Washed in blood : male sacrifice, trauma, and the cinema / Claire Sisco King.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

King, Claire Sisco.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Heroes in motion pictures.

Death in motion pictures.

Sacrifice in motion pictures.

Psychic trauma in motion pictures.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (235 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Brunswick, N.J. : Rutgers University Press, c2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Will Smith in I Am Legend. Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic. Charlton Heston in just about everything. Viewers of Hollywood action films are no doubt familiar with the sacrificial victim-hero, the male protagonist who nobly gives up his life so that others may be saved. Washed in Blood argues that such sacrificial films are especially prominent in eras when the nation—and American manhood—is thought to be in crisis. The sacrificial victim-hero, continually imperiled and frequently exhibiting classic symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, thus bears the trauma of the nation. Claire Sisco King offers an in-depth study of three prominent cycles of Hollywood films that follow the sacrificial narrative: the early–to–mid 1970's, the mid–to–late 1990's, and the mid–to–late 2000's. From Vietnam-era disaster movies to post-9/11 apocalyptic thrillers, she examines how each film represents traumatized American masculinity and national identity. What she uncovers is a cinematic tendency to position straight white men as America’s most valuable citizens—and its noblest victims.

Contents:

Introduction

Reel presence, sacrifice, and the cinema

Unhinged heroes and alpha traumas

Free falls in the American nineties

Remakes, resurrections, and sacrificial returns

Epilogue: big screen memories.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-283-86572-6

0-8135-5206-0

OCLC:

778339829