The cultural politics of contemporary Hollywood film : power, culture, and society / Chris Beasley and Heather Brook.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Beasley, Chris, author.

Brook, Heather, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Motion pictures--California--Los Angeles--History--21st century.

Motion pictures.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xi, 367 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Manchester : Manchester University Press, 2019.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Adopting and developing a 'cultural politics' approach, this comprehensive study explores how Hollywood movies generate and reflect political myths about social and personal life that profoundly influence how we understand power relations. Instead of looking at genre, it employs three broad categories of film. 'Security' films present ideas concerning public order and disorder, citizen-state relations and the politics of fear. 'Relationalities' films highlight personal and intimate politics, bringing norms about identities, gender and sexuality into focus. In 'socially critical' films, particular issues and ideas are endowed with more overtly political significance. The book considers these categories as global political technologies implicated in hegemonic and 'soft power' relations whose reach is both deep and broad.

Contents:

Foreword by Douglas Kellner

1. Introduction: the cultural politics of popular film

2. Frames

Part I: Security

3. Security: order and disorder

4. War and order

5. Disorder and fear

6. Fearsome monsters

Part II: Relationalities

7. Gender and intimate relationships

8. Romance

9. Bromance

Part III: Social critique

10. Against the grain? Socially critical movies

11. Questioning the critical

Part IV: Global agendas

12. The big picture: the 'metropole' and peripheral 'others'

13. Responses from 'the margins'

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references, filmography and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (viewed on June 5, 2026).

ISBN:

9781526135742

1526135744

OCLC:

1260322616