White Lens on Brown Skin : The Sexualization of the Polynesian in American Film.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Locey, Matthew B.

Contributor:

Locey, Matthew B., contribution by.

Rampell, Ed, contribution by.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Polynesians in motion pictures.

Sex in motion pictures.

Clichés in motion pictures.

Motion pictures--United States--History.

Motion pictures.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (297 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Jefferson : McFarland & Company, Incorporated 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:

Cover

Acknowledgments

Foreword by Ed Rampell

Preface

Introduction

Part I. Race, Romance, and Representation

1. South Seas Cinema

2. Arriving in Eden

3. Peeking Through the Ferns

4. Climax of the Feast

5. Solidifying the Conquest

6. Sexual Appropriation

7. Other World War II Conquests

8. The Greetings Continue

9. Breaking the Cycle

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

Conclusion

Polynesian Vocabulary of Interest

Chapter Notes

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Other Format:

Print version: Locey, Matthew B. White Lens on Brown Skin

ISBN:

9781476647449