:

x, 219 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania : Temple University Press, 2014.

Summary:

The cinematic trope of the white savior film; think of Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side, Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves, or Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai, features messianic characters in unfamiliar or hostile settings discovering something about themselves and their culture in the process of saving members of other races from terrible fates. In this book the author provides a multipronged analysis of this subgenre of films to investigate the underpinnings of the Hollywood-constructed images of idealized (and often idealistic) white Americans. He considers the production, distribution, and consumption of white savior films to show how the dominant messages of sacrifice, suffering, and redemption are perceived by both critics and audiences. Examining the content of fifty films, nearly 3,000 reviews, and interviews with viewer focus groups, he accounts for the popularity of this subgenre and its portrayal of "racial progress." This book shows how we as a society create and understand these films and how they reflect the political and cultural contexts of their time. -- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

The savior trope and the modern meanings of whiteness

White savior films: the content of their character

Reviewing whiteness: critics and their commentary

Watching whiteness: audience consumption and community

Data and methodology for content analysis of film

Data and methodology for film reviews

Data and methodology for film audiences.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781439910009

1439910006

9781439910016

1439910014

OCLC:

858366456