America on Film

HARRY M. BENSHOFF, PhD, is Professor of Media Arts at the University of North Texas. He received his PhD in Critical Studies at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinema-Television. His research focuses include the representation of African Americans and queer people in film and television, particularly within the horror genre.SEAN GRIFFIN, PhD, is Professor of Film and Media Arts, Southern Methodist University. He received his doctorate from the University of Southern California in 1997. He has written and studied extensively in the area of queer representation in film, as well as the history of the American musical film.

• Preface to the Third Edition xiAcknowledgments xivHow to Use This Book xviAbout the Companion Website xviiiPart I Culture and American Film 11 Introduction to the Study of Film Form and Representation 3Film Form 3American Ideologies: Discrimination and Resistance 6Culture and Cultural Studies 12Case Study: Two Lion Kings (1994 and 2019) 17Questions for Discussion 21Further Reading 212 The Structure and History of Hollywood Filmmaking 22Hollywood vs. Independent Film 22The Style of Hollywood Cinema 24The Business of Hollywood 29The History of Hollywood: The Movies Begin 31The Classical Hollywood Cinema 35World War II and Postwar Film 37“New” Hollywood and the Blockbuster Mentality 40Box: A Brief History of Television in the United States 4221st‐Century Convergence Culture 44Questions for Discussion 47Further Reading 47Further Screening 48Part II Race and Ethnicity and American Film 49Introduction to Part II: What is Race?3 The Concept of Whiteness and American Film 55Seeing White 56Bleaching the Green: The Irish in American Cinema 60Looking for Respect: Italians in American Cinema 64A Special Case: Jews and Hollywood 69Case Study: The Jazz Singer (1927) 74Veiled and Reviled: Arabs on Film in America 74Conclusion: Whiteness and American Film Today 80Questions for Discussion 81Further Reading 81Further Screening 824 African Americans and American Film 83African Americans in Early Film 83Blacks in Classical Hollywood Cinema 87World War II and the Postwar Social Problem Film 89The Rise and Fall of Blaxploitation Filmmaking 92Box: Blacks on TV 94Hollywood in the 1980s and the Arrival of Spike Lee 96Black Independent vs. “Neo‐Blaxploitation” Filmmaking in the 1990s 98African Americans and the Oscars 100Case Study: BlacKkKlansman (2018) 103The Twenty‐first Century: Smaller Films, Bigger Profits? 106Conclusion 108Questions for Discussion 109Further Reading 109Further Screening 1105 Native Americans and American Film 111The American “Indian” Before Film 112Ethnographic Films and the Rise of the Hollywood Western 114The Evolving Western 118A Kinder, Gentler America? 121Case Study: Smoke Signals (1998) 124Conclusion: Twenty‐first Century Indians? 125Questions for Discussion 129Further Reading 129Further Screening 1296 Asian Americans and American Film 130Silent Film and Asian Images 131Asians in Classical Hollywood Cinema 133World War II and After: War Films, MiscegenationMelodramas, Kung Fu, and the Start of Asian AmericanIndependent Filmmaking 136Towards a Global Hollywood: Asian American Actorsand Filmmakers of the Last Thirty Years 141Case Study: Crazy Rich Asians (2018) 146Conclusion 148Questions for Discussion 148Further Reading 148Further Screening 1497 Latinos and American Film 150The Greaser and the Latin Lover: Alternating Stereotypes 152World War II and After: The Good Neighbor Policy 155The 1950s to the 1970s: Back to Business as Usual? 159Expanding Opportunities in the 1980s and 1990s 161Case Study: My Family/Mi Familia (1995) 164Latino Film in the 21st Century 166Conclusion: Which Way Forward? 169Questions for Discussion 171Further Reading 172Further Screening 172Part III Class and American Film 173Introduction to Part III: What is Class?8 Classical Hollywood Cinema and Class 179Setting the Stage: The Industrial Revolution 179Early Cinema: The Rise of the HoratioAlger Myth 181Hollywood and Unionization 185Class in the Classical Hollywood Cinema 188Case Study: The Grapes of Wrath (1940) 190Conclusion: Recloaking Class Consciousness 192Questions for Discussion 192Further Reading 193Further Screening 1939 Cinematic Class Struggle After the Depression 194From World War II to the Red Scare 194From Opulence to Counterculture 197Box: Class on Television 202New Hollywood and the Resurrection of the Horatio Alger Myth 202Corporate Hollywood and Labor in the 21st Century 208Case Study: The Florida Project (2017) 213Questions for Discussion 215Further Reading 215Further Screening 215Part IV Gender and American Film 217Introduction to Part IV: What is Gender?10 Women in Classical Hollywood Filmmaking 223Images of Women in Early Cinema 224Early Female Filmmakers 228Images of Women in 1930s Classical Hollywood 231World War II and After 235Case Study: All that Heaven Allows (1955) 238Questions for Discussion 240Further Reading 240Further Screening 24111 Exploring the Visual Parameters of Women in Film 242Ways of Seeing 242“Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” 245Case Study: Gilda (1946) 254Conclusion: Complicating Mulvey’s Arguments 255Questions for Discussion 258Further Reading 258Further Screening 25812 Masculinity in Classical Hollywood Filmmaking 259Masculinity and Early Cinema 262Masculinity and the Male Movie Star 263World War II and Film Noir 268Case Study: Dead Reckoning (1947) 273Masculinity in 1950s American Film 274Questions for Discussion 277Further Reading 277Further Screening 27713 Gender in American Film Since the 1960s 278Second Wave Feminism and Hollywood 278Box: Women and American Television 282Into the 1980s: A Backlash against Women? 285A New Generation of Female Filmmakers 288Gender at the Turn of the Century 292Gender Politics after 9/11 294Case Study: Wonder Woman (2017) 297Questions for Discussion 299Further Reading 300Further Screening 300Part V Sexuality and American Film 301Introduction to Part V: What is Sexuality?14 Heterosexuality, Homosexuality, and Classical Hollywood 307(Hetero)Sexuality on Screen 307(Homo)Sexuality in Early Film 309Censoring Sexuality during the Classical Hollywood Era 311Postwar Sexualities and the Weakening of the Production Code 316Camp and the Underground Cinema 320Case Study: The Celluloid Closet (1995) 322Questions for Discussion 323Further Reading 324Further Screening 32415 Sexualities on Film Since the Sexual Revolution 325Hollywood and the Sexual Revolution 325Film and Gay Culture from Stonewall to AIDS 327The AIDS Crisis 332Queer Theory and New Queer Cinema 334Box: Queer TV 338Hollywood Responds to New Queer Cinema 340Case Study: Love, Simon (2018) 344(Hetero)Sexualities in Contemporary American Cinema 346Conclusion: The Power Dynamics of Sexuality 349Questions for Discussion 351Further Reading 351Further Screening 352Part VI Ability and American Film 353Introduction to Part VI: What is Ability?16 Cinematic Images of (Dis)Ability 359Disabled People in Early American Film: Curiosities and Freaks 360Romanticizing Disability in Classical Hollywood Melodramas 364Disability in War Movies and Social Problem Films 366Disability and the Counterculture 369Case Study: Children of a Lesser God (1986) 373After the 1980s: A More Enlightened Hollywood? 374Far From Hollywood: Documentary, Activism,and New Modes of Television 377Questions for Discussion 380Further Reading 380Further Screening 381Glossary 382Index 404

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