Oliver Stone's America

Susan Mackey-Kallis was born in San Diego, California, in 1961 and was educated at the University of California-San Diego (B.A.), West Virginia University (M.A.), and The Pennsylvania State University (Ph.D.). Mackey-Kallis has focused her research on political rhetoric and the sociopolitical role of fiction film in America and has published articles on such topics as the Reagan and Bush administrations' campaigns against drugs, the Reagan reelection campaign film, political values in advertising, and popular music and politics. She is currently an assistant professor in the Communication Arts Department at Villanova University and lives with her husband, Kyriakos Kallis, and their two dogs, Elsa and Dooney, in Haverford, Pennsylvania.

• Introduction -- Stone’s Dilemma: A Platonist Seeking Postmodern “Truth,” or the Quandary of the Left-Wing Intellectual in Hollywood -- Betrayal in the Garden and Death of the Dream -- Descent into Hell: The Vietnam Nightmare -- After the Fall: (Self-)Portraits of the Tortured Artist-Visionary -- Meeting the Shadow and the Journey Home -- Final Thoughts -- Filmography