Superheroes, movies, and the state : how the US government shapes cinematic universes / Tricia Jenkins and Tom Secker.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Jenkins, Tricia, author.

Secker, Tom, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Superhero films.

Motion pictures--Political aspects.

Motion pictures.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (1 online resource)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Lawrence, Kansas : University Press of Kansas, [2021]

Summary:

"Despite continued warnings of "superhero fatigue," Marvel and DC's current cinematic universes (the MCU and DCEU) have dominated the last two decades of popular culture and continue to obliterate box-office records. Where other scholars have focused solely on superhero films' global popularity, reflections of American imperialism, cultural legacy, or treatment of minority groups, Jenkins and Secker examine these films' production-side relationships with the American Department of Defense (DOD), NASA, the Science and Entertainment Exchange (SEEX), and other government agencies that have aided (or withdrawn from) their creation and promotion. This government-entertainment complex, they argue, uses superhero films as non-traditional propaganda: the state does not directly generate or force the creation of these movies, but instead leverages its unique resources to encourage positive images and messaging. Positive portrayals of the state differ from movie to movie, and military and scientific agencies emphasize different "American values," but their methods are similar and their efforts can coincide. By using documents obtained from government entertainment liaison offices through years of FOIA requests (including script notes, production correspondence, and marketing materials), as well as personal interviews with both producers and government liaisons, Jenkins and Secker illustrate how and why state agencies invest in the production of superhero films, how their support-or lack thereof-influences those films' final narratives, and how both studios' past films and current story arcs offer opportunities to diversify their future productions"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Table of Contents

List of Figures

Acknowledgments

Introduction. Holy Box Office, Batman: Understanding the Rise of the Superhero Genre and Its Ties to the Government-Entertainment Complex

1. "If You Get Killed, Walk It Off": How the DOD Promotes Clean Wars and US Benevolence

2. "I Told You, I Don't Want to Join Your Super-Secret Boy Band": Superheroes and the Anti-Establishment Narrative

3. "Hi. I'm From the Military. Space Is the Next Frontier": NASA, Space Force, and the Future of the Galaxy

4. You Can't Just Fall Off a Planet: Assembling the Science and Entertainment Exchange

5. All New, but Not That Different?: Diversity, Politics, and the Superhero

Conclusion. The American Way, The Boys, and the Wrong Message?

Appendix

Notes

Selected Bibliography

Index

Back Cover.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 291-298) and index.

ISBN:

9780700632763

070063276X

OCLC:

1248601649