White lens on brown skin : the sexualization of the Polynesian in American film / Matthew B. Locey ; foreword by Ed Rampell.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Locey, Matthew B., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Polynesians in mass media.

Sex in popular culture.

Manners and customs.

Polynesians--Social life and customs.

Polynesians.

United States.

Physical Description:

xi, 284 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Jefferson, North Carolina : McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, [2023]

Summary:

"From even the earliest accounts of contact between Polynesians and Europeans, it is evident that Westerners have perceived the peoples of Polynesia as supposedly sensual and sexual beings. By the late 1800s, early publications, lectures and stage plays about the Pacific became widely popular across Europe, and often contained exotic and erotic components. This book details the fusion of truth and fiction in the representation of Pacific Islanders, focusing on the sexualization of Polynesians in American cinema and other forms of mass communications and commercial entertainment. With messaging almost subliminal to the general American audience, the Hollywood media machine produced hundreds of tropical film titles commonly promoted alongside images of revealing grass skirts, scanty sarongs, female toplessness and glistening exposed male pectorals. This critical filmography demonstrates how the concept of sex sells, especially when applied to a large and lasting scale, shaped American social views on Polynesian people and their culture. Chapters expose and document this hypocritical social phenomenon in an attempt to create awareness and change. Several valuable appendices conclude the book, including a glossary of Polynesian terms, a film index and an annotated filmography of sexualized tropes."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: pt. I Race, Romance, and Representation

1. South Seas Cinema: Definition and Facts

2. Arriving in Eden: The Canoe Greeting Trope

3. Peeking Through the Ferns: The Lagoon Swim Scene

4. Climax of the Feast: The Sensual Dance Cliche

5. Solidifying the Conquest: Native First Kiss and Beyond

6. Sexual Appropriation: White Women in Grass Skirts

7. Other World War II Conquests: Prostitution in the Pacific

8. The Greetings Continue: Romance in the Tourist Trade

9. Breaking the Cycle: How to Change the Course

pt. II Annotated Filmography of Polynesian Sexualized Tropes and Sexual Relationships.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781476689180

1476689180

OCLC:

1292062868

Publisher Number:

99993272569