God on the big screen : a history of Hollywood prayer from the silent era to today / Terry Lindvall.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lindvall, Terry, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Prayer in motion pictures.

Motion pictures--Religious aspects.

Motion pictures.

Physical Description:

v, 367 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : New York University Press, 2019.

Summary:

Moments of prayer have been represented in Hollywood movies since the silent era, appearing unexpectedly in films as diverse as Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Frankenstein, Amistad, Easy Rider, Talladega Nights, and Alien 3, as well as in religiously inspired classics such as Ben-Hur and The Ten Commandments. Here, Terry Lindvall examines how films have reflected, and sometimes sought to prescribe, ideas about how one ought to pray. He surveys the landscape of those films that employ prayer in their narratives, beginning with the silent era and moving through the uplifting and inspirational movies of the Great Depression and World War II, the cynical, anti-establishment films of the 60s and 70s, and the sci-fi and fantasy blockbusters of today. Lindvall considers how the presentation of cinematic prayer varies across race, age, and gender, and places the use of prayer in film in historical context, shedding light on the religious currents at play during those time periods. God on the Big Screen demonstrates that the way prayer is presented in film during each historical period tells us a great deal about America's broader relationship with religion.

Contents:

Silent prayers (1902-1927)

Censored prayers (1927-1939)

Foxhole prayers (1939-1945)

Postwar secular prayers (1946-1963)

Cynical prayers (1964-1976)

Revival of prayer (1976-1988)

Postmodern prayer (1989-2000)

Millennial prayers (2000-2017).

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 357-359), filmography (pages 343-355), and index.

ISBN:

9781479886746

1479886742

9781479892617

1479892610

OCLC:

1085576791