Erin E. MacDonald is a professor of English at Fanshawe College’s School of Language and Liberal Studies in London, Ontario. She published a literary companion book on Ed McBain and is writing one on Ian Rankin. Her articles have appeared in the Journal of American and Comparative Cultures and in Clues.

• Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ixPreface 1Chronology 3Introduction: “You know who I am” (Erin E. MacDonald) 7The ­Pick-Up Artist and the Failures of Virtuosity (Christian B. Long) 17Delightful, Duplicitous and Flirting with Disaster: James Toback’s Robert Downey Jr. (Thomas Britt) 29“Mad as a box of frogs”: Channeling Chaplin in the Role of a Lifetime (Erin E. MacDonald) 40Facing Life with Face Off: Race and Identity in the Films of Robert Downey Sr. and Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Prichard) 64Robert Downey Jr.’s Media Monsters: Natural Born Killers, In Dreams and Zodiac (Karen Oughton) 75Queering Downey Part 1: Queer as Catalyst in Less Than Zero, Home for the Holidays and One Night Stand (Erin E. MacDonald) 86Queering Downey Part 2: Gender Identity and ­Cross-Dressing in In Dreams, Wonder Boys and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (Erin E. MacDonald) 107“This too too sullied flesh”: The Resurfacing of Robert Downey Jr. (Jason Davids Scott) 121“Lie down with me Watson”: Transgression and Fragile Masculinity in the Detective Films of Robert Downey Jr. (Ruth ­O’Donnell) 136Genre–and ­Gender-Bending in Shane Black’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Iron Man 3 (Nils Bothmann) 153Getting in Another’s Shoes: Clashing Ethics in Charlie Bartlett (Fernando Gabriel Pagnoni Berns) 166Robert Downey Jr. as Star: The Irreverent Hero of Iron Man and Iron Man 2 (F.E. ­Pheasant-Kelly) 176Fragmented Relationships: ­Father-Son Dynamics in Less Than Zero, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints and Iron Man 2 (Jennifer Harrison) 191“Welcome to the movie factory”: Tropic Thunder as Postmodern Comedy (Brian S. Reinking) 205Layers of Lazarus: Robert Downey Jr. Hits “true emotional pay dirt” Through Blackface (Derek Adams) 218Language and Power in The Soloist and A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (Sam Lundberg) 235Robert Downey Jr. as Detective: Sherlock Holmes Redux (Linda ­Ledford-Miller) 244The Avengers in Post–9/11 America (Mike Hernandez) 255Biography 269Filmography 291About the Contributors 295Index 297

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Erin E. MacDonald is a professor of English at Fanshawe College’s School of Language and Liberal Studies in London, Ontario. She published a literary companion book on Ed McBain and is writing one on Ian Rankin. Her articles have appeared in the Journal of American and Comparative Cultures and in Clues.

• Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ixPreface 1Chronology 3Introduction: “You know who I am” (Erin E. MacDonald) 7The ­Pick-Up Artist and the Failures of Virtuosity (Christian B. Long) 17Delightful, Duplicitous and Flirting with Disaster: James Toback’s Robert Downey Jr. (Thomas Britt) 29“Mad as a box of frogs”: Channeling Chaplin in the Role of a Lifetime (Erin E. MacDonald) 40Facing Life with Face Off: Race and Identity in the Films of Robert Downey Sr. and Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Prichard) 64Robert Downey Jr.’s Media Monsters: Natural Born Killers, In Dreams and Zodiac (Karen Oughton) 75Queering Downey Part 1: Queer as Catalyst in Less Than Zero, Home for the Holidays and One Night Stand (Erin E. MacDonald) 86Queering Downey Part 2: Gender Identity and ­Cross-Dressing in In Dreams, Wonder Boys and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (Erin E. MacDonald) 107“This too too sullied flesh”: The Resurfacing of Robert Downey Jr. (Jason Davids Scott) 121“Lie down with me Watson”: Transgression and Fragile Masculinity in the Detective Films of Robert Downey Jr. (Ruth ­O’Donnell) 136Genre–and ­Gender-Bending in Shane Black’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Iron Man 3 (Nils Bothmann) 153Getting in Another’s Shoes: Clashing Ethics in Charlie Bartlett (Fernando Gabriel Pagnoni Berns) 166Robert Downey Jr. as Star: The Irreverent Hero of Iron Man and Iron Man 2 (F.E. ­Pheasant-Kelly) 176Fragmented Relationships: ­Father-Son Dynamics in Less Than Zero, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints and Iron Man 2 (Jennifer Harrison) 191“Welcome to the movie factory”: Tropic Thunder as Postmodern Comedy (Brian S. Reinking) 205Layers of Lazarus: Robert Downey Jr. Hits “true emotional pay dirt” Through Blackface (Derek Adams) 218Language and Power in The Soloist and A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (Sam Lundberg) 235Robert Downey Jr. as Detective: Sherlock Holmes Redux (Linda ­Ledford-Miller) 244The Avengers in Post–9/11 America (Mike Hernandez) 255Biography 269Filmography 291About the Contributors 295Index 297

Select Guide Rating

Erin E. MacDonald is a professor of English at Fanshawe College’s School of Language and Liberal Studies in London, Ontario. She published a literary companion book on Ed McBain and is writing one on Ian Rankin. Her articles have appeared in the Journal of American and Comparative Cultures and in Clues.

• Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ixPreface 1Chronology 3Introduction: “You know who I am” (Erin E. MacDonald) 7The ­Pick-Up Artist and the Failures of Virtuosity (Christian B. Long) 17Delightful, Duplicitous and Flirting with Disaster: James Toback’s Robert Downey Jr. (Thomas Britt) 29“Mad as a box of frogs”: Channeling Chaplin in the Role of a Lifetime (Erin E. MacDonald) 40Facing Life with Face Off: Race and Identity in the Films of Robert Downey Sr. and Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Prichard) 64Robert Downey Jr.’s Media Monsters: Natural Born Killers, In Dreams and Zodiac (Karen Oughton) 75Queering Downey Part 1: Queer as Catalyst in Less Than Zero, Home for the Holidays and One Night Stand (Erin E. MacDonald) 86Queering Downey Part 2: Gender Identity and ­Cross-Dressing in In Dreams, Wonder Boys and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (Erin E. MacDonald) 107“This too too sullied flesh”: The Resurfacing of Robert Downey Jr. (Jason Davids Scott) 121“Lie down with me Watson”: Transgression and Fragile Masculinity in the Detective Films of Robert Downey Jr. (Ruth ­O’Donnell) 136Genre–and ­Gender-Bending in Shane Black’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Iron Man 3 (Nils Bothmann) 153Getting in Another’s Shoes: Clashing Ethics in Charlie Bartlett (Fernando Gabriel Pagnoni Berns) 166Robert Downey Jr. as Star: The Irreverent Hero of Iron Man and Iron Man 2 (F.E. ­Pheasant-Kelly) 176Fragmented Relationships: ­Father-Son Dynamics in Less Than Zero, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints and Iron Man 2 (Jennifer Harrison) 191“Welcome to the movie factory”: Tropic Thunder as Postmodern Comedy (Brian S. Reinking) 205Layers of Lazarus: Robert Downey Jr. Hits “true emotional pay dirt” Through Blackface (Derek Adams) 218Language and Power in The Soloist and A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (Sam Lundberg) 235Robert Downey Jr. as Detective: Sherlock Holmes Redux (Linda ­Ledford-Miller) 244The Avengers in Post–9/11 America (Mike Hernandez) 255Biography 269Filmography 291About the Contributors 295Index 297

Select Guide Rating